Brady, Brantley gone: What now for D-Line Zou?

Missouri's defensive line took two major blows on Wednesday with the news that both DE Walter Brady and DT Harold Brantley were dismissed from the program.

For Brantley, it was not meeting academic requirements. Brady's dismissal was a result of the ambiguous "violation of team policy."

Make no mistake, one departure is bigger than the other. Brantley's recovery from a major one-car accident in June 2015 has been inspiring, but after sitting out the 2015 season, there were still plenty of questions about how much he would be able to contribute this season.

Brady, however, was a freshman All-American, according to some outlets, who tallied 12.5 tackles-for-loss and seven sacks. The TFL number was second on the team in 2015; he was tied for the team lead in sacks with Charles Harris.

Brantley's return would have been a fantastic story and an uplifting moment for a team that viewed him as a leader and motivator. Anything added statistically would have been icing on the cake. But Brady's departure means that Harris is now without an established book-end, someone that teams know to gameplan for and limit the pressure on the redshirt junior star.

So what happens to Missouri's defensive line rotation now?

The interior still seems the most set. Again, Brantley's on-the-field expectations for 2016 were low, and the hope was that he could work his way into the rotation. With his departure, Missouri will continue to lean on Terry Beckner, Jr., Rickey Hatley, Josh Augusta, A.J. Logan and Josh Moore as their five defensive tackles.

The defensive ends are thrown into slightly more disarray. Expect now that junior Marcell Frazier, a junior college transfer prior to the 2015 season, will start opposite Charles Harris. Brady had tremendous speed and burst, and that allowed him to excel in 2015. Frazier is a bigger, stronger defensive end at 6-foot-5, 265-pounds. With his size, there's the potential for Missouri to use more three-man fronts, as well.

Frazier played in all 12 games a year ago, starting three. He had six TFLs and two sacks. Sources told PowerMizzou.com that Missouri's staff has been thrilled with his development this offseason.

Behind Frazier and Harris, Missouri will turn to a rotation of Spencer Williams, Nate Howard and (likely) freshman Tre Williams.

Tre Williams was a four-star signee out of Columbia's Rock Bridge High School. Before the news about Brady broke, sources told PowerMizzou.com that Williams was already on track to play this year. Brady's departure makes it all but a certainty.

Another scenario to watch this August is whether Moore, who played as a true freshman in 2015, will stay at defensive tackle or move to end. Moore dropped weight this spring, saying he dipped under 270 pounds. He said he was asked to lose "bad weight" and then gain more muscle. Depending on his size, however, he could add more depth to a suddenly less-proven defensive end rotation.