Four Down Territory
Welcome to the offseason version of Four Down Territory.
It’s going to be a little different than it was in-season. I'll post one weekly during the season, which for me is from SEC Media Days through Missouri's final game.
During the offseason, I’ll post every other week.
1. The football transfer portal opens back up this week.
The second wave of the transfer portal opened back up yesterday. Last week, Missouri recently had defensive lineman Ky Montgomery, tight end Ryan Hoerstkamp and running back Michael Cox announce their intentions to enter the portal but besides that there hasn’t been too much about players intending to jump into the portal.
Missouri really couldn’t be in a better position.
Respectfully, the three players who just entered the portal have played very little over the last three seasons.
This is college football. So, there’s a chance that there could be a name no one ever expected to enter the transfer portal to do so, but for now, if players who aren't in the rotation are entering the portal that’s a win because not only is Missouri retaining its good players, its freeing up spots for incoming players.
On the flip side, when it comes to getting players from the portal the Tigers plan to be aggressive. At least, that’s what head coach Eli Drinkwitz alluded to in his Pro Day press conference in mid-March. He also said they’re not in a position of desperately needing a player from the portal.
They’re in best player available mode, which if you’re a fan of a team in that situation you should be happy. It means your team expects to be a good team competing in the postseason.
If there were positions the Tigers could attack in the portal it would be right guard, defensive tackle and cornerback.
Those are ordered from most important to least.
The starting right guard spot is vacant. Logan Reichert and Jayven Richardson among others competing for the spot. Again, if Mizzou had to roll with the players on the team it seems okay with that.
The team lost three of their top four defensive tackles from a year ago with Kristian Williams being the only top four tackle to return.
If I had to list what the rotation is as of now, I’d say Williams, Florida transfer Chirs McClellan and New Mexico State transfer Sterling Webb. The former is a lock, while the latter two, based on how the coaches were talking about them during spring ball, have good chances to make break into the rotation.
Jalen Marshall, Marquis Gracial, Sam Williams and true freshman Justin Bodford will all have a chance to better their cases in fall camp for the fourth spot. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the Tigers wanted to bring in some more competition.
Lastly, we’ve talked quite a bit about the Tigers having to replace star corners Ennis Rakestraw and Kris Abrams-Draine this offseason. They seem really happy with Dreyden Norwood and Clemson transfer Toriano Pride filling the shoes of a couple of future draft picks.
In fact, the coaching staff thinks Norwood is an all-conference level player.
Marcus Clarke is currently CB3, and as CB4 a year ago, he was the only other corner besides Abrams-Draine with multiple interceptions. So, Mizzou is comfortable with him bumping up a spot in the rotation while Nic DeLoach seems to be the early favorite to be CB4.
That’s a solid group but the thinking is if they could possibly get someone to add some depth at least around the CB3 or CB4 level, they’ll do it. If it doesn’t happen, it’s not a big deal, though.
2. PowerMizzou will be in Detroit to cover Darius Robinson and the other Missouri players who have a chance to be drafted.
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