Looking ahead: Eight underclassmen who could benefit from bowl practices
Missouri's 8-4 regular season record has earned the Tigers another prize, in addition to a berth in the Liberty Bowl. Due to its spot in the postseason, the team can practice an additional 15 times prior to the bowl game. These “bowl practices” will, of course, be used to prepare for the Tigers’ matchup with the Cowboys on New Year’s Eve. But they will also serve another purpose: to give returning players a head-start on preparing for the 2019 season. Head coach Barry Odom said the coaching staff will give extra reps to young players and others who were buried on the depth chart this season who they feel might be able to contribute next year.
“There are a number of guys that we’ve targeted and kind of circled and said, make sure they get X amount of snaps here over the next few weeks that we think they need to take to get into position for spring ball next year,” Odom said.
We don’t know who all, exactly, the coaching staff has tabbed to receive extra snaps during the team’s remaining bowl practices. But below is a list of players who could use these bowl practices to springboard themselves into position for a breakout season in 2019.
Offense
Kam Scott, WR
Missouri fans have seen quite a bit of Scott already. He played in all 12 of the Tigers’ games as a true freshman this season and averaged a whopping 26.8 yards on his eight catches this season. But Scott appeared to be a non-factor at times, especially in the four games Emanuel Hall sat out due to a groin injury. With Hall graduating after the bowl game, the coaching staff will surely give Scott plenty of reps with the starters during bowl practices in order to prepare him for a potential starting role next season.
Messiah Swinson, TE
According to the coaching staff, Swinson was in position to see regular action as a true freshman this season until he tore the ACL in his left knee during fall camp. Just four months later, Swinson is back on the practice field, albeit in a limited capacity. Odom said there’s a chance Swinson could see the field in the Liberty Bowl; while that seems unlikely, simply participating in all 15 bowl practices should help him be more prepared to push for the No. 2 tight end spot (or the starting job, depending on whether Albert Okwuegbunam declares for the NFL Draft) during spring practice.
Larry Borom, OL
With right tackle Paul Adams and left guard Kevin Pendleton set to graduate following the bowl game, at least two starting spots will open up on Missouri’s offensive line this offseason. Redshirt freshman Hyrin White is a favorite to land one of those spots. He was the first tackle off the bench when Yasir Durant missed time with an ankle injury during the season, and he performed well. Case Cook also saw fairly consistent playing time this season. But fellow redshirt freshman Borom could easily work his way into the competition for a starting spot with a good offseason. He has lined up at both tackle and guard during practices, which could help his case.
Mike Ruth, OL
Given that Missouri returned all five of its starters on the offensive line this season, it seemed like a foregone conclusion entering the season that Ruth, a true freshman, would redshirt (barring injury). He did just that, seeing playing time in two games so far this year. But the coaching staff was high on Ruth, the most polished of the four offensive linemen who signed with the Tigers in the class of 2018, during fall camp. With a good offseason, Ruth could surprise some people and snag one of the open spots on the offensive line.
Defense
Jatorian Hansford, DE
One of Missouri’s biggest area of weakness this season, edge rusher, may have become more dire due to the arrest of sophomore defensive end Tre Williams on Sunday. The Missouri coaching staff pretty clearly wants Hansford and fellow freshman Trajan Jeffcoat to take over as the team’s top pass-rushers at some point. Both players shed their redshirt this season, but Jeffcoat played a much larger defensive role than Hansford. The staff will likely give Hansford plenty of reps during bowl practices to help prepare him for a larger role next season.
Nick Bolton, LB
The coaching staff absolutely raved about Bolton during fall camp, but once the season started he played almost exclusively on special teams. That likely had a lot to do with the fact that he was playing behind senior and returning starter Terez Hall. But Hall will graduate after the bowl game, so the starting weakside linebacker position will be up for grabs next season. Expect the coaching staff to do everything it can to position Bolton as Hall’s successor.
Chad Bailey, LB
The highest-rated recruit in Missouri’s 2018 signing class missed most of fall camp due to a thumb injury, thus putting him on track to redshirt this season. By the end of the season, he began to see some action on special teams, which the coaching staff said was a reward for impressive play on the scout team during practices. It’s not totally clear where Bailey could fit in with the linebacking corps next season (current starter Brandon Lee is also graduating after the bowl game, but Ronnell Perkins should have the inside track to that starting spot), but he certainly has the talent to make a run at playing time.
Jordan Ulmer, S
Ulmer remains one of the more curious cases on the Missouri team. As a true freshman, he started at safety for the season-opener against Missouri State, then he got benched and hasn’t seen meaningful playing time at safety since. The main reason he’s included on this list is someone will have to move into the regular rotation at safety next season due to Cam Hilton’s departure. Tyree Gillespie and Joshuah Bledsoe will almost certainly start, with Khalil Oliver playing regularly, but aside from those three and Hilton, no one else has taken meaningful snaps at safety this season, so there’s clearly a void to be filled.