We are proud to welcome Will Garrett, Agency Sales Manager of Missouri Farm Bureau Insurance as our partner and sponsor. When you’re looking for in-depth analysis of everything happening at Mizzou, Monday Morning Thoughts is the place to go. When you’re looking for an in-depth review of your insurance policies, Will Garrett is who you need. Born and raised a Tiger fan, Will is proud of his hometown and takes pride in protecting his community, and the people in it. The time to prepare for tomorrow is today. Find Will in his office just south of Faurot Field! Click here to get in touch with Will and start the process.
1) Let's start off with the best thing I saw related to Mizzou sports all week.
That's a note Ennis Rakestraw wrote to his fourth grade teacher. Near the end it says "I hope you're alive because if I make it to be a professional football player I'll talk about you."
Mission accomplished. Most of us have no idea how many people it took to get these athletes to where they are today. We don't really think that much about their lives off the field. There are countless Mr. Gammon's out there. They'll never get it, but they deserve as much credit as Eli Drinkwitz and his colleagues for these kids. Often times, maybe more. Credit to Ennis for giving this guy a little bit of it.
2) What happens next in the portal?
Mizzou missed out on defensive tackles Damonic Williams and Simeon Barrow this week. Hey, eventually things had to be something less than damn near perfect, right? The question is whether Missouri needs to find the next best DT on its list or whether it can stand pat.
As of now, Kristian Williams and Chris McClellan should be your starters. They're backed up by some combination of Sterling Webb, Sam Williams, Marquis Gracial and Jalen Marshall. You could potentially throw recent transfer Eddie Kelly in there--someone that follows Georgia Tech told me he really should be more of a defensive tackle than a defensive end, but he's just had trouble keeping enough weight on to consistently play inside in a major conference.
Personally, I think Missouri has enough there. I look at the pursuit of Williams and Barrow more as a "We're right there with a roster we think can make a playoff and chase a championship, so if there's another guy out there that we think might give us even a small edge, we're going to go get him." So if there's another guy like that, sure, go get him. But I don't think you have to go take a defensive tackle just to have another defensive tackle. If the person you add isn't a clear upgrade over at least three or four of the names on that list, I'm not sure it's worth it. Of course, that isn't my call to make so we'll see what happens.
3) The only player I currently know is expected to visit is South Alabama linebacker Khalil Jacobs. I think Missouri will keep its eye out and could potentially host more transfers. There are three total scholarships open. If they wanted one more offensive line depth piece, a cornerback, or simply see a player out there they think can make even the smallest difference between, say, 10-2 and 11-1, then they'll go get him because there's room to get him. But the roster is very close to complete at this point.
4) So let's take stock of the roster and let's start with the question marks. I don't want to use the word "weaknesses" because I think this is a roster without any glaring holes. When I say question marks what I mean is, if we get to the end of the year and this team has gone 8-4 or 9-3 and its just outside of the playoff, what was it that kept them out? I'm not including injuries here because that's always a wild card you just can't predict. Obviously there are a handful of players who if they get hurt, it completely changes the outlook for the season. I'm not going to type their names here because you guys will then get mad at me for speaking it into existence, but there are probably three of them that come to mind for me (two on offense, one on defense). Anyway, if everyone stays healthy, here are my biggest question marks:
*Kicker. That's not say Blake Craig isn't good enough. He very well may be. They obviously believe he is. It's simply that we haven't seen him do it in a game yet and he's replacing one of the biggest special teams weapons in the country. Kicker probably has the biggest impact on games in the smallest number of plays. I mean, sure, a quarterback is going to effect a game more, but he's probably running or throwing the ball 40 times in a game. A kicker may get two or three opportunities and any one of them can completely change a season.
*Linebacker. Is Triston Newson going to be the guy we saw in the last 2-3 games full time now? If he is, that probably alleviates this some. Because between Chuck Hicks and Corey Flagg, Mizzou should have at least a replacement level starter at the other spot. But let's not pretend Newson is yet as proven as Ty'Ron Hopper was, or even Chad Bailey. Again, this isn''t to say Missouri isn't good at this spot. It's just to say it hasn't yet been proven.
*Cornerback. I liked what I saw out of Dre Norwood quite a bit last year. I think Toriano Pride has great potential. Marcus Clarke was decent as the fourth guy last year. I know they like Shemar McNeill and Nicholas DeLoach and I've heard a lot of talk about J'Marion Wayne since he moved to his third position in three years. So, like the other spots, there are enough bodies. I don't view this is a problem spot per se, but we're trying to search for potential problems and I think you at least have to look at a place where you lost two starters who were among the first 150 players picked in the NFL Draft as a potential spot where there's a step back.
5) All of the above adds up to a roster that may have more talent and fewer question marks than just about any Mizzou roster I've ever seen. The comparison that's most been made for this season is 2008 and I think it absolutely works.
The 2023 season was very, very similar to 2007. In both years, Missouri broke out as one of college football's biggest stories. Even those who thought Mizzou would be good at the beginning of those seasons didn't think the Tigers would be that good. Both teams lost twice and you could find a play or two that could have swung both games and had Missouri playing for all the marbles at the end of the year. In both offseasons, the players and coaches openly talked about the opportunity in front of them and Missouri was viewed as one of a handful of teams with a legitimate chance to play for a title.
Obviously it didn't happen in 2008. And I do think we have to admit the possibility it doesn't happen this year. Missouri could be a very good team and fall short of the playoff. It's probably going to take ten wins to get there (and making sure one of the two losses isn't something dumb like Boston College or Arkansas). In late February, FanDuel set Mizzou's over/under at 9.5 wins and I think that's the right number. But the Tigers could be a very good team and fall just shy of that which would probably keep them out of the playoff. You can see a world where Mizzou loses to Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas A&M. One of those would probably be an upset, but not a major one. We've talked over and over about how thin the line is between a mediocre season and a great one. Mizzou was close to 9 or 10 wins in 2022, but it also wasn't far from 4. Last year, it could have easily been 12-0, but could just as easily have been 7-5. I'm not trying to be the wet blanket here. I think Mizzou fans absolutely should be excited. I'm just saying that nobody should start the season thinking the playoff is the floor for this team.
There is one big change between 2008 and 2024, though. And that's the 12 team playoff. In 2008, Mizzou lost in week six to Oklahoma State. And the wind just went completely out of the sails. The next week, the Tigers were blown out at Texas. They lost the regular season finale to Kansas because there really was nothing to play for. I would never say the 2008 team quit, but after that loss to OSU, it knew all of its biggest goals were off the table and something changed. One loss this year doesn't take anything off the table. Two losses probably doesn't even do that. So even if they drop a game or two along the way, there shouldn't be any sort of "Woe is me, the season is over thinking." That doesn't come into play until you lose three and even then, there are worlds where a 9-3 SEC team could sneak in (though I don't think Mizzou is that team with this schedule). Point being, your first loss of the year shouldn't completely change the season like it did in 2008.
