The first part (and the bulk of) the 2021 class has signed. You can find all our coverage of that here.
There were two players we expected to sign who did not
From what we hear, the hope is still to have both players be part of the class. The situations are different. There is extreme confidence (like pretty much guaranteed) that BJ Harris is going to be a Tiger. It will happen. Why it wasn't announced this week I can't say, but I am certain it will happen in time.
With Pearl, it's less certain. There's still a hope to add him. But it's not a done deal. There are some things that need to be taken care of on Pearl's end before things can be finalized. There's hope they'll get done and he'll be a Tiger.
WHAT'S LEFT IN 2021?
Eli Drinkwitz said there were "about five" spots left in the class. We believe that's counting Harris and Pearl still as part of the class because we believe Missouri is targeting 28 as the number of players in this class. That will likely include a transfer or two.
Offensive Tackle (1)
- During Wednesday's press conference, Drinkwitz was adamant about wanting to add another offensive lineman with length. Austin Uke is a guy that's been on Mizzou's radar since November. The one-time Holy Cross commit will wait out his recruiting process until February, but the Tigers will face tough competition to land him, as he’s also picked up recent offers from the likes of Florida State, Penn State, USC and Texas. If Missouri doesn’t land Uke, the staff could dip back into the transfer portal or junior college ranks.
Defensive Back (2)
- JUCO product Jadarrius Perkins is set to announce his commitment on Christmas and will be choosing between a Top 7 that includes - Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma, Florida State, Missouri, and Texas A&M.
Dontae Balfour is another target that had Auburn and Missouri among his top choices and will now wait until February to officially sign. LSU, Mississippi State, Oregon, and Tennessee also jumped in the mix with offers right before the early signing period. Expect more to enter the race and the competition to get tougher.
Wide Receiver (1)
- Even with Dominic Lovett flipping to the Tigers right before signing day, Missouri could still be in the market to add another pass-catching threat. If an addition occurs, we'd expect it to be via the transfer portal.
TOP 2022 TARGETS
With a large portion of the 2021 class now in the fold, Missouri will start turning their focus to the 2022 class. They are already off to a great start with two, in-state commitments in the fold in Lee's Summit tight end Max Whisner and SLUH defensive back Isaac Thompson.
Here is a snapshot of who we think Mizzou's Top 10 targets in 2022 are currently:
Horn has said Mizzou is his top school currently
Committed to Oklahoma, but Missouri still showing a ton of interest
Has Mizzou among his Top 8
Lived in St. Louis for 10 years, good friends with Jack Buford
TEAM NOTES
Couple of things we want to cover on the current roster as Missouri heads into the final weekend of the regular season.
This won't be Missouri's last game. A bowl is going to happen. There are really three possibilities for the Tigers destination at this point: Citrus, Outback, Taxslayer (Gator). It's widely believed Mizzou is going to be playing in Florida on or just after New Year's Day.
The Citrus Bowl is largely reliant on Florida and the New Year's Six. The Citrus gets the best available SEC team that isn't in the NY6. Are the Gators going to still get in even if they get hammered by Bama tomorrow? That would make them 8-3 with back to back losses to end the season. Most projections have had them as an NY6 team and we guess they probably still would be, but if they aren't, they're a Citrus Bowl lock. If the Gators do get in, the Citrus will basically have a choice between the Missouri Tigers or the Auburn Tigers.
A note here, Dave Matter said on the TV show we do together and on the P-D podcast, that the SEC is basically going through the schools in order of record and asking which bowl they prefer to play in (outside of the NY6 obviously) and placing that team there in order of finish. If Missouri wins this weekend, those two teams finish with the same record so who knows how it will be handled? Anyway, if Florida is in the NY6, the Citrus is in play for Mizzou.
If it's not the Citrus, we're pretty confident it will be the Outback. From what we're told, that's the one (at least between that and the Gator) that the Tigers prefer. It's a little more prestigious and higher in the pecking order, it's a little bigger payday. The likely opponents in the Outback would be Iowa, Indiana or Wisconsin (Northwestern is somewhat possible, but the Cats are probably headed to the Citrus from what we've read).
Even if that doesn't happen for some reason, the Taxslayer is hardly a bad destination. That game is played in Jacksonville on Jan 2 against an ACC team this year. With Clemson and Notre Dame both probably in the playoff, North Carolina could get an Orange Bowl spot. If not, they'd be in the mix with teams like North Carolina State and Miami for this spot. There's also the possibility the Gator has to go outside of the ACC because five programs have already said they won't play a bowl game.
Speaking of the issue of last games, everybody's going to want to know about the seniors. Tyree Gillespie, Josh Bledsoe and Larry Rountree are playing in the Senior Bowl and so we know they're moving on. Punter Grant McKinniss has said he's coming back next year. Here are some other players we believe Missouri has a decent shot to hang on to: Kobie Whiteside, Akial Byers, Chris Turner, Markell Utsey, Mike Maetti, Keke Chism and Sean Koetting. They probably won't all come back, but some will. Drinkwitz said earlier this week that it was very important to get some of the seniors back on the defensive line "and we will." He said he wasn't going to steal the thunder of any of those players making an announcement, but it's obvious he already knows they're at least getting some of them back. Koetting (whose family is very much pro-Mizzou and entrenched in the Columbia community) and McKinniss would really help solidify the kicking game along with Harrison Mevis being back next year as well.
Official announcements from those players may not come until after the bowl game. Again, we don't necessarily think they're all coming back, but those are the guys we're watching most closely as guys we think might use the extra year.
There were two players we expected to sign who did not
From what we hear, the hope is still to have both players be part of the class. The situations are different. There is extreme confidence (like pretty much guaranteed) that BJ Harris is going to be a Tiger. It will happen. Why it wasn't announced this week I can't say, but I am certain it will happen in time.
With Pearl, it's less certain. There's still a hope to add him. But it's not a done deal. There are some things that need to be taken care of on Pearl's end before things can be finalized. There's hope they'll get done and he'll be a Tiger.
WHAT'S LEFT IN 2021?
Eli Drinkwitz said there were "about five" spots left in the class. We believe that's counting Harris and Pearl still as part of the class because we believe Missouri is targeting 28 as the number of players in this class. That will likely include a transfer or two.
Offensive Tackle (1)
- During Wednesday's press conference, Drinkwitz was adamant about wanting to add another offensive lineman with length. Austin Uke is a guy that's been on Mizzou's radar since November. The one-time Holy Cross commit will wait out his recruiting process until February, but the Tigers will face tough competition to land him, as he’s also picked up recent offers from the likes of Florida State, Penn State, USC and Texas. If Missouri doesn’t land Uke, the staff could dip back into the transfer portal or junior college ranks.
Defensive Back (2)
- JUCO product Jadarrius Perkins is set to announce his commitment on Christmas and will be choosing between a Top 7 that includes - Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma, Florida State, Missouri, and Texas A&M.
Dontae Balfour is another target that had Auburn and Missouri among his top choices and will now wait until February to officially sign. LSU, Mississippi State, Oregon, and Tennessee also jumped in the mix with offers right before the early signing period. Expect more to enter the race and the competition to get tougher.
Wide Receiver (1)
- Even with Dominic Lovett flipping to the Tigers right before signing day, Missouri could still be in the market to add another pass-catching threat. If an addition occurs, we'd expect it to be via the transfer portal.
TOP 2022 TARGETS
With a large portion of the 2021 class now in the fold, Missouri will start turning their focus to the 2022 class. They are already off to a great start with two, in-state commitments in the fold in Lee's Summit tight end Max Whisner and SLUH defensive back Isaac Thompson.
Here is a snapshot of who we think Mizzou's Top 10 targets in 2022 are currently:
Horn has said Mizzou is his top school currently
Committed to Oklahoma, but Missouri still showing a ton of interest
Has Mizzou among his Top 8
Lived in St. Louis for 10 years, good friends with Jack Buford
TEAM NOTES
Couple of things we want to cover on the current roster as Missouri heads into the final weekend of the regular season.
This won't be Missouri's last game. A bowl is going to happen. There are really three possibilities for the Tigers destination at this point: Citrus, Outback, Taxslayer (Gator). It's widely believed Mizzou is going to be playing in Florida on or just after New Year's Day.
The Citrus Bowl is largely reliant on Florida and the New Year's Six. The Citrus gets the best available SEC team that isn't in the NY6. Are the Gators going to still get in even if they get hammered by Bama tomorrow? That would make them 8-3 with back to back losses to end the season. Most projections have had them as an NY6 team and we guess they probably still would be, but if they aren't, they're a Citrus Bowl lock. If the Gators do get in, the Citrus will basically have a choice between the Missouri Tigers or the Auburn Tigers.
A note here, Dave Matter said on the TV show we do together and on the P-D podcast, that the SEC is basically going through the schools in order of record and asking which bowl they prefer to play in (outside of the NY6 obviously) and placing that team there in order of finish. If Missouri wins this weekend, those two teams finish with the same record so who knows how it will be handled? Anyway, if Florida is in the NY6, the Citrus is in play for Mizzou.
If it's not the Citrus, we're pretty confident it will be the Outback. From what we're told, that's the one (at least between that and the Gator) that the Tigers prefer. It's a little more prestigious and higher in the pecking order, it's a little bigger payday. The likely opponents in the Outback would be Iowa, Indiana or Wisconsin (Northwestern is somewhat possible, but the Cats are probably headed to the Citrus from what we've read).
Even if that doesn't happen for some reason, the Taxslayer is hardly a bad destination. That game is played in Jacksonville on Jan 2 against an ACC team this year. With Clemson and Notre Dame both probably in the playoff, North Carolina could get an Orange Bowl spot. If not, they'd be in the mix with teams like North Carolina State and Miami for this spot. There's also the possibility the Gator has to go outside of the ACC because five programs have already said they won't play a bowl game.
Speaking of the issue of last games, everybody's going to want to know about the seniors. Tyree Gillespie, Josh Bledsoe and Larry Rountree are playing in the Senior Bowl and so we know they're moving on. Punter Grant McKinniss has said he's coming back next year. Here are some other players we believe Missouri has a decent shot to hang on to: Kobie Whiteside, Akial Byers, Chris Turner, Markell Utsey, Mike Maetti, Keke Chism and Sean Koetting. They probably won't all come back, but some will. Drinkwitz said earlier this week that it was very important to get some of the seniors back on the defensive line "and we will." He said he wasn't going to steal the thunder of any of those players making an announcement, but it's obvious he already knows they're at least getting some of them back. Koetting (whose family is very much pro-Mizzou and entrenched in the Columbia community) and McKinniss would really help solidify the kicking game along with Harrison Mevis being back next year as well.
Official announcements from those players may not come until after the bowl game. Again, we don't necessarily think they're all coming back, but those are the guys we're watching most closely as guys we think might use the extra year.
