Welcome to the offseason version of Four Down Territory.
It’s going to be a little different than it was in-season. I'll post one weekly during the season, which is from SEC Media Days through Missouri's final game.
During the offseason, I’ll post every other week and the thoughts may be a little shorter.
I don't want to post a Missouri football-based column and not write about the team. Now, if something happens on a week it's not scheduled to come out, I'll change course and post a column.
1. Sam Horn’s injury and what the positives and negatives are.
Well, after what seemed like the start of a pedestrian offseason for much of January and February, the Tigers got some football news. Not good news, but news nonetheless.
Quarterback Sam Horn had Tommy John surgery to fix a torn UCL and that’ll sideline him for 12-15 months.
I’ll break it down as far as the positives and negatives.
Let’s rip the bandaid off and start with the negatives.
The injury is a bummer for Horn because not only will he miss all of spring ball this year but probably next year. That’s three spring camps that he barely competed in or didn’t compete in at all.
Also, for him specifically, that means he knows there’ll probably be one or two incoming transfers coming in to try and take his spot.
On the surface, it looks like it’s just the backup role. In reality, QB2 this year has a chance to be QB1 next year after Brady Cook runs out of eligibility after this season.
So, not only was Horn a play away from being the starting quarterback on a top-10 team, but he was in line to be the starter in 2025 or at least be in the thick of the race versus any other quarterback the team would have or bring in.
The positive news in all of this is Horn is young. He’s in his early 20s, and it’s just easier to recover from most things when you’re young.
Unfortunately, the norm for many pitchers is that they’ll likely undergo Tommy John surgery at some point in their career. That sucks, but at the same time, it’s not a career-ending injury.
It’s more of a “Dang, that sucks that you have that injury but we will see you when you get back,” more than a “Wow, is his career over?”
If he wants to come back to play football then he will still be able to compete for the starting job in 2025.
However, it’s completely possible that he won’t return to football.
He could’ve played football with the injury, but he only got it because he doesn’t want to be done with baseball, and to be honest can you blame him? He can throw 98 mph and has had his name thrown around as a high-round MLB Draft pick.
More positive news or glass-half-full news so to speak is that the Tigers will go in the portal and grab one or two quarterbacks. You never know, they could find Cook’s heir apparent.
Since I started covering the team two seasons ago, they’ve only ever had four scholarship quarterbacks on the roster. Right now, they’re at two not including Horn.
Ideally, a player from another big conference, who probably won’t or doesn’t win the starting job at their current school but has at least two years of eligibility would be the best target for them in the transfer portal.
So, if we had to make a quick portal shopping list, the Tigers probably need one or two quarterbacks, one or two defensive tackles and possibly a left guard depending on how camp goes.
2. NCAA College Football 25 coming out soon.
*I don’t have too much to say on this topic but I thought to put this right here because at the end of this column, I’ll start talking about life and death and that’s more important than any video game.
Well, it’s back. After 11 years the NCAA College Football games are back, and I’m actually excited for this.
When I was younger I can only remember having two college football games but I didn’t play them much.
I think I may have had the 2008 game with Boise State’s Jared Zabransky on it, and that’s a guess. I feel like I used to use Steve Slaton and Pat White of West Virginia and I’m pretty sure they were in that game.
Then, I had the 2012 version with Mark Ingram on it and I only remember that because I had Madden 12 and I wanted to import a player and I remember the game froze every time I tried to do that.
I remember not being a fan of the games too much because I just felt like it was too easy. Like in every game, you could score nine touchdowns with one player. Too many players felt like the Flash and then the other players were slow as molasses. It just wasn’t my bag.
On top of that, I’ve told y’all on several occasions college sports weren’t as big in my house growing up.
But to further solidify my point. Last year, I went to @drewking0222’s house and played NCAA 14 and I remembered I tackled his player fully on the ground. It wasn’t like he landed on someone’s body and kept running. I tackled him and then he got up as if nothing happened and kept running. At that point, I remembered why I never cared for the game and I hope it’s fixed this time around.
Anyway, we now know 134 FBS teams will be in the game, so the free-for-all begins.
After the real-life 2024 season, I may start up a Dynasty mode or something with some of you if that’s what y’all want to do. I can’t do it during the season because I rarely get to play my Xbox, but if y’all want the smoke in that game please let me know.
Also, if you want the smoke in Madden 24 let me know that as well!
It’s going to be a little different than it was in-season. I'll post one weekly during the season, which is from SEC Media Days through Missouri's final game.
During the offseason, I’ll post every other week and the thoughts may be a little shorter.
I don't want to post a Missouri football-based column and not write about the team. Now, if something happens on a week it's not scheduled to come out, I'll change course and post a column.
1. Sam Horn’s injury and what the positives and negatives are.
Well, after what seemed like the start of a pedestrian offseason for much of January and February, the Tigers got some football news. Not good news, but news nonetheless.
Quarterback Sam Horn had Tommy John surgery to fix a torn UCL and that’ll sideline him for 12-15 months.
I’ll break it down as far as the positives and negatives.
Let’s rip the bandaid off and start with the negatives.
The injury is a bummer for Horn because not only will he miss all of spring ball this year but probably next year. That’s three spring camps that he barely competed in or didn’t compete in at all.
Also, for him specifically, that means he knows there’ll probably be one or two incoming transfers coming in to try and take his spot.
On the surface, it looks like it’s just the backup role. In reality, QB2 this year has a chance to be QB1 next year after Brady Cook runs out of eligibility after this season.
So, not only was Horn a play away from being the starting quarterback on a top-10 team, but he was in line to be the starter in 2025 or at least be in the thick of the race versus any other quarterback the team would have or bring in.
The positive news in all of this is Horn is young. He’s in his early 20s, and it’s just easier to recover from most things when you’re young.
Unfortunately, the norm for many pitchers is that they’ll likely undergo Tommy John surgery at some point in their career. That sucks, but at the same time, it’s not a career-ending injury.
It’s more of a “Dang, that sucks that you have that injury but we will see you when you get back,” more than a “Wow, is his career over?”
If he wants to come back to play football then he will still be able to compete for the starting job in 2025.
However, it’s completely possible that he won’t return to football.
He could’ve played football with the injury, but he only got it because he doesn’t want to be done with baseball, and to be honest can you blame him? He can throw 98 mph and has had his name thrown around as a high-round MLB Draft pick.
More positive news or glass-half-full news so to speak is that the Tigers will go in the portal and grab one or two quarterbacks. You never know, they could find Cook’s heir apparent.
Since I started covering the team two seasons ago, they’ve only ever had four scholarship quarterbacks on the roster. Right now, they’re at two not including Horn.
Ideally, a player from another big conference, who probably won’t or doesn’t win the starting job at their current school but has at least two years of eligibility would be the best target for them in the transfer portal.
So, if we had to make a quick portal shopping list, the Tigers probably need one or two quarterbacks, one or two defensive tackles and possibly a left guard depending on how camp goes.
2. NCAA College Football 25 coming out soon.
*I don’t have too much to say on this topic but I thought to put this right here because at the end of this column, I’ll start talking about life and death and that’s more important than any video game.
Well, it’s back. After 11 years the NCAA College Football games are back, and I’m actually excited for this.
When I was younger I can only remember having two college football games but I didn’t play them much.
I think I may have had the 2008 game with Boise State’s Jared Zabransky on it, and that’s a guess. I feel like I used to use Steve Slaton and Pat White of West Virginia and I’m pretty sure they were in that game.
Then, I had the 2012 version with Mark Ingram on it and I only remember that because I had Madden 12 and I wanted to import a player and I remember the game froze every time I tried to do that.
I remember not being a fan of the games too much because I just felt like it was too easy. Like in every game, you could score nine touchdowns with one player. Too many players felt like the Flash and then the other players were slow as molasses. It just wasn’t my bag.
On top of that, I’ve told y’all on several occasions college sports weren’t as big in my house growing up.
But to further solidify my point. Last year, I went to @drewking0222’s house and played NCAA 14 and I remembered I tackled his player fully on the ground. It wasn’t like he landed on someone’s body and kept running. I tackled him and then he got up as if nothing happened and kept running. At that point, I remembered why I never cared for the game and I hope it’s fixed this time around.
Anyway, we now know 134 FBS teams will be in the game, so the free-for-all begins.
After the real-life 2024 season, I may start up a Dynasty mode or something with some of you if that’s what y’all want to do. I can’t do it during the season because I rarely get to play my Xbox, but if y’all want the smoke in that game please let me know.
Also, if you want the smoke in Madden 24 let me know that as well!
