It’s little secret that two tailbacks have separated themselves from the rest in Missouri’s backfield this season. We finally have a nickname for the duo of Larry Rountree III and Tyler Badie, courtesy of Badie.

“In the running back room we call ourselves thunder and lightning,” he said. “So that’s how it’s going to be all year. Defense is going to be on their toes all year.”

Rountree, a physical, downhill runner who racked up 1,217 yards last season, is the thunder. Barring injury, he should lead the team in carries this season with Damarea Crockett gone to the NFL. Badie, who accounted for 567 total yards as a true freshman in 2018, brings the lightning with his speed and elusiveness.

During the offseason, however, Badie worked to add a little thunder to his own game. After playing at 5-foot-9, 175 pounds last season, Badie made bulking up a point of emphasis. He’s now listed as 190. He believes the added size will allow him to “play bigger than what I actually am.” More importantly for a thin running back room, it will improve his chances of staying healthy all year.

“Definitely helping in the blocking game, getting my size up,” Badie said. “Last year, playing at 175 was a little bit difficult, getting my body healthy and stuff. So I feel like more added weight is helping my durability.”

Just because he’s added a bit of weight, don’t expect Badie to change his style of play. He said he actually feels more explosive than last year. He also said that, after a full offseason practicing with the program, the game has slowed down for him, allowing him to better use his athletic gifts. One area he believes fans will see a difference this season is in his receiving ability.

“I watch Alvin Kamara a lot,” Badie said. “That’s who I look up to and the way the Saints use him and move him around, that would be great for me.”

For much of the Missouri defense, the creation of a new third safety spot within its secondary didn’t change much. Joshuah Bledsoe, Tyree Gillespie and Ronnell Perkins, listed respectively as the starters at strong safety, free safety and the new boundary safety position, are all playing similar roles to last season, even though Perkins spent 2018 listed as a linebacker.

Khalil Oliver is the exception. Oliver played primarily “high safety,” which describes both the strong and free safety spots, in 2018. Now, the Oregon transfer lines up primarily at the boundary spot, which requires him to spend more time closer to the line of scrimmage. Oliver said the position switch came with a bit of a learning curve.

“You gotta know a lot more of everybody’s role, because you’re doing a lot of playing off each other,” he said. “You’re having to learn who’s spilling, who’s levering, run plays and where your linemen are at to help you out.”

Oliver appears to have handled the adjustment well. Throughout fall camp, he and Perkins have been swapping reps with the starting unit. He said likes the physicality of the position.

“It’s a similar position to what I played in high school, and towards the end of my career at Oregon, and I enjoyed it a lot,” Oliver said. “I liked being down in the box and being able to hit somebody.”

Oliver said that he and Perkins both bring a level of intensity to the defense, but despite playing the same position, they have different strengths.

“I think Perk is the type of guy to go in there and just fly in and hit somebody, and I tend to help guys get set up, know what they’re doing and learn how to make the play easier for everybody.”

It has become exceedingly rare to see a true freshman play right away on the offensive line. The NCAA’s new rule allowing players to appear in up to four games while keeping their redshirt intact allowed a few newcomers to see the field last season, but Missouri hasn’t had an offensive lineman start a game during his first college season since Evan Boehm did so in 2012.

With three starters returning from an offensive line that led the SEC in sacks and tackles for loss allowed a year ago, that streak will almost certainly continue this year. However, one true freshman has still managed to turn some heads so far in camp and inspire optimism for the future.

According to starting center Trystan Colon-Castillo, Texas native Thalen Robinson led the team in knock-downs — admittedly, a rather subjective stat — during Saturday’s scrimmage. Robinson appears to have been rewarded for the performance, Wednesday, he was spotted lining up with the second-string offense. Robinson, who played primarily tackle in high school, took reps at right guard.

“A freshman doing something like that, that’s something you get really excited when you see,” Colon-Castillo said of Robinson’s scrimmage performance.

Missouri will take the practice fields once again Thursday morning at 9 a.m. for its final open practice of the week. PowerMizzou will provide full coverage.