First, let's note that we will get to see more practices, but we are still limited to the first seven periods, which is stretching and individual drills. Which means we're not seeing live reps or one on ones, so we're going to be limited in drawing any real conclusions. We'll give you observations every day, but understand we're still seeing a pretty small portion of what happens. That's not a complaint, it's just getting out ahead of "How did this guy look"? or "Who's been the best at this spot?" Anybody that tells you they can answer that stuff from seeing the limited portion of practice we see is a liar.
*I can live with the free transfer rule if they put in a rule that players have to wear the same number for four years. I understand we have to learn 30 new faces every year, but I don't know if I can keep learning all these new numbers. I think Kris Abrams-Draine and Ky Montgomery are on their third numbers. Get assigned a number as a freshman, that's your number for your entire career. As someone who tries to figure out who is and is not at every practice, this is a hill I will die on.
*None of us saw Chad Bailey on the practice field while we were there. We were told he is in town, he is here, everything is fine, "he's just getting something checked out." No reason to panic. He may even have shown up later in practice after we left. He just wasn't out there when we were.
*It appeared Chuck Hicks was limited during the practice and then he left the building at the same time we did, presumably to get treatment or get looked at. May not be anything serious at all. More when we know, which likely won't be today because we don't have any interviews after practice.
*Gabarri Johnson is small. We had him listed at 6-1, 190 last year.
The 190 may be true (that's what he is on Mizzou's roster). The 6-1 isn't close. Missouri lists him at 5-10. That's probably about right. I happened to be just a few feet away from him at one point. He's taller than me, but not by a ton (I'm 5-8). That doesn't mean he can't be good. I think we're past the point where you aren't allowed to be a good quarterback if you're not 6-feet tall. But it did kind of jump out that he was smaller than I expected him to be.
*The offense spent nearly the entire practice on the other end of the field. We were at least 70 yards away from most of it. Kind of tough to tell anything at all to be honest.
*One of the early drills was a scoop and score drill. Eli Drinkwitz (who has a wireless microphone and can give instructions over the speakers in the new indoor) called it the "Nick Bolton drill."
*If you ever doubt that practice is about preparing for every single possible scenario, I saw a drill where players were rotating through practicing fair catches. That included Kristian Williams and Josh Landry while I was watching. Never know if you're going to have a 300-pounder on a punt or kickoff team as an upman and something weird happens where the ball gets kicked to him. If it happens, at least now Missouri can say "We practiced for that." I'd still guess they hope it doesn't happen.
*The indoor is pretty impressive. Obviously it's 30 yards longer than the old one. But it also seems to be about twice as wide. I guess I didn't really realize just how small the old one was until I got in the new one. It's tons brighter with natural light coming in. They've got a scoreboard, walkways around for the camera people to shoot practice film and the speaker system. It looks sharp.
*I can live with the free transfer rule if they put in a rule that players have to wear the same number for four years. I understand we have to learn 30 new faces every year, but I don't know if I can keep learning all these new numbers. I think Kris Abrams-Draine and Ky Montgomery are on their third numbers. Get assigned a number as a freshman, that's your number for your entire career. As someone who tries to figure out who is and is not at every practice, this is a hill I will die on.
*None of us saw Chad Bailey on the practice field while we were there. We were told he is in town, he is here, everything is fine, "he's just getting something checked out." No reason to panic. He may even have shown up later in practice after we left. He just wasn't out there when we were.
*It appeared Chuck Hicks was limited during the practice and then he left the building at the same time we did, presumably to get treatment or get looked at. May not be anything serious at all. More when we know, which likely won't be today because we don't have any interviews after practice.
*Gabarri Johnson is small. We had him listed at 6-1, 190 last year.
The 190 may be true (that's what he is on Mizzou's roster). The 6-1 isn't close. Missouri lists him at 5-10. That's probably about right. I happened to be just a few feet away from him at one point. He's taller than me, but not by a ton (I'm 5-8). That doesn't mean he can't be good. I think we're past the point where you aren't allowed to be a good quarterback if you're not 6-feet tall. But it did kind of jump out that he was smaller than I expected him to be.
*The offense spent nearly the entire practice on the other end of the field. We were at least 70 yards away from most of it. Kind of tough to tell anything at all to be honest.
*One of the early drills was a scoop and score drill. Eli Drinkwitz (who has a wireless microphone and can give instructions over the speakers in the new indoor) called it the "Nick Bolton drill."
*If you ever doubt that practice is about preparing for every single possible scenario, I saw a drill where players were rotating through practicing fair catches. That included Kristian Williams and Josh Landry while I was watching. Never know if you're going to have a 300-pounder on a punt or kickoff team as an upman and something weird happens where the ball gets kicked to him. If it happens, at least now Missouri can say "We practiced for that." I'd still guess they hope it doesn't happen.
*The indoor is pretty impressive. Obviously it's 30 yards longer than the old one. But it also seems to be about twice as wide. I guess I didn't really realize just how small the old one was until I got in the new one. It's tons brighter with natural light coming in. They've got a scoreboard, walkways around for the camera people to shoot practice film and the speaker system. It looks sharp.
