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Every week, PowerMizzou.com publisher Gabe DeArmond answers questions from Tiger fans in the mailbag. This format allows for a more expansive answer than a message board post. Keep your eye out each week to submit your question for the mailbag or send them to powermizzou@gmail.com. On to this week's inquiries.
awasson asks: With the additions from the portal and Foster returning, what is the feeling around the team about the improvement of the Offensive Line? Is it too early to tell or is there some optimism there?
GD: Every question like this needs a disclaimer. It's July 12. We haven't talked to Eli Drinkwitz or any of the coaches or players since early March. So to say what the feeling around the team is, we don't really know. Do we hear some things or check in with some people off the record now and again? Sure. But we're not getting any sort of regular updates or asking on a weekly basis who looks good in summer conditioning. We need time away from them and they need time away from us. I just want to get that out of the way to let people know that just because we aren't hearing someone's name right now doesn't mean they aren't doing well. The offseason happens mostly in secrecy.
As far as the offensive line, I think there should be optimism. You know you have Javon Foster at left tackle. Everything else is malleable. On our live show on Tuesday, I said that Cam'Ron Johnson might be the most important player on the team. They're putting him at center, but he's never been a center. The position was a problem for Mizzou last year. It's a hugely important position as it's one of only two players guaranteed to touch the ball on every offensive snap. If Johnson takes to it and he's good, the rest of the line can fall into place. If not, you're still going to have a bunch of question marks.
Let's assume Johnson is an upgrade over last year. You've got E.J. Ndoma-Ogar, Armand Membou and Xavier Delgado competing for guard spots. At right tackle you probably will see Marcellus Johnson, but Membou can play there and we've heard good things about Valen Erickson and Tristan Wilson for quite a while now. So Missouri has options, which it didn't really have last year. But I think it all revolves around counting on Johnson to pick up the center spot.
gomzzu asks: So what have you learned so far about Mizzou's new NIL program and how it will work?
GD: Not much. I've got a couple of meetings scheduled next week to see what I can find out. The basics are that donations to the main NIL collective (that's almost certain to be Every True Tiger Foundation, but I don't think it's official) are going to count toward Tiger Scholarship Fund donations and points and that people associated with Mizzou (see: coaches) can now directly assist (legally) in setting up NIL deals for players. As far as what that means for people who have given to ETTF already, I've got to find out exactly how all of that is working and that's why I'm meeting with some people next week.
It's definitely safe to say that Missouri is on the front lines of pushing the envelope in NIL. Nobody can accuse the Tigers of not searching for every advantage possible.
