Published Apr 30, 2020
Blowin' Smoke Presented by Weston Tobacco
Gabe DeArmond & Mitchell Forde
Staff

What's more fun than us giving you a chance to mock us every single week? In our new feature, Blowin' Smoke presented by Weston Tobacco, we will do that each and every Thursday. Gabe DeArmond and Mitchell Forde will make five predictions almost sure to go wrong every week in this space. These will range from big games to big picture predictions with a bit of the comedic and absurd mixed in most weeks as well. On to this week's predictions.

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1) Do any of Mizzou's undrafted free agents make a team?

Mitchell: Do any make an active roster this season? I'll say no. I think a few will make practice squads, for sure. And I think it's possible a Yasir Durant or DeMarkus Acy or Cale Garrett could work his way onto an active roster in a season or two — especially Garrett, who could be a good special teams player. But when is the last time an undrafted player from Mizzou actually made a roster that season? Sean Culkin? He might have even taken another year, I don't remember. The point is the odds of an undrafted player making a roster in his rookie season are slim, so I'm going to play those odds.

Gabe: I actually think Tucker McCann makes the Titans and plays this year. I say that knowing absolutely nothing about their kicker, but he can kick off and I say he'll make one. If he is fully healthy, I think Cale Garrett has a chance to do so on special teams too.

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2) Which member of this year's class (drafted or undrafted) has the longest career?

Mitchell: I'll stick with the easy answer in Jordan Elliott. I think he and Albert Okwuegbunam are the only guys that really have the potential to be starters across multiple contracts in the league, and Albert has been too injury prone for me to bet on his longevity. I think Cale Garrett and Tucker McCann could be sneaky picks here, as both could make a living playing special teams and in certain situations. Kickers, especially, can play forever once they make the league, but I don't think McCann is quite consistent enough for the NFL, and since consistency was an issue across all four of his college seasons, I'm not sure I see him getting there.

Gabe: Elliott is the smart answer, but smart answers are boring. I'm going with Garrett here. I'm not sure he makes the Titans' active roster this year, but this is a dude that's simply never going to give up. He may bounce around to two or three or four teams before he sticks and really gets a shot, but the one thing I know about him is he's not going to give up. So I could see him sticking around 8 to 10 years being on four or five teams and getting action sparingly but collecting an NFL check for longer than anyone else in this class.

3) Drew Lock over/under 4000 yards passing next season?

Gabe: I'll take the over. Throwing for 4000 yards means 250 a game if you start every game. There were eleven 4,000-yard passers last season and two of them didn't even play every game. Jimmy Garropolo missed the mark by 22 yards. Jimmy Freaking Garropolo. I saw that dude in the Super Bowl and he's at best an average quarterback. Lock is a better passer than he is. If he's healthy, he hits that mark because as much as I hate to admit it, I love what the Broncos did in the draft. I think Jerry Jeudy has Hall of Fame potential. KJ Hamler can be a version of what Mecole Hardman was for the Chiefs. Courtland Sutton is a damn good receiver and Noah Fant has top five in the NFL tight end potential. If he doesn't get to 4,000 this year, it won't be that long. But I think he does this year.

Mitchell: Give me the over, of course. It's been a long time since the Broncos have put an exciting offense on the field, so I want Lock to throw for all the yards. And it's really not that difficult to throw for 4,000 this season, assuming he stays healthy. Eleven quarterbacks topped that number in 2019. Now, that said, while I was very pleased that the team went out and got Lock some weapons, I'm not expecting him to suddenly turn into 2013 Peyton Manning. There's going to continue to be a learning curve, the offensive line is a major question mark and I think the Broncos are still going to try to control the ball and win some games with defense. But it's fun to have hope at the quarterback position again, so I can't help but be optimistic.

4) Mizzou's football class ends up ranked where this year (give me a five class range)?

Gabe: Normal Missouri classes are 30 to 40. Really good Missouri classes are 25 to 30. Subpar ones are 40 or below. This one is starting out as normal or a little better. I'll say 28 to 33 is my range. Either a high end typical Missouri class or a little bit better than typical.

Mitchell: I'll guess in the 32-37 range, which would be on the better end of average for Missouri. Last season, a full class (20-plus signees) with an average star rating of exactly 3.0 would have been 36th. That's about what I envision for Missouri: a full class comprised of mostly three-star players with a couple four-stars and a couple two-stars. If Eli Drinkwitz can consistently recruit at a higher level than that here, he would be the first.

5) Is the basketball roster set for the season?

Mitchell: I think so. The big question, obviously, is whether Jeremiah Tilmon and/or Xavier Pinson will remain in the NBA Draft. I'm not sure either has finalized a decision yet, but my educated guess is that both come back to school. Obviously, if that's the case, Mizzou is already at 13 scholarship players, and I don't see anyone else transferring out at this point.

Gabe: That's where I'm leaning too. I think everybody's back. Even if they aren't, I think it's probably a little late in the game to try to add someone to replace him.