Five Downs from Spring Practice

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Most of the time, you get four downs in a football game. But four is played out. And at Mizzou, we know sometimes it takes five downs to get the point(s) across. So each day from spring football, PowerMizzou.com will bring you Five Downs. We'll wrap up news, notes and observations from that day's practice with five quick-hitters.

Richaud Floyd signed with Missouri out of Gulfport, MS as a wide receiver. That's where he's spent his first four years in the program. But in Sunday's practice, the redshirt senior was working out with the cornerbacks.

"Coach was like, 'we're short at corner' and he said I was the only receiver that could make the transition smooth," Floyd said. "I just want to help the team out and that's why I did it.

"It's just being a football player. If I hate it, I'm going back to receiver. If I love it, I'm staying there."

The move may or may not be permanent. But the Tiger coaching staff feels more comfortable with the depth at receiver than corner so they gave the jack of all trades Floyd a look.

"Mr. Do-it-all for us. Punt return, kick return, corner, safety, it doesn't matter. Quarterback. He does it all," fellow corner DeMarkus Acy said. "It's great to have him back there. It just adds more credibility to his resume. I'm excited to see what he does this spring."

Floyd's teammates said the right things. But asked if Floyd could cover him, fellow senior Johnathon Johnson couldn't hold back.

"That's my boy, so don't get mad at me Chaud," Johnson joked. "But I would say can't nobody cover me. But I feel like he did pretty good for the first him coming out here playing DB. I know he was pretty nervous, but he was looking pretty good to me today."

After flirting with entering the NFL Draft, tight end Albert Okwuegbunam returned to Mizzou for his junior season. The tight end was limited in practice due to the after effects of a shoulder injury suffered at Florida that ended his redshirt sophomore season after just seven games. The injury might also have given the Tigers one of their top passing threats for another season.

"It's hard to say until I'm actually in that position," Okwuegbunam said. "There's things I haven't accomplished here, individually and as a team that I'd like to accomplish. That's what I really look forward to. I know this team can go a lot of good places."

Okwuegbunam wouldn't say specifically what the injury was, though Missouri termed him "day to day" for the last two months of last season. Now that he's back, he's all in on making his redshirt junior season the best it can be.

"Once I made that decision, I was full go, full Mizzou. Came back and have been working hard ever since," he said. "Last year was about being a more complete tight end and I'm transitioning that to this year, too. Really just stepping things up to that next level, whether it's being more explosive in and out of my routes, whether it's finishing my blocks, just being more consistent all around."

Albert O isn't the only tight end who could make big plays next season. With a full year at the position, Daniel Parker Jr. looked to be a guy who might be more involved running routes this season. Odom also has been high on Brendan Scales.

But the most intriguing tight end might be Messiah Swinson. Swinson has at least an inch or two on Okwuegbunam, thought he's significantly leaner. He was drawing rave reviews in fall camp before tearing his ACL and almost certainly would have seen the field.

Swinson made a couple of head-turning catches in drills on Sunday and is going to be a guy that bears watching throughout spring and fall camp.

The man throwing those passes is going to be different this year. Ballyhooed graduate transfer Kelly Bryant enrolled at Mizzou in January and was named the starting quarterback by Barry Odom prior to the start of spring ball.

"I've been there, done it, but also I'm here in a new setting around a new group of guys that has that same hunger trying to achieve higher goals," Bryant said. "Trying to blend in, but also trying to stand out and trying to be a leader as well."

Bryant's teammates say he has fit perfectly in the locker room so far.

"He definitely fits in pretty good," Johnathon Johnson said. "He brings a different type of game to the offense than Drew (Lock) brought."

"That was really good news to get a quarterback like Kelly," Okwuegbunam said. "He's a great guy. Day one, since he came to campus, it's been nothing but good vibes from him. Took on a leadership role early and he's been great."

That said, a new quarterback always comes with an adjustment period.

"Just trying to adjust to how he throws because it's different from Drew and how his balls come in," Johnson said. "I caught a lot of balls from Drew and now I'm looking forward to catching a lot from Kelly. It's just getting used to how he's throwing and getting that timing down."

And Bryant himself is doing plenty of learning this spring. He's been immersed in the playbook for the past two months.

"The way we learn here is throw a lot at you and whatever you get, you get," Bryant said. "It's been times that I'm like 'This is only install one and we're going so fast,' but every day that goes by I get a little more comfortable with it."

The Tigers have ten brand new faces in spring camp this year. We'll talk to all of the newcomers at some point in the next six weeks. Just some quick hitter observations from day one:

*Chris Daniels is not a small man. He is one of those defensive tackles that looks like a block...nearly as wide as he is tall at 6-foot-3, 300 pounds. Don't be surprised if Daniels pushes for a starting job by the end of fall camp.

*Jalani Williams, Ishmael Burdine and Chris Shearin are all on campus early to work in the defensive backfield. Unlike Daniels, who is three years out of high school, this trio is all going to spend plenty of time in the dining hall and getting to know strength coach Rohrk Cutchlow. No surprise, but they all three look like guys that should be in their final semester of high school.

*Wide receiver Jonathan Nance committed on the same day as Bryant and was already catching passes from the No. 1 quarterback on Sunday. Nance was getting some reps with the first-team offense and could be a big factor as a deep threat for the Tigers.