NASHVILLE, TN 一 Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz and offensive lineman Javon Foster, defensive lineman Darius Robinson and cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine made the rounds at SEC Media Days on Monday afternoon.
Here, are some of my takeaways from their appearance.
1.) Brady Cook will enter camp as the starter, but Drinkwitz is in no rush to name a starter for the season.
After a pretty quiet offseason for the quarterbacks due to injuries, Drinkwitz said it will be Brady Cook entering fall camp as the team’s starting quarterback.
Cook missed all of spring football as he was recovering from offseason surgery on his right throwing shoulder while Sam Horn suffered a forearm strain while pitching for the baseball team and was largely inactive during spring ball.
Apparently, Cook has made strides and really battled back to rehab quickly and efficiently.
“He attacked the rehab, obviously,” Drinkwitz said. “He was pushing it probably further than we wanted him to in the spring.”
The position is fluid. So, entering fall camp and being the starter come week three versus Kansas State are two different things.
The reason I mentioned Kansas State in week three is because Drinkwitz said he’s in no rush to name a starter for the season. With the non-conference schedule, Mizzou has to start the season versus South Dakota and Middle Tennessee State, it feels like it has gained some extra time to name a quarterback.
Drinkwitz even said week one can see multiple quarterbacks play. He didn’t really hide from that possibility either.
Last season, it was about eight days into camp when Cook was named the starter. This season, it’s about patience and letting the competition play itself out.
Cook is the leading man right now, but Horn and Jake Garcia are undoubtedly in the race.
2.) Drinkwitz, defensive coordinator Blake Baker and cornerbacks coach Al Pogue will help out on special teams this season.
Mizzou’s special teams struggled mightily last season under special teams coordinator coach Erik Link.
Drinkwitz and Baker will be over the kickoff unit while Pogue will be over the kickoff return unit in an attempt to “try and add more voices and emphasis on those specific phases of the game,” as Drinkwitz said.
Link will retain his spot as coordinator.
Last season, the Tigers made 78.6% of their field goals a year after making 92% of them.
Mizzou was a pedestrian 69th in the FBS in punting average at 41.6, but the punting was very inconsistent.
Also, Mizzou was 124th in kickoff return yard average at 16.3 yards.
There’s a lot of room for improvement. Last year, a lot of people went into the season thinking the strength of the team would be special teams.
If anything, kicker Harrison Mevis and Luther Burden were going to do their thing, right? Well, it didn't exactly go that way.
Mevis missed six field goals after never missing more than three in any prior season and Burden had 151 punt return yards on 12 returns (12.6 yards per return), but 112 of those yards came versus Abilene Christian.
Mizzou’s special teams can’t have another year like that if it wants to be above .500.
3. There's still uncertainty on the offensive line despite a budding star in the lineup. Foster at left tackle and right guard Armand Membou are the only players on the offensive line that appear to have the team’s full confidence to be starters. Missouri will name them as starters at their respective positions and not think twice about it.
Foster’s appearance at SEC Media Days should say a lot. As the anchor of the offensive line, he’s one of few players on offense whose position was and is safe from any real competition.
However, Membou 一 he’s the one getting the push. For my non-wrestling fans, that means the people with power are high on him and want to make him a star.
In football terms, it means the coaching staff and the players like Membou and think he will be a really good player for this year and years to come.
Drinkwitz, Foster and Robinson all praised Membou for how well he’s done this offseason. A few weeks ago, I was told that the plan for him is to play him at right guard this year to get him on the field but after that, they want to play him at offensive tackle.
After that, there becomes questions about whether Marcellus Johnson and Cam’Ron Johnson can adjust to playing their new positions at right tackle and center, respectively.
Mizzou has confidence in the Johnsons but that doesn't negate the new challenges those players face in their new positions.
And there's still the question of who will win the left guard competition.
It's good to be happy about two positions on the line, but having questions or being uncertain about three spots on the line isn't great.
4. Defensive end is still up in the air, but it may not be as worrisome as some may think.
At this point in the offseason, it’s widely known Mizzou will be bringing back eight starters (nine if you count Daylan Carnell, who almost split half the snaps at STAR last season with starter Martez Manuel).
However, the one position the team didn’t have a starter come back at is defensive end.
Missouri’s top four EDGE rushers (snaps-wise) all departed from the team via the NFL Draft or the transfer portal, so there’s some mystery to the position.
Drinkwitz appears to be high on Johnny Walker, who has been waiting in the wings for some time, but he’s even higher on Robinson moving to EDGE and starting.
Robinson’s move to the outside will depend on the matchup, so it’s likely he starts some games inside and some on the outside. But if that’s the case it means the Tigers will have to have three starting-level defensive ends.
He could be like Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, who also tried to move to defensive end in 2021, and despite being an elite defender he didn’t excel at the position change. However, when he went back to his natural position last season he was a Defensive Player of the Year candidate.
All that to say, Robinson can’t truly be penciled in as a starting EDGE unless he dominates from there in the first quarter of the season.
After him, the actual defensive ends on this roster are inexperienced as far as Power 5 reps outside of former Arizona State Sun Devil Joe Moore. And until fall camp and a couple of games go by no one will really know if there are three guys who can play defensive end well.
So, if the EDGE group is lacking a true pass rush doesn’t that usually mean the secondary will be relied on more? Well, Drinkwitz doesn’t think so.
He said because of how strong Missouri is up the middle (at defensive tackle, linebacker and, safety) that he thinks they’ll be fine.
If that’s the case and Mizzou can improve and not really be hampered by the position, there’s a chance for a big leap for a team that finished with a top-35 defense.
Here, are some of my takeaways from their appearance.
1.) Brady Cook will enter camp as the starter, but Drinkwitz is in no rush to name a starter for the season.
After a pretty quiet offseason for the quarterbacks due to injuries, Drinkwitz said it will be Brady Cook entering fall camp as the team’s starting quarterback.
Cook missed all of spring football as he was recovering from offseason surgery on his right throwing shoulder while Sam Horn suffered a forearm strain while pitching for the baseball team and was largely inactive during spring ball.
Apparently, Cook has made strides and really battled back to rehab quickly and efficiently.
“He attacked the rehab, obviously,” Drinkwitz said. “He was pushing it probably further than we wanted him to in the spring.”
The position is fluid. So, entering fall camp and being the starter come week three versus Kansas State are two different things.
The reason I mentioned Kansas State in week three is because Drinkwitz said he’s in no rush to name a starter for the season. With the non-conference schedule, Mizzou has to start the season versus South Dakota and Middle Tennessee State, it feels like it has gained some extra time to name a quarterback.
Drinkwitz even said week one can see multiple quarterbacks play. He didn’t really hide from that possibility either.
Last season, it was about eight days into camp when Cook was named the starter. This season, it’s about patience and letting the competition play itself out.
Cook is the leading man right now, but Horn and Jake Garcia are undoubtedly in the race.
2.) Drinkwitz, defensive coordinator Blake Baker and cornerbacks coach Al Pogue will help out on special teams this season.
Mizzou’s special teams struggled mightily last season under special teams coordinator coach Erik Link.
Drinkwitz and Baker will be over the kickoff unit while Pogue will be over the kickoff return unit in an attempt to “try and add more voices and emphasis on those specific phases of the game,” as Drinkwitz said.
Link will retain his spot as coordinator.
Last season, the Tigers made 78.6% of their field goals a year after making 92% of them.
Mizzou was a pedestrian 69th in the FBS in punting average at 41.6, but the punting was very inconsistent.
Also, Mizzou was 124th in kickoff return yard average at 16.3 yards.
There’s a lot of room for improvement. Last year, a lot of people went into the season thinking the strength of the team would be special teams.
If anything, kicker Harrison Mevis and Luther Burden were going to do their thing, right? Well, it didn't exactly go that way.
Mevis missed six field goals after never missing more than three in any prior season and Burden had 151 punt return yards on 12 returns (12.6 yards per return), but 112 of those yards came versus Abilene Christian.
Mizzou’s special teams can’t have another year like that if it wants to be above .500.
3. There's still uncertainty on the offensive line despite a budding star in the lineup. Foster at left tackle and right guard Armand Membou are the only players on the offensive line that appear to have the team’s full confidence to be starters. Missouri will name them as starters at their respective positions and not think twice about it.
Foster’s appearance at SEC Media Days should say a lot. As the anchor of the offensive line, he’s one of few players on offense whose position was and is safe from any real competition.
However, Membou 一 he’s the one getting the push. For my non-wrestling fans, that means the people with power are high on him and want to make him a star.
In football terms, it means the coaching staff and the players like Membou and think he will be a really good player for this year and years to come.
Drinkwitz, Foster and Robinson all praised Membou for how well he’s done this offseason. A few weeks ago, I was told that the plan for him is to play him at right guard this year to get him on the field but after that, they want to play him at offensive tackle.
After that, there becomes questions about whether Marcellus Johnson and Cam’Ron Johnson can adjust to playing their new positions at right tackle and center, respectively.
Mizzou has confidence in the Johnsons but that doesn't negate the new challenges those players face in their new positions.
And there's still the question of who will win the left guard competition.
It's good to be happy about two positions on the line, but having questions or being uncertain about three spots on the line isn't great.
4. Defensive end is still up in the air, but it may not be as worrisome as some may think.
At this point in the offseason, it’s widely known Mizzou will be bringing back eight starters (nine if you count Daylan Carnell, who almost split half the snaps at STAR last season with starter Martez Manuel).
However, the one position the team didn’t have a starter come back at is defensive end.
Missouri’s top four EDGE rushers (snaps-wise) all departed from the team via the NFL Draft or the transfer portal, so there’s some mystery to the position.
Drinkwitz appears to be high on Johnny Walker, who has been waiting in the wings for some time, but he’s even higher on Robinson moving to EDGE and starting.
Robinson’s move to the outside will depend on the matchup, so it’s likely he starts some games inside and some on the outside. But if that’s the case it means the Tigers will have to have three starting-level defensive ends.
He could be like Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, who also tried to move to defensive end in 2021, and despite being an elite defender he didn’t excel at the position change. However, when he went back to his natural position last season he was a Defensive Player of the Year candidate.
All that to say, Robinson can’t truly be penciled in as a starting EDGE unless he dominates from there in the first quarter of the season.
After him, the actual defensive ends on this roster are inexperienced as far as Power 5 reps outside of former Arizona State Sun Devil Joe Moore. And until fall camp and a couple of games go by no one will really know if there are three guys who can play defensive end well.
So, if the EDGE group is lacking a true pass rush doesn’t that usually mean the secondary will be relied on more? Well, Drinkwitz doesn’t think so.
He said because of how strong Missouri is up the middle (at defensive tackle, linebacker and, safety) that he thinks they’ll be fine.
If that’s the case and Mizzou can improve and not really be hampered by the position, there’s a chance for a big leap for a team that finished with a top-35 defense.
Last edited by a moderator:
