For the first time in two years, the Missouri offensive line has a new challenge on its hands: replacing returning starters. Last season, the Tigers returned all five starters from its 2017 offensive line. This spring, however, due to the graduation of right tackle Paul Adams and left guard Kevin Pendleton, both three-year starters, Missouri has had to introduce some new faces to the starting lineup.
Any time you replace a multi-year starter like Adams or Pendleton, players said, there are going to be some natural growing pains.
“Had my foot stepped on a couple times,” center Trystan Colon-Castillo said. “It is what it is.”
That said, players are optimistic that, despite having to replace two new starters, the offensive line can replicate its production from the past two seasons, when it has been among the best in the SEC. A season ago, Missouri allowed just 13 sacks and 52 tackles for loss in 13 games, both of which marked the fewest in the conference. Meanwhile, the group paved the way for the Tiger rushing attack to average more than 200 yards per game on the ground. Colon-Castillo is confident whoever steps into the spots vacated by Adams and Pendleton will understand the expectations.
“When you kind of set that tone or set that standard at a high, it’s really either you’re going to meet it or you’re going to get left behind,” he said.
The good news for Missouri is that, while whoever fills the two new starting spots won’t have extensive game experience, the new starters won’t be brand new to the position group, either. The three players vying for starting reps — tackle Hyrin White and guards Larry Borom and Case Cook — have all spent two years on campus already, redshirting in 2017 and seeing some action last season.
A lot could still change during fall camp, but White seems to be the most likely of the group to have locked down a starting spot. White, who saw action against Purdue early last season when left tackle Yasir Durant went down with an ankle injury, switched from the right side of the line to the left during the offseason and has consistently worked with the first team during spring practices. While White said changing his stance and his first step to fit his new position took a bit of time, his teammates have been impressed by what they have seen so far this spring.
“He’s improved a lot,” Durant said of White. “He’s gotten bigger, more faster, athletic. And the mental part, he keeps on improving. That’s the big thing about Hyrin, he needs to keep on improving the mental part of his game every day, and that’s going to be big for him.”
White agreed with Durant that his biggest improvements since arriving on campus have come from mastering the playbook and studying defensive schemes. It hasn’t always come quickly — as Borom pointed out, both he and White spent their first year on campus learning former offensive line coach Glen Elarbee’s system, then had to learn a new system last year when the Tigers hired offensive coordinator Derek Dooley and offensive line coach Brad Davis — but now that he is comfortable with the playbook, the 6-foot-6 White is able to better utilize his athletic gifts.
“I feel like I picked up more learning the schemes and the playbook and stuff like that, learning what the defense is going to do with different fronts,” White said. “I feel like I improved in that a lot.”
Borom, meanwhile, has traded first-team reps with Cook at left guard. Cook played more than Borom a season ago, but Borom has made a strong impression during spring practices. At 6-foot-7, 340 pounds, he’s the biggest player on the offensive line, and Colon-Castillo said he compliments that size with a sound knowledge of the playbook and surprising athleticism.
“I think he’s a lot more athletic than people make him out to be,” Colon-Castillo said of Borom. “He’s so big. But I mean like, when you see him, he puts his hand in the dirt, he’s running, pounding his feet, running, he moves people.”
Borom admitted it was difficult to spend two seasons watching from the sideline, and now that he’s finally getting reps with the first team, he feels urgency to perform and keep his spot. But he also credited the rest of the offensive line for fostering a supportive environment.
“It’s pressure, but it’s all good pressure,” Borom said. “Everyone wants everyone to be good. In our position group, everybody is pushing each other to be the best they can be, so it’s pressure, but it’s the right kind of pressure.”
Even though both Borom and White have impressed their teammates and begun to build chemistry with their fellow linemen during spring practices, there’s still another step to be taken. Both players will have to validate their offseason strides by performing in game situations. That is, perhaps, the lone downside to Missouri keeping all five of its starters intact on the offensive line last season and largely avoiding injuries — Borom and White have hardly ever worked with the starting unit during an actual game.
Head coach Barry Odom acknowledged that the relative inexperience of Borom, White and even Cook is a bit of a concern.
“They’ve made a lot of progress this spring, a lot of work yet to do, but if we played a game on Saturday, that’s the one worry,” Odom said. “If you’ve got a guy that’s got the ability but now you put him in a game situation, can he do it for four quarters on the level that you’ve got to do it? That’s kind of the next step for them.”
Colon-Castillo is confident Borom and White will transition seamlessly into the starting lineup when the games arrive. Both players emphasized that they have treated each practice rep like an actual game, and Colon-Castillo said that has been a focus for the entire offensive line this spring. Plus, Colon-Castillo noted that, regardless of who ends up in the two vacant starting spots, they will be surrounded by three two-year starters who know what it takes to succeed in the SEC and who will hold the newcomers to that standard every day during practice.
“They gotta take their reps in practice like it’s a game,” Colon-Castillo said. “That way, when it happens in a game, it’s not a shock where you’re like, oh, I gotta speed it up, or hey, I gotta play this. It’s just immediately you stay on it all the time.”
