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All football recruiting news in this week's Chamber because we have a lot of it. Let's get to it.
2021 UPDATES:
It has snuck up on all of us a bit with a later football season than usual, but the Early Signing Period for 2021 football recruits starts a week from Wednesday, on Dec. 16. We've said all along that Missouri would likely sign more than 25 players in this class. Based on what we've been able to piece together with early enrollees, transfers, opt-outs, etc, we're projecting the total for this year's class to be 28 signees between December and February. Missouri currently has 21 players committed, so that would leave seven spots in this class.
We do not anticipate they'll all be used in December. We don't even anticipate they'll all be used in February. Missouri is going to be active in the transfer market, especially since it's widely anticipated that there will be no sitting out next year with the one-time exception going into effect. Missouri is definitely keeping an eye on the portal and we expect plenty of action on that front over the next few months.
Drinkwitz made some waves earlier this week when he talked about trying to flip some commitments. We've done some digging and while it's not impossible, we don't believe the pair of receivers from East St. Louis will be among them.
From what we've put together, it would take some drastic changes for either of those two to end up in Mizzou's class. We'll do our best to do some digging on who the flip candidates might be, but we don't expect it to be either of these two.
We do know of a couple decisions to watch on Wednesday, however. The following two prospects said they will announce their decisions on Dec. 16:
As expected, Balfour revealed this week that he will choose between Auburn and Mizzou. The Florida native recently told Rivals.com southeast analyst Chad Simmons that Auburn is on top for him, but Missouri is making a strong case as a decision nears.
"Missouri has a different vibe, the coaches love me and I really like their school," Balfour said of the Tigers.
Pounders has been committed to Mississippi State since April 29th, but obviously that's shaky, to say the least. He recently announced a Top 5 that included the Bulldogs, Ole Miss, Memphis, Arkansas, and Missouri. Pounders hasn't spoken about his recruitment, but after checking around, we believe this to be a two-team race between Missouri and Ole Miss.
MORE QUICK HITS ON OTHER TARGETS:
Another JUCO defensive line target that is expected to enroll early, Iton released his Top 6 on Thursday night, which included the likes of Ole Miss, Florida State, Maryland, Mississippi State, Arkansas, and Missouri. It appears Ole Miss has some momentum here.
Byron Young, 2021 Weakside defensive end - Rivals.com
The definitive source for all Rivals news.
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Uke has picked up a plethora of power five offers in the last month-plus, including Missouri, Penn State, Southern Cal, Stanford, Maryland, Houston, SMU, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech. He's in the midst of a playoff run and with the new interest coming his way, could likely wait until February to sign.
Johnson could be one to keep an eye on if Missouri wants to add another dynamic athlete in the class. The former Oklahoma commit backed off his pledge recently. The Sooners were recruiting him as a cornerback, but it seems that Johnson is leaning toward wanting to play wide receiver in college and could fill that role for the Tigers. Certainly Mizzou has a need there.
Heading into the football season, Walker was considered a priority target for Missouri along the defensive line. He's playing for a state championship this weekend and we've been told that a decision will likely come shortly after his season is complete. He's also been quiet of late, so we're not quite sure where the dial is pointing here but it seems there is still some level of interest between both him and the Tiger staff.
PREFERRED WALK-ON OFFERS
There have been a flurry of new preferred walk-on offers extended this week.
The PWO program is one thing we've been told Eli Drinkwitz is really looking to improve at Mizzou. In the past, a lot of these offers were extended to players who really wanted to be at Mizzou. Maybe there was a connection to the program or something. We're not saying these guys couldn't play. Some of them definitely could. But we've been told this staff is really putting a priority on finding guys who have some lower level offers, maybe some FCS offers and offering them a chance to be a part of an SEC program. Obviously not all of them are going to work out. In fact, most of them probably won't. But if you can find a guy here and there, it can be a valuable part of a program.
That all fits a little bit with the narrative that Drinkwitz has repeated about leaving no stone unturned. Every staff works hard in recruiting, but in a year where recruiting has hardly been traditional, this staff truly is looking in every corner of the state and beyond.
From what we're hearing, it's not going unnoticed by players and coaches. Who knows, maybe there will be some tangible proof of that later today.
RIVALS RANKINGS NOTES:
Rivals.com have been releasing its updated 2021 rankings throughout the week. Included in the updates was a significant jump in the Rivals250 rankings for Mizzou defensive line commit Kyran Montgomery, who moved up 22 spots to No. 208 in the overall rankings.
Travion Ford, 2021 Weakside defensive end - Rivals.com
The definitive source for all Rivals news.
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On the flip side, Travion Ford moved out of the Rivals250 rankings but remains a 5.8, four-star prospect.
State rankings will be released on Friday morning. We will have more on that next week.
CATCHING UP WITH COMMITMENTS:
Ryan Hoerstkamp, 2021 Tight end - Rivals.com
The definitive source for all Rivals news.
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Despite a recent offer from the PAC-12 version of Washington, Hoerstkamp didn't give us any indication that he is wavering from his Missouri pledge and remains a very active recruiter for the Tigers on social media. In regards to potentially enrolling early, he told us he will know for sure if he can at the beginning of next week and will make that decision shortly afterward.
We asked the longtime tight end commitment what he thought he improved on during his senior season:
"Some things I felt I improved on were running better routes and sharpening a few things before I get to Columbia," he replied.
Mekhi Wingo, 2021 Defensive tackle - Rivals.com
The definitive source for all Rivals news.
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We also caught up with commit #1 of the 2021 class. We asked him what he improved on during his shortened senior season.
"I think my senior season went well. It was upsetting that we couldn't finish with another ring for my senior season, but it will be a teaching moment. I think I became a much greater threat in the run game this year and that just came with understanding schemes more. With me seeing a lot of double teams this year, I learned to work my pass rush moves in tighter spaces now."
Wingo says everything is perfect with him and Missouri and will sign on 16th.
THE LATEST ON ISAAC THOMPSON
Ah yes. You didn't think we had forgotten about Thompson, did you? The news of the day is that the four-star defensive back from St. Louis plans to announce his commitment today at 4 p.m. Thompson is down to three clear finalists, all of which he has visited in the past month: Michigan, Arkansas and Missouri. As has been discussed at length on this site, when Thompson initially set his decision date, Michigan looked to be the consensus, probably because he had just wrapped up a trip to Ann Arbor. But by visiting Missouri last weekend and Arkansas this week, Thompson indicated that he hadn't necessarily made up his mind.
The majority of predictions still point to Michigan, but at this point, depending on who you talk to, you might hear three different schools lead for Thompson. If you've been paying attention to the FutureCasts, you know what our staff is guessing. Now, that is an educated guess, but we want to stress that it is just that: a guess. @Sean_Williams will be in attendance for Thompson's decision ceremony. We will live-stream the decision on our YouTube channel, so please keep an eye out for that this afternoon. Who knows, Mizzou pick up a win this weekend before taking the field.
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