Welcome to Four Down Territory which is a spin-off of Ten Thoughts.
So, I’ll give you three thoughts on Missouri football or college football in general. Then, the last thought will be whatever I want it to be.
1. Missouri getting more and more size from commits and signees.
The Tigers struck gold on Monday with the commitment of EDGE Williams Nwaneri, the No. 3 overall prospect in the nation and the No. 1 player in the state of Missouri.
In my opinion, I think the Tigers are heading in a good direction and I was thinking this before Nwaneri committed.
Since I got here around this time last year here are some of the players the Tigers have signed or gotten to commit:
Class of 2023
S Marvin Burks, 6-foot-1, 201 pounds (4-star)
TE Brett Norfleet, 6-foot-7, 235 pounds (4-star)
OL Logan Reichert, 6-foot-6, 369 pounds (4-star)
WR Joshua Manning, 6 foot-2, 199 pounds (4-star)
EDGE Jahkai Lang, 6-foot-3, 252 pounds (3-star)
EDGE Serigne Tounkara, 6-foot-2, 235 pounds (3-star)
RB Jamal Roberts, 5-foot-11, 197 pounds (3-star)
DT Sam Williams, 6-foot-3, 313 pounds (3-star)
TE Jordon Harris, 6-foot-4, 239 pounds (3-star)
Class of 2024
Nwaneri, 6-foot-6, 265 pounds (5-star)
WR James Madison, 6-foot-4, 203 pounds (4-star)
LB/EDGE Brian Huff, 6-foot-3, 224 pounds (4-star)
LB Nicholas Rodriguez, 6-foot-1, 215 pounds (4-star)
The reason I picked these names is because they represent size and talent. This doesn’t mean they’re the only commits or signees who have both size and speed, it’s just an example.
When Eli Drinkwitz and his staff were able to flip Williams before the Gasparilla Bowl in December he said something about wanting to get bigger players, especially in the trenches, because the Southeastern Conference is the most physical conference in the country.
Starting with Williams since I already brought him up.
He’s pretty big for him to be a true freshman. Will he play? Probably not because the defensive tackle room is stacked but that’s good. He gets to learn and likely gets bigger and stronger for next season when four defensive tackles leave the team.
Roberts, Lang and Tounkara are all three-star guys who look the part, especially Lang and Roberts, and have been getting positive reviews all offseason. All of them seem in line to possibly skip the redshirt.
Same thing for Manning. He may have a tougher time breaking into the rotation due to how deep the receiver room is but at practice, he stands out because he’s already the biggest wide receiver in the room.
Reichert is likely to redshirt but he’s massive. I think it was Xavier Delgado who said the other day Reichert is the biggest human he’s ever seen.
Once Reichert gets to a good playing weight and learns the playbook the Tigers have one of their lineman of the future.
Norfleet has seen some first-team reps with the ones and from what I’ve heard looks like a stud. His running mate, Jordon Harris, at 6-foot-4 and 239 pounds also looks the part and has had a solid camp even though this year will be just his second playing football.
Burks, who was the top signee for last year’s class, was named the backup free safety before camp started.
Multiple players and coaches have said he’s going to be a player to watch out for this season.
Then, look over at the 2024 class.
Nwaneri will play next season. He’s an SEC defensive end today. Imagine a full offseason and fall camp under his belt.
Madison is another tall, big-body receiver to add to the fold.
Huff and Rodriguez are linebackers with some size and talent. Although Huff will probably be an EDGE, the point still stands.
All of these players will have some growing to do physically, but I think getting talent with size will move Missouri forward in the coming seasons.
2. I think it is best Connor Tollison won the starting center job.
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