The Chamber is back this week with news and notes on football, basketball and recruiting for both sports. As always, the Chamber is premium information for PowerMizzou.com subscribers, so please keep discussion confined to The Tigers' Lair.
Let's dive right in...
Pete Scantlebury on the football team.
There's no doubt about it -- Missouri is hurting for depth at two positions. With the recent departures of Chase Abbington at running back and Malik Cuellar at offensive line, Missouri finds itself in a numbers crunch at those position. Cuellar's departure, combined with Clay Rhodes' uncertain status and the medical retirement of Andy Bauer, means Missouri has nine scholarship offensive linemen, and one of those in former defensive tackle Tyrell Jacobs. Offensive line coach Glen Elarbee said Jacobs is a guy they could see helping out a few years from now -- so, really, Missouri has eight scholarship offensive linemen at this point.
Let's take a look at each position group, starting with running back.
There, Missouri has four scholarship players: Ish Witter, Trevon Walters, Ryan Williams and Marquise Doherty. Witter is the only one with in-game experience; Doherty has yet to attend any practice that the media has been privy to, as he's working mainly with baseball right now (it seems). We've mentioned the name before, but walk-on Shaun Conway from Lutheran North in St. Louis is someone to watch. I was told he was actually atop Missouri's "depth chart" before spring practice, but that depth chart is very unofficial and changes day-by-day. In the brief drills we've been able to watch, Conway looks fast, explosive and has good change-of-direction. But, again, these drills are not against the defense.
Missouri adds two more running backs this summer in Damarea Crockett and Natereace Strong. This is the position that, in my opinion, is the easiest for an unknown player or a newcomer to breakout at, so I don't think it's as big a concern as offensive line. That being said, Strong's situation, coupled with Abbington's departure, means the staff is looking for more bodies to bring in. Strong realistically won't arrive in Columbia until August, as he's trying to fit two years of JUCO into about 18 months of actually class; a contingency plan has to be ready.
One name we've heard is former Alabama running back Tyren Jones. He was dismissed from the Crimson Tide a year ago and has been at Hutchinson C.C. since. He is a South Carolina commitment, but did not sign with the Gamecocks in February because of academic issues. Missouri also tried to get him to flip from Alabama when Jones was in high school, to no avail.
A source told me that Jones is in a pretty dire academic situation, and it's more than likely he isn't eligible anywhere next year. So, unfortunately, I don't think Jones is a realistic option at this point, but Missouri is monitoring his progress in some degree right now.
Now, onto the offensive line. A big issues for Missouri here is tackle-ready bodies.Paul Adams and Tyler Howell certainly have the build to play tackle;Tanner Owen has improved, too, and is splitting reps with the ones with Howell. But those are the only three true tackles Missouri has among its scholarship players.
Things aren't as dire on the inside. Missouri likes what they have in Kevin Pendleton,Alec Abeln and Nate Crawford. AJ Harris can add depth at either guard position. While he's not a scholarship player, Adam Ploudre impressed last year in August, and appears to have the size and strength to add depth, too. Samson Bailey still needs to put on more weight, but he'll likely be the No. 2-option at center this year.
But going back to that tackle issue -- the two freshmen coming in this summer, Trystan Castillo and Tre'Vour Simms, both seem better suited for the interior line. I talked to both players recently, and they each talked to OL coach Glen Elarbee this week. Simms said Elarbee made it clear that he has to be ready to play this year because of the numbers issue; Simms even mentioned that Elarbee said he'll be able to compete for a starting job. Castillo said Elarbee wasn't as specific with him, but reiterated that he has to be ready to compete this summer because of the depth issues.
Missouri is certainly looking to add bodies on the line, but I think it's clear they are looking for tackles, not interior linemen. At this point, the best-case scenario for Missouri (in my opinion) is to wait until transfers become known after spring football and hope that there is a viable graduate transfer available, or someone who can easily get a hardship waiver to play immediately. The unsigned junior college players and high school players are unsigned for a reason, and with no new game film to go on, it's going to be tough to find a legitimate target there.
I understand this is a lot of re-hash to what you all already know. Things are pretty dire at those two position groups, especially at offensive line. There's no easy solution, unforunately.
Let's wrap up this point with some quick-hits about the team, with quotes and notes from this past week...
-- While Cam Hilton is almost certainly set at safety for this year, you could see him on offense, too. I asked Hilton if there's any chance he moonlights as a receiver in certain packages. Here's his answer: "That's my vision. Coach Odom mentioned it to me, as soon as I get the new defense, get that down -- hopefully after spring, after all the defensive concepts slow down, hopefully I can help out over there."
-- Tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley was an offensive analyst for Baylor last year, so he is a little familiar with DeMontie Cross as a defensive coordinator. Cross was the co-DC at TCU. I asked him if he can see TCU's defense in what Cross is installing at Missouri right now: "You can see the similarities, just a number of thing that they're doing. That's mixed in with some of the things they did last year here. I think it's going to be a good mix."
-- One thing that's changed is the alignment of the safeties. Previously it was just right or left safety; now it's weakside and free safety.Anthony Sherrils is now the weakside safety: "Playing the weakside, you play man more. I like to play man."
--I asked free safety Thomas Wilson if he can notice any change in Drew Lock, specifically in how he goes through his progressions: "I can see an improvement. He's looking off receivers better. He's just taking control of the whole offense. Every move out there is his move. He's making sure everybody's in the right spot. He's doing a great job."
Let's dive right in...
Pete Scantlebury on the football team.
There's no doubt about it -- Missouri is hurting for depth at two positions. With the recent departures of Chase Abbington at running back and Malik Cuellar at offensive line, Missouri finds itself in a numbers crunch at those position. Cuellar's departure, combined with Clay Rhodes' uncertain status and the medical retirement of Andy Bauer, means Missouri has nine scholarship offensive linemen, and one of those in former defensive tackle Tyrell Jacobs. Offensive line coach Glen Elarbee said Jacobs is a guy they could see helping out a few years from now -- so, really, Missouri has eight scholarship offensive linemen at this point.
Let's take a look at each position group, starting with running back.
There, Missouri has four scholarship players: Ish Witter, Trevon Walters, Ryan Williams and Marquise Doherty. Witter is the only one with in-game experience; Doherty has yet to attend any practice that the media has been privy to, as he's working mainly with baseball right now (it seems). We've mentioned the name before, but walk-on Shaun Conway from Lutheran North in St. Louis is someone to watch. I was told he was actually atop Missouri's "depth chart" before spring practice, but that depth chart is very unofficial and changes day-by-day. In the brief drills we've been able to watch, Conway looks fast, explosive and has good change-of-direction. But, again, these drills are not against the defense.
Missouri adds two more running backs this summer in Damarea Crockett and Natereace Strong. This is the position that, in my opinion, is the easiest for an unknown player or a newcomer to breakout at, so I don't think it's as big a concern as offensive line. That being said, Strong's situation, coupled with Abbington's departure, means the staff is looking for more bodies to bring in. Strong realistically won't arrive in Columbia until August, as he's trying to fit two years of JUCO into about 18 months of actually class; a contingency plan has to be ready.
One name we've heard is former Alabama running back Tyren Jones. He was dismissed from the Crimson Tide a year ago and has been at Hutchinson C.C. since. He is a South Carolina commitment, but did not sign with the Gamecocks in February because of academic issues. Missouri also tried to get him to flip from Alabama when Jones was in high school, to no avail.
A source told me that Jones is in a pretty dire academic situation, and it's more than likely he isn't eligible anywhere next year. So, unfortunately, I don't think Jones is a realistic option at this point, but Missouri is monitoring his progress in some degree right now.
Now, onto the offensive line. A big issues for Missouri here is tackle-ready bodies.Paul Adams and Tyler Howell certainly have the build to play tackle;Tanner Owen has improved, too, and is splitting reps with the ones with Howell. But those are the only three true tackles Missouri has among its scholarship players.
Things aren't as dire on the inside. Missouri likes what they have in Kevin Pendleton,Alec Abeln and Nate Crawford. AJ Harris can add depth at either guard position. While he's not a scholarship player, Adam Ploudre impressed last year in August, and appears to have the size and strength to add depth, too. Samson Bailey still needs to put on more weight, but he'll likely be the No. 2-option at center this year.
But going back to that tackle issue -- the two freshmen coming in this summer, Trystan Castillo and Tre'Vour Simms, both seem better suited for the interior line. I talked to both players recently, and they each talked to OL coach Glen Elarbee this week. Simms said Elarbee made it clear that he has to be ready to play this year because of the numbers issue; Simms even mentioned that Elarbee said he'll be able to compete for a starting job. Castillo said Elarbee wasn't as specific with him, but reiterated that he has to be ready to compete this summer because of the depth issues.
Missouri is certainly looking to add bodies on the line, but I think it's clear they are looking for tackles, not interior linemen. At this point, the best-case scenario for Missouri (in my opinion) is to wait until transfers become known after spring football and hope that there is a viable graduate transfer available, or someone who can easily get a hardship waiver to play immediately. The unsigned junior college players and high school players are unsigned for a reason, and with no new game film to go on, it's going to be tough to find a legitimate target there.
I understand this is a lot of re-hash to what you all already know. Things are pretty dire at those two position groups, especially at offensive line. There's no easy solution, unforunately.
Let's wrap up this point with some quick-hits about the team, with quotes and notes from this past week...
-- While Cam Hilton is almost certainly set at safety for this year, you could see him on offense, too. I asked Hilton if there's any chance he moonlights as a receiver in certain packages. Here's his answer: "That's my vision. Coach Odom mentioned it to me, as soon as I get the new defense, get that down -- hopefully after spring, after all the defensive concepts slow down, hopefully I can help out over there."
-- Tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley was an offensive analyst for Baylor last year, so he is a little familiar with DeMontie Cross as a defensive coordinator. Cross was the co-DC at TCU. I asked him if he can see TCU's defense in what Cross is installing at Missouri right now: "You can see the similarities, just a number of thing that they're doing. That's mixed in with some of the things they did last year here. I think it's going to be a good mix."
-- One thing that's changed is the alignment of the safeties. Previously it was just right or left safety; now it's weakside and free safety.Anthony Sherrils is now the weakside safety: "Playing the weakside, you play man more. I like to play man."
--I asked free safety Thomas Wilson if he can notice any change in Drew Lock, specifically in how he goes through his progressions: "I can see an improvement. He's looking off receivers better. He's just taking control of the whole offense. Every move out there is his move. He's making sure everybody's in the right spot. He's doing a great job."
