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So the early signing period is over, which means it's obviously time to kick back, relax and forget about recruiting for a minute, right? Of course not. We'll start by going through the rest of the 2022 news and then move on to the Class of 2023. Because in recruiting, it's ALWAYS about what's next.
Missouri currently has 15 signees. The only player on the commitment list who is not signed is Omaha offensive lineman DeShawn Woods. It is possible that Woods signs in February. At this point, it is very much in doubt. With spots limited, you really can't afford to sign a guy that isn't going to qualify. So in the next seven weeks or so, the determination is going to have to be made whether Woods will or not. If it looks good, we expect Missouri to sign him in February. If not, they're going to have to use the spot on another player.
We have all along projected a class of 25 to 28 players. It could be slightly lower than that, but probably not much. We think that Missouri has eight to 12 more spots left and that would increase by one if Woods doesn't sign in February. A lot of what they do is going to be determined by who and how many transfer out. Eli Drinkwitz explained on Wednesday that his basic philosophy is to replace departing seniors with freshmen and replace transfers with transfers. That's obviously not going to be exactly a 1 to 1 situation, but it's a good baseline. Here's what we'd project position wise for the rest of the class:
Quarterback: 0
Running Back: 1-2 (potentially a transfer)
Wide Receiver: 0
Tight End: 1-2 (at least one transfer)
Offensive Line: 1-2 (likely transfers)
Defensive End: 0-1
Defensive Tackle: 1-2 (transfers). The number probably depends on the decision of Jeffrey M'Ba, which is supposed to happen today. The latest information we have is that it seems unlikely M'Ba is going to choose Missouri.
Linebacker: 1 (transfer)
Cornerback: 1
Safety: 1-2 (transfer)
A couple of the top high school names to watch are running back Andrew Paul, defensive end Francois Nolton Jr, defensive lineman Jayson Jenkins (Missouri offered yesterday), offensive lineman Jackson Brown and cornerback Khamari Terrell. That could leave 4-8 spots for transfers if Missouri were to get them all, which is probably unlikely.
The transfer market still has a lot of movement coming after bowl games. Again, there's no real timeline for transfers. Obviously, if they're going to enroll for second semester, things need to be done by mid-January. But players have until May 1 to enter the portal and there will be even more movement after spring football across the country. Missouri recently offered Oregon transfer Jayson Jones.
So far as we know, Clemson safety transfer Joseph Charleston is still out there as well. He visited Mizzou a couple weeks ago and we really haven't heard a thing on his recruitment outside of that.
The next time schools can host visitors is the weekend of January 14th. So a lot of the transfer visits are likely going to be virtual over the next few weeks. We'll do our best to follow it all.
So let's talk about the Class of 2023 and what to expect. As of today, we have Missouri at 83 scholarship players for next year. We have taken Tyler Badie off the scholarship chart because even though he hasn't announced anything, everyone knows he is gone. There are a few others still listed who we are definitely not expecting back (Simi Bakare, Case Cook) and there will be more transfers out. Let's assume for the purposes of this discussion that Missouri goes into next season with the full 85 players on scholarship. Again, estimating how many people will leave after next year is virtually impossible. According to our chart, it would only be about nine that are definitely out of eligibility and leaving. But that doesn't include players like Trajan Jeffcoat, Martez Manuel, Devin Nicholson, Isaiah McGuire, Darius Robinson, Tauskie Dove and others who are technically eligible for a sixth year but are probably at least 50/50 to be done after next season. It also doesn't include transfers out and there are clearly going to be some of those.
Starting with a baseline of 20 spots for the 2023 class seems like a good spot. It could be slightly smaller if a lot of those guys listed above choose to come back. It could also be larger as guys choose to move on or transfer. But 20 seems like a reasonable number to start. Here's a guess at what positions could look like in the 2023 class based on that number:
Quarterback: 1. You always take one
Running Back: 0-1. Depending on what happens in January and the transfer market, there may not be a need.
Wide Receiver: 1-2. Missouri is VERY young at this position, it doesn't need to be a focal point in 2023.
Tight End: 1. Depends on what happens the rest of this class, how many they add and what year they are. But they've already got Brett Norfleet on board and that may end up being it.
Offensive line: 4. This is just a good solid baseline number for pretty much any OL class.
Defensive End: 2. Missouri is still going to be young here, but Jeffcoat is almost certainly gone.
Defensive Tackle: 2-3. Again, this could move based on what happens in January.
Linebacker: 2-3. Even if they get a transfer, three of the seven on the current roster could be done after next season.
Cornerback: 1. All seven of the current corners have at least three years of eligibility remaining.
Safety: 2-3. You have to count on Manuel and Stacy Brown being gone after next year and Jaylon Carlies after the 2023 season.
That gets you to about 18-19 spots and then you've got a couple left for the best available player (or for our guesses just being wrong). So who are the guys we're watching? It's way to early to start projecting a perfect class or anything like that, but we'll start with a couple of 2023 notes we picked up this week and then take a look at some of the top targets.
Logan Reichert
We chatted briefly with Reichert and he didn't give much away, saying he's still in frequent communication with the Tiger staff and plans to use this offseason to take visits and participate in camps. The massive top-100 prospect said he'll likely announce a decision next fall. However, in chatting with a few other people at the event, there's certainly some buzz out there that Reichert is a heavy Mizzou lean and it wouldn't be a shock to some if he pulled the trigger sooner rather than later. We asked Reichert specifically about Georgia, which lost KC area recruiter Dan Lanning to Oregon. Reichert said he's continued to talk to Lanning, who wants him to visit Eugene, but he didn't mention anything about continuing to hear from Georgia.
Parker Leise
The Shawnee Mission East QB was in attendance, too, as he's close with Max Whisner. Leise has not received an offer from Missouri, but he said he's been in communication with the staff. He has an offer from Kansas and has heard from Kansas State, Iowa State, Penn State, Minnesota and NC State, among other schools. Leise said he would be very interested in Mizzou if an offer comes, as staying close to home is important to him.
Jahkai Lang
Lang is making his announcement at 10:30 this morning. Kentucky and Wisconsin are finalists, but the general belief is that this is very, very likely to be Missouri.
