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1) Missouri is currently making the rounds at SEC Media Days in Nashville. This event is great in that it gives us an excuse to fully turn our attention to football. That said, it's also a little frustrating because the truth is, we're still two months away from getting any answers that matter. Talking season is fine, it gives us some headlines and fodder and allows us to at least start talking about things that are on the way. But nothing that's said by anyone over the next four days is going to have a single impact on the actual football season. We'll get outraged at somebody, we'll talk about how somebody really likes his team, some player will have a personality that really shines. But camp doesn't start for two weeks. Games don't start for six. Games that matter don't start for eight. So enjoy it, take advantage of football being closer, but don't put any real stock in anything you hear over the next four days.
2) You'll be shocked to know that NIL is a talking point in Nashville, specifically with the SEC commissioner, who signed a contract extension through 2028 on Friday.
This is long, but here's what Sankey said: "I'm going to be as clear as I can. Our activities in Congress or discussions with states and even discussions of conference policies are not about taking away. Not about taking away these new name, image, and likeness opportunities. In many ways, it's been a net positive for young people.
But we all know there are stories -- some stories told and others not told -- of promises made but not fulfilled, of inducements offered but not provided, of empty commitments of NIL agreements that created more questions than provided answers, and other behaviors in this space that rightly cause concern.
The reality is our student-athletes deserve something better than a patchwork of state laws that support their name, image, and likeness activities, if support is the right word.
Our student-athletes deserve something better than a race to the bottom at the state legislature level. As the efforts are made to create what are perceived as a competitive edge through state laws that are not overseen.
Future student-athletes, those who right now might be 15 or 16 or 17 years old, they deserve something better than to need to sort through a fully unregulated marketplace, being approached by individuals who present themselves as something that they may not be, where anyone can purchase card stock and run it through a printer and call themselves an agent on a business card, and then engage in making offers to young people that are neither transparent, that do not include protections that many of us would expect to be normal.
It makes it difficult for young people to both understand and navigate this free for all as they're trying to make life-guarding and life-changing decisions.
To our knowledge, no state has taken action to enforce its own state laws around name, image, and likeness activity.
At the same time, we've seen in a number of states laws enacted that bar associations, the NCAA, or conferences, including the Southeastern Conference, from enforcing what at our level, at the conference level, are still to be adopted, if ever, NIL policies.
In other words, the states haven't been active in enforcing laws, and now states are preventing the NCAA, our conferences, from adopting and enforcing reasonable name, image, and likeness standards.
If states will not enforce the laws, and states are going to prohibit the NCAA or conferences from enforcing these reasonable policies, Congressional action is then the only way to provide a national uniform standard for name, image, and likeness activity and to draw the lines around the boundaries that do not become simply pay for play.
These realities I've described are in contrast to what we hear from our student-athlete leaders who gathered with us in late June. Our student-athletes continue to ask for uniformity in name, image, and likeness policies across the country."
Missouri isn't the only state and school Sankey is targeting, but it's one of them. I understand that Missouri fans have the attitude of "Screw the NCAA, do anything you want and apologize later." And I don't even disagree with that stance. But this is not going to be a short battle. The only thing we know about NIL relatively confidently is that it isn't going to be the same in two years as it is today. It will be interesting to see how this particular power struggle plays out.
Drinkwitz's counter when asked: “I’m going to let the administration and the presidents and the ADs and the commissioner work together on that side of it. All I know is what I’m responsible for right now and what the state law is right now…There’s a lot of things that we wish were, but we all know what is right now in college athletics and I’m going to embrace what is.”
3) Later this week (I think on Friday) they'll announce the all-SEC teams. Missouri has a few guys who are going to be candidates. Javon Foster, Kris Abrams-Draine, Ty'Ron Hopper and Harrison Mevis are potential first-team selections. Ennis Rakestraw, Darius Robinson and Luther Burden are guys I could see getting second-team honors. Mostly, Mizzou will fly under the radar, but I think those are the guys who could receive preseason honors (which obviously matter far less than postseason honors). I'm glad I'm not there and being asked to submit a ballot. I don't know enough about the rest of the league right now to do it intelligently.
4) Eli Drinkwitz told reporters Brady Cook would open fall camp as the first-team quarterback. In related news, he said that Missouri would field an offense, a defense and special teams. They will wear uniforms. They will play 12 games that last (at least) 60 minutes. In other words, DUH. Everybody knew Cook would open camp as the starter. He was the starter last year and there's absolutely no chance he's done anything to cost him that spot in the seven months since. It also doesn't mean he's necessarily starting the first game. As I anticipated would happen, Drinkwitz said the competition would run throughout camp and he isn't necessarily opposed to playing more than one guy in the first two weeks. I'll be mildly surprised if he names an official QB1 before the opener against South Dakota on August 31. I think Cook will take the first snap in that game. Whether he takes the first snap against Middle Tennessee or Kansas State, I don't know.
5) Outside of quarterback, I'm not sure how many true position battles this team has. Here are the spots I'm unsure about:
Right tackle: Marcellus Johnson is the favorite going into camp, but it could absolutely change.
Tight end: I don't have a clue what the depth chart will look like here.
Defensive end: I think Johnny Walker will start the season as the starter on one side. The other side will be interesting. If it's Darius Robinson, that means Jayden Jernigan and Kristian Williams probably start inside. If Robinson is mostly inside, that moves Jernigan to a backup and opens the competition at defensive end with Joe Moore probably the odds-on favorite. Drinkwitz said today Robinson will play both positions. Admits this is the biggest question mark on defense but "we feel that we've answered those questions."
Offensive guard: Xavier Delgado, Armand Membou and E.J. Ndoma-Ogar are probably battling for two jobs (Membou could also play right tackle). But if there's a spot that someone could come out of absolute nowhere in August and get a starting job, this would be the one I'd bet on.
