Who does Phil Bryant appoint to replace Cochran?

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I am sure he'll try to pick somebody that can beat McDaniel in a primary.

The appointed Senator doesn't need to beat McDaniel in the primary, that candidate needs to beat McDaniel in the November 27 runoff.

As long as the list of major candidates per party isn't higher than 2, it's pretty unlikely that it will be anything other than a DvsR runoff.

Delbert should be the much stronger candidate on November 6 than Hyde-Smith.

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I still think Steven Palazzo, Phillip Gunn are possible.

If Bryant really wants to be canny, he can appoint Hood, because even in a Dem midterm it's unlikely a Democratic incumbent will win in Mississippi, and Hood being the incumbent other Republican will encourage other Republicans to join McDaniel in the race (and maybe beat him).

Even if Hood does win in the special, he'll lose in 2020 anyways, as he probably won't outrun Republican turnout atop the ballot.

It won't be Palazzo, because that would surrender his House seat to the Democratic challenger - it's past the filing deadline for another Republican to run for that seat.

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If it's somehow Hyde-Smith vs. McDaniel in the runoff, which is extremely unlikely unless the votes split just so, she wins the runoff by 20 or more points.

McDaniel's only hope is to knock the appointee down to 3rd somehow and face off against a Democrat in a completely nationalized race. And even then he probably still loses to a good Democratic candidate like Presley.