Don't have a specific number here. Just gonna free write till I'm done.
Tonight's practice specifically wasn't worth a whole lot other than us getting a pretty good idea of what the depth chart might look like at the start of Louisiana Tech week. @JHamilton23 is writing up our estimation of that right now so I'll leave most of that to him. Mine is more big picture stuff.
1) I don't have any idea what to make of the quarterback situation beyond Brady Cook. Like most of you, my first thought when I didn't see Tyler Macon tonight was that he had transferred. Not the case. He was sick. Don't know if that's 5-10 day sick or should be back at practice Monday sick. It's more strange to me that the only two extended things we've seen at practice were a live goal line drill and tonight and Jack Abraham wasn't suited up for either one of them. I've seen situations where you have veteran guys--especially those who aren't starters--held out of or limited in scrimmages so they don't get hurt. But Abraham has only been here for three months and I don't think it's a sure thing he's the backup QB. So for him not to participate either of the times we've watched when the other quarterbacks have seems weird. I think Macon, Abraham and Sam Horn may all be listed as "OR" when we do get the depth chart. But I can't help but wonder if there's not more to the health situation than has been talked about. Maybe it's as simple as they don't want him to get hit, but I'd think he needs reps if you have plans to play him.
2) Speaking of health, with Carmycah Glass and Chuck Hicks out for the year, linebacker gets interesting. Blake Baker said he wants to play five, or at least have five ready to play. The fifth right now will be Zach Lovett, Will Norris or Xavier Simmons. Missouri's fine there, but it means Devin Nicholson and Dameon Wilson have to be contributors and if Missouri gets an injury it gets dicey. Drinkwitz called it "a deep position" tonight. He knows more than I do, but I don't view it as particularly deep.
3) Luther Burden was the only true freshman I saw on the field tonight (although it's possible Jamarion Wayne was out there since there are two No. 19s in the secondary). I think most of this recruiting class is going to be in audition mode in early games against Abilene Christian and maybe Louisiana Tech. I think they hit the portal really hard and that means they're probably not going to play some true freshmen they might have. Burden is a lock. I'm not convinced I can predict there's another one who plays in more than four games. There probably will be, but I'm not comfortable predicting it yet.
4) Cody Schrader was the first running back to take snaps. I still think if Nate Peat is healthy, he's probably the starter. And Peat was out there tonight. But how much has he been set back by missing time? I think Peat, Schrader and BJ Harris all get carries against LA Tech. Elijah Young might too, but I've got to see them commit to him before I believe it.
5) Kris Abrams-Draine was handling kickoff and punt "returns" tonight. I put it in quotes because there were no actual returns, but he was the deep man. He said he's happy to handle both and start on defense if that's what the coaches decide. I have to believe Luther Burden at least gets a shot on punt returns, but we'll see.
6) With Dominic Lovett in the slot, Mookie Cooper has moved outside at receiver. We talked at the beginning of camp about how there were three guys in the slot and if they were all going to get time one was going to have to move outside. Looks like it's Cooper. With that move, if everyone stays healthy, I don't really see regular playing time for Mekhi Miller this season. I think a redshirt is more likely.
7) I don't know if it means anything, but the four players in the middle of the field for the coin toss were Darius Robinson, Martez Manuel, Javon Foster and Tauskie Dove. Curious if those will be the captains.
8) When asked where he wanted to see improvement, Drinkwitz hit on one area on each side of the ball. On offense he said he wants to be better on third down execution. Defensively, he said in two scrimmages, Missouri didn't have a takeaway. As with all things in camp you can view that as a positive for the offense or a negative for the defense, but Drinkwitz did highlight it as an area he wants to see improve.
9) Nothing we can see in camp does anything to change expectations for the season. We just didn't see enough. I'll write my game by game prediction for next Sunday. I really want to find a way to pick them to win at least seven games. We'll see how I feel when I write it next weekend.
Tonight's practice specifically wasn't worth a whole lot other than us getting a pretty good idea of what the depth chart might look like at the start of Louisiana Tech week. @JHamilton23 is writing up our estimation of that right now so I'll leave most of that to him. Mine is more big picture stuff.
1) I don't have any idea what to make of the quarterback situation beyond Brady Cook. Like most of you, my first thought when I didn't see Tyler Macon tonight was that he had transferred. Not the case. He was sick. Don't know if that's 5-10 day sick or should be back at practice Monday sick. It's more strange to me that the only two extended things we've seen at practice were a live goal line drill and tonight and Jack Abraham wasn't suited up for either one of them. I've seen situations where you have veteran guys--especially those who aren't starters--held out of or limited in scrimmages so they don't get hurt. But Abraham has only been here for three months and I don't think it's a sure thing he's the backup QB. So for him not to participate either of the times we've watched when the other quarterbacks have seems weird. I think Macon, Abraham and Sam Horn may all be listed as "OR" when we do get the depth chart. But I can't help but wonder if there's not more to the health situation than has been talked about. Maybe it's as simple as they don't want him to get hit, but I'd think he needs reps if you have plans to play him.
2) Speaking of health, with Carmycah Glass and Chuck Hicks out for the year, linebacker gets interesting. Blake Baker said he wants to play five, or at least have five ready to play. The fifth right now will be Zach Lovett, Will Norris or Xavier Simmons. Missouri's fine there, but it means Devin Nicholson and Dameon Wilson have to be contributors and if Missouri gets an injury it gets dicey. Drinkwitz called it "a deep position" tonight. He knows more than I do, but I don't view it as particularly deep.
3) Luther Burden was the only true freshman I saw on the field tonight (although it's possible Jamarion Wayne was out there since there are two No. 19s in the secondary). I think most of this recruiting class is going to be in audition mode in early games against Abilene Christian and maybe Louisiana Tech. I think they hit the portal really hard and that means they're probably not going to play some true freshmen they might have. Burden is a lock. I'm not convinced I can predict there's another one who plays in more than four games. There probably will be, but I'm not comfortable predicting it yet.
4) Cody Schrader was the first running back to take snaps. I still think if Nate Peat is healthy, he's probably the starter. And Peat was out there tonight. But how much has he been set back by missing time? I think Peat, Schrader and BJ Harris all get carries against LA Tech. Elijah Young might too, but I've got to see them commit to him before I believe it.
5) Kris Abrams-Draine was handling kickoff and punt "returns" tonight. I put it in quotes because there were no actual returns, but he was the deep man. He said he's happy to handle both and start on defense if that's what the coaches decide. I have to believe Luther Burden at least gets a shot on punt returns, but we'll see.
6) With Dominic Lovett in the slot, Mookie Cooper has moved outside at receiver. We talked at the beginning of camp about how there were three guys in the slot and if they were all going to get time one was going to have to move outside. Looks like it's Cooper. With that move, if everyone stays healthy, I don't really see regular playing time for Mekhi Miller this season. I think a redshirt is more likely.
7) I don't know if it means anything, but the four players in the middle of the field for the coin toss were Darius Robinson, Martez Manuel, Javon Foster and Tauskie Dove. Curious if those will be the captains.
8) When asked where he wanted to see improvement, Drinkwitz hit on one area on each side of the ball. On offense he said he wants to be better on third down execution. Defensively, he said in two scrimmages, Missouri didn't have a takeaway. As with all things in camp you can view that as a positive for the offense or a negative for the defense, but Drinkwitz did highlight it as an area he wants to see improve.
9) Nothing we can see in camp does anything to change expectations for the season. We just didn't see enough. I'll write my game by game prediction for next Sunday. I really want to find a way to pick them to win at least seven games. We'll see how I feel when I write it next weekend.
