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1) Let's start off with the good news because we all know message boards to be a beacon of optimism. Missouri picked up two football commitments in the span of 15 minutes on Saturday afternoon at positions of major need. First came Jackson State defensive end Nyles Gaddy who took an official visit this weekend. He was followed by Houston offensive lineman Cam'Ron Johnson, who is slated to move to center for the Tigers as things stand right now.
For whatever it matters, Missouri now has 82 players slated to be on scholarship next season. There are three scholarship spots remaining. Missouri could use another offensive lineman (though it's not an absolute necessity), could use a tight end (though we don't really know of any it is pursuing) and will likely look at a running back (there are currently only four on scholarship and two are freshmen) and could still potentially bring in another defensive lineman.
The roster is mostly set, but not completely. There are the potential additions above and grad transfers can enter the portal at any time so it's not out of the question that someone on the current roster would choose to leave. However, moving to another school this late in the process might be tough if you're not already in the portal because most teams will pretty much have their rosters set.
2) Johnson's addition to the offensive line is massive. Eli Drinkwitz was pretty forthright in spring football that the offensive line wasn't good enough and specifically the center position was lacking. Johnson is the likely starter at that spot if things go as planned. Some will say it's not an ideal plan to be moving a guard to center to shore up the line, especially in May. And it may not be ideal. But it's also not impossible. Mitch Morse didn't come to Missouri as a center, he's doing just fine. Connor McGovern played three positions on the line at Missouri and none of them were center...now he's an eight-year veteran in the NFL as a center. This is hardly unprecedented.
So if we slate Johnson at center, we know Javon Foster is going to play left tackle. The other candidates to start are Xavier Delgado, E.J. Ndoma-Ogar, Armand Membou and Marcellus Johnson. Johnson is a tackle and ideally will start at RT. However, that's the spot Membou played last year as well. Membou certainly could move inside and displace one of the other two at one of the guard spots. But we'd expect three of those four to start with the sixth as the primary backup offensive lineman. We've heard great things about redshirt freshman Valen Erickson and there's a lot of optimism for Tristan Wilson as well. Here's our best guess at a two-deep:
LT: Foster/Erickson
LG: Delgado/Wilson
C: C. Johnson/Connor Tollison
RG: Membou/Ndoma-Ogar
RT: M. Johnson/Membou
3) With Gaddy coming in, Missouri adds another option on the edge, which became a little more important when Arden Walker entered the portal. The defensive line is a little less certain for us. Missouri has plenty of options, but there's not a lot of separation in those options. We know Darius Robinson is going to start. We'd be stunned if Kristian Williams didn't. Robinson will likely spend some time outside, but we'd expect it to be more in certain packages than a full-time role. Look for something similar to the way the Chiefs use Chris Jones. He's not a full-time defensive end, but in certain situations putting him out there can be a big benefit. You can also run five defensive linemen in short yardage situations with Williams, Robinson and Jayden Jernigan inside.
The defensive ends are much less of a certainty. There are a bunch of guys there, but none of them have ever really been productive college starters on the Power Five level. You need two starters out of Johnny Walker Jr. (the coaches are high on him after last season and the spring), Austin Firestone, Joe Moore, Nyles Gaddy and anyone else Missouri might bring in. Obviously this doesn't account for a big surprise like one of the true freshmen immediately jumping into the starting lineup.
Our projected two deep on the defensive line:
DE: Walker/Gaddy
DT: Robinson/Realus George
DT: Williams/Jernigan
DE: Moore/Firestone
You've got Josh Landry, who can play inside and outside, plus Jalen Marshall and Marquis Gracial as depth pieces. One of the freshmen probably sees the field, the Tigers could still bring in another transfer and Kyran Montgomery is a wild card. While it's hard to nail down specifically who will be in the rotation, there are enough numbers there that it shouldn't be a big concern. Out of all those guys, some are going to emerge.
4) One player potentially impacted by the shuffling here is freshman Jordon Harris. We're now expecting him to be a tight end when he starts. Initially we thought Missouri would use him on the defensive line, but coming out of spring we'd heard tight end was more likely. We now think that's almost certain because the Tigers need a lot more help at tight end a lot more quickly than they do at defensive end. I want to be clear, this might be a move that was going to be made anyway rather than a move of necessity. Harris' athleticism and versatility always meant he could go to either side of the ball. Plus he's only played football for two years so it's not like he has a lifetime of one spot built up and is going to have to do something completely different. We'd expect Harris and fellow freshman Brett Norfleet to get every opportunity to see the field this season.
1) Let's start off with the good news because we all know message boards to be a beacon of optimism. Missouri picked up two football commitments in the span of 15 minutes on Saturday afternoon at positions of major need. First came Jackson State defensive end Nyles Gaddy who took an official visit this weekend. He was followed by Houston offensive lineman Cam'Ron Johnson, who is slated to move to center for the Tigers as things stand right now.
For whatever it matters, Missouri now has 82 players slated to be on scholarship next season. There are three scholarship spots remaining. Missouri could use another offensive lineman (though it's not an absolute necessity), could use a tight end (though we don't really know of any it is pursuing) and will likely look at a running back (there are currently only four on scholarship and two are freshmen) and could still potentially bring in another defensive lineman.
The roster is mostly set, but not completely. There are the potential additions above and grad transfers can enter the portal at any time so it's not out of the question that someone on the current roster would choose to leave. However, moving to another school this late in the process might be tough if you're not already in the portal because most teams will pretty much have their rosters set.
2) Johnson's addition to the offensive line is massive. Eli Drinkwitz was pretty forthright in spring football that the offensive line wasn't good enough and specifically the center position was lacking. Johnson is the likely starter at that spot if things go as planned. Some will say it's not an ideal plan to be moving a guard to center to shore up the line, especially in May. And it may not be ideal. But it's also not impossible. Mitch Morse didn't come to Missouri as a center, he's doing just fine. Connor McGovern played three positions on the line at Missouri and none of them were center...now he's an eight-year veteran in the NFL as a center. This is hardly unprecedented.
So if we slate Johnson at center, we know Javon Foster is going to play left tackle. The other candidates to start are Xavier Delgado, E.J. Ndoma-Ogar, Armand Membou and Marcellus Johnson. Johnson is a tackle and ideally will start at RT. However, that's the spot Membou played last year as well. Membou certainly could move inside and displace one of the other two at one of the guard spots. But we'd expect three of those four to start with the sixth as the primary backup offensive lineman. We've heard great things about redshirt freshman Valen Erickson and there's a lot of optimism for Tristan Wilson as well. Here's our best guess at a two-deep:
LT: Foster/Erickson
LG: Delgado/Wilson
C: C. Johnson/Connor Tollison
RG: Membou/Ndoma-Ogar
RT: M. Johnson/Membou
3) With Gaddy coming in, Missouri adds another option on the edge, which became a little more important when Arden Walker entered the portal. The defensive line is a little less certain for us. Missouri has plenty of options, but there's not a lot of separation in those options. We know Darius Robinson is going to start. We'd be stunned if Kristian Williams didn't. Robinson will likely spend some time outside, but we'd expect it to be more in certain packages than a full-time role. Look for something similar to the way the Chiefs use Chris Jones. He's not a full-time defensive end, but in certain situations putting him out there can be a big benefit. You can also run five defensive linemen in short yardage situations with Williams, Robinson and Jayden Jernigan inside.
The defensive ends are much less of a certainty. There are a bunch of guys there, but none of them have ever really been productive college starters on the Power Five level. You need two starters out of Johnny Walker Jr. (the coaches are high on him after last season and the spring), Austin Firestone, Joe Moore, Nyles Gaddy and anyone else Missouri might bring in. Obviously this doesn't account for a big surprise like one of the true freshmen immediately jumping into the starting lineup.
Our projected two deep on the defensive line:
DE: Walker/Gaddy
DT: Robinson/Realus George
DT: Williams/Jernigan
DE: Moore/Firestone
You've got Josh Landry, who can play inside and outside, plus Jalen Marshall and Marquis Gracial as depth pieces. One of the freshmen probably sees the field, the Tigers could still bring in another transfer and Kyran Montgomery is a wild card. While it's hard to nail down specifically who will be in the rotation, there are enough numbers there that it shouldn't be a big concern. Out of all those guys, some are going to emerge.
4) One player potentially impacted by the shuffling here is freshman Jordon Harris. We're now expecting him to be a tight end when he starts. Initially we thought Missouri would use him on the defensive line, but coming out of spring we'd heard tight end was more likely. We now think that's almost certain because the Tigers need a lot more help at tight end a lot more quickly than they do at defensive end. I want to be clear, this might be a move that was going to be made anyway rather than a move of necessity. Harris' athleticism and versatility always meant he could go to either side of the ball. Plus he's only played football for two years so it's not like he has a lifetime of one spot built up and is going to have to do something completely different. We'd expect Harris and fellow freshman Brett Norfleet to get every opportunity to see the field this season.
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