Mizzou Report Card: Defense and Special Teams After the Early Signing Period

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Since the Tigers’ defeat at Arkansas in Week 13 to clinch bowl eligibility, the team has undergone a number of roster changes.

Now that the early signing period has passed and the transfer portal is closed for the time being, it’s time to hand Missouri a signed-by report card to see if the Tigers (on paper) have improved their roster on defense and special teams.

Defense line: It is likely that the defensive ends were badly damaged Trajan Jeffcoat Transfer to Arkansas and Isaiah McGuire And DJ Coleman Announcing the NFL Draft. That’s a lot of experience and production out of the group.

The Tigers added a defensive end to the Northwest conversions Austin Firestone and Arizona defensive end Joe Moore. They also added three-star recruits Gordon HarrisAnd Jackie LangAnd Sirene Tonkara And Sam Williams.

Firestone had three tackles and a tackle for loss in a true redshirt freshman season. Likely to be in contention to be a rotational player at least.

Moore had 24 tackles, four tackles for loss, two sacks, and a fumble recovery last season.

He originally committed to Washington in December before things fell apart. He attended Cardinal Ritter High School in St. Louis and was a four-star prospect in the class of 2020 and earned a number of Power 5 offers including one from the Tigers. Moore will likely be in the rotation, but he may have a chance to compete with him Arden Walker And Johnny Walker one of the starting points.

Originally a tight end, Harris will likely make the transition to defensive end due to his size at 6-7 and 230 pounds. He’s a former basketball player who’s going to be a big project and is sure to meet boredom, but his size offers great potential.

Tounkara is a good running defender who is both physical and explosive. He’s someone who could find his way into the effort and action rotation on his own if he progresses at a steady enough rate this off-season.

Lang had 66 tackles, six tackles for loss, and two sacks his junior year at Troy Buchanan (Mo.). He’s already enrolled, so he’ll be in Spring Football in March, which puts him slightly ahead of Harris and Tounkara.

Missouri retained the services of the defensive tackles Realos GeorgeAnd Jaden JerniganAnd Josh LandryAnd Darius Robinson And Christian Williams. Therefore, the interior of the font remains intact. Sam Williams, who played defensive end at Callaway (Ga.), is likely to move inside. He probably won’t get many if any delegates because Missouri’s coaching staff is high Galen Marshall And Marquis Gracialbut it is definitely the size that Mizu is looking for in the interior.

Overall, this group may not have someone who can put up the production of McGuire or Coleman, but the defensive line as a unit has enough depth to maintain a formidable front line. Grade: A-

full back: Tigers lost Devin Nicholson to the gate, but he did not have a significant role in the list, so his loss, from a field point of view, has little effect.

near the end of last season, Chad Bailey He said he would return in 2023, T Ron HooperHis whereabouts are unknown. He could have declared for the draft easily, but luckily for the Tigers, Hooper decided to bring it back the next season. So, Missouri has both starting linebackers in the fold next year to go along with the other six starters.

In this new era of the transfer portal, players come and go more often and more quickly. Each player is tied to a one-year deal and coaches must re-recruit players to their respective teams annually. So even though Hooper was on the Tigers’ squad in 2022, he’s Missouri’s best “addition” at the position.

Seeing a good chance Hooper might be in the NFL, the Tigers went to the gate and signed Triston NewsonJUCO’s 1st team All-American just totaled 107 tackles for Northeast Mississippi CC (Miss.). Had Hooper departed, Newson would likely have been the first to replace him in the starting line-up. It won’t happen now, but he’ll probably be able to spell Hopper when he’s not last on the field for whatever reason.

Missouri also added a three-star linebacker Brychon Littlejohn, who was a Class 5A All-State player at Gaffney (SC) last season as an outside linebacker. There are a number of players who could potentially see the field before Littlejohn in 2023, but he’s a solid addition to the center. Littlejohn has also enrolled in classes, so he will be participating in spring football.

Re-adding Hopper alone is huge, but getting another valuable rotation player and signing another player who will be given development time is always a good thing. Grade: A

secondary: Tigers lost Martyz Manuel for project f Galani Williams to the transfer portal. Manuel is the bigger deal considering he’s been captain for the past two years, but of the three Tigers who have declared for the draft he’s the most easily replaceable because Dylan Carnell He proves in 2022 that he’s ready to take over as the primary STAR. Williams was a key player, so like Nicholson, this is not a loss that will make the position weaker on the field.

The team retained startup collateral Jaylon Carliss And Joseph Charlestonand also retained the starting struts Chris Abrams Drane And Ennis Rackestraw.

Karles’ name has been linked with the NFL since the end of the 2021 season, and Abrams-Drain was told he’d get a third-round pitcher for this year’s draft if he declared, but he wasn’t happy with that. They both come back, like Hopper, a good re-add. Especially, Abrams-Draine because he and Rakestraw are one of the best cornerback tandems in the country.

Missouri added former Florida safety Treves Johnson and a former Florida safety Sydney Williams From the gate after I signed four safety stars Marvin Burks and a three-star defensive back Nicholas DeLoachAnd Shemr McNeil And Philip Roach.

Johnson is coming off the best season of his career which saw him play in 12 games and start nine games for the Starr. He recorded 26 tackles, two for loss and one interception.

Williams, who also happens to be Abrams-Drain’s cousin, came in after recording 12 tackles in 11 games.

Burks is the highest rated player on the team and is the 198th ranked player in the world Challenger 250. He is a willing and physical player as well as a playmaker and can play any safe position as a defensive coordinator Blake Baker He needs to play. Burks also enrolled and would participate in spring football.

DeLoach is listed as a wide receiver, but he played wide receiver and defensive back at Cahokia (Illinois) and will still stick to defense when he comes to Columbia. He made 94 tackles and four interceptions while returning two for touchdowns. He was also a wrestler and this combined with his number of tackles indicates that he is not afraid of contact, which is a common theme at this high school level.

McNeil is quite tall for a cornerback at 6-3, but he uses his height to his advantage. He’s good at high-shooting jump balls and reverses receivers well last season at American Heritage (Florida) where he recorded 35 tackles, two interceptions for loss, one interception, and 15 pass deflections.

Baker tells Roach that he could be lined up for any position in high school, but his bar indicates that he is an ideal candidate for a future STAR position. He’s a physical and prepared striker, but he’s also a great blitzer.

This position group is the most talented in the team from top to bottom and when you factor in all the starting players returning, upcoming transfers and players likely to contribute from the bench (Tyler HeiblerAnd Tyler JonesAnd Isaac Thompson And Jamarion Wayne) There’s almost no way any of their recent high school signings are playing. In this case, it’s a good thing because by the time they’re ready to play, they’ll have a year or two of spice up. Grade: A

Special teams: The biggest special teams departure was the punter Jack Stonehousewho moved to Syracuse. Stonehouse was fine but he struggled at times with his own consistency. Therefore, Missouri replaced him with a Towson punter Riley Williams, who was a second-team All-Colonial Athletic Association selection and fourth in the FCS in throwing 44.7 yards per punt on 46 punts. Williams had 16 balls travel 50 yards or more, 13 punts dropped inside the opponent’s 20-yard line and only three touchdowns.

The Tigers also lost a kick returner Elijah Youngwho moved to Western Kentucky, but with Nathaniel Pete And Abrams-Draine, they still have capable returns. The same can be said with Luther Bearden III On a punt return, though, someone like a three-star wide receiver Daniel blood Can fill this role if required.

Harrison Mavis The worst season of his career was in 2022 when he missed a career-high six field goals and went 22 0f 28 (78%) field goals. However, at his best (5-of-5 vs. Georgia in Week 5 including three of 49+ yards), he’s still one of the best players in the country and Mizzo is excited to have him back in 2023.

Tigers also signed Blake Craig, a two-star all-state kicker from Liberty North (Mo.). Craig made 17 of 24 field goal attempts that included three field goals from 50 yards (55, 52, and 50). He was also 50 of 51 points after tries.

Craig will be a Tigers mid-year participant participating in spring football and may have an opportunity to be a starting specialist with Sean Cootingleave.

The Tigers were promoted in the punt game after retaining one of the best players in school history and then topped that by signing a promising kicker who could fill the role within a year. Grade: A

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