Missouri football was a part of the first three teams to kick off SEC Media Days alongside Texas A&M and LSU on Monday.
Head coach Eli Drinkwitz and his three players, Kris Abrams-Draine, Javon Foster and Darius Robinson were the ones who made the rounds in Nashville and updated the media and fans at home on the state of the program heading into the 2023 season.
There’s still a quarterback competition but Brady Cook is No. 1
Well, Drinkwitz wouldn’t answer the question as to who is the starting quarterback among Cook, Sam Horn and Jake Garcia directly, but he did say who was leading the competition, and it's Cook.
However, he did say the competition is still open and that Cook still has to earn the starting spot for the season.
“Yeah, day one we get to practice 一 Brady Cook will step out there with the ones there's very little doubt about that,” Drinkwitz said. “I think he's had a really good summer coming off an injury, but no different than every position on the field, there's nothing guaranteed and everybody's got to battle for their positions.
“Jake Garcia has started games and played in college football games. Sam Horn is a very talented redshirt freshman and they’ve got to go beat him (Cook) out. But they know it's an open competition to do that.”
Cook had been rumored to be the leading man in this competition, so that doesn’t come as no surprise. The surprise came when Drinkwitz said he is willing to let the competition go into the first couple of games of the regular season before deciding the starter.
“Last year, I pulled the trigger really early on the starting quarterback, and you look back at a couple of teams last year that went into week two and week three before they named the starter,” Drinkwitz said. “So, no hurry. I say this to our guys, ‘The starter is going to be whoever reveals it to the team like it's not gonna be the coach's pick.’ Whoever is the best player is 一 and all the players will know it. So, we'll give it time and see who rises to the top.”
Mizzou’s first two opponents are a couple of favorable non-conference games at home versus South Dakota and Middle Tennessee State, and Drinkwitz said it’s possible that multiple quarterbacks see playing time in those games.
“Yeah, I think so (multiple quarterbacks playing early in the season),” Drinkwitz said. “I think with the way our schedule sets up, I could easily see us playing multiple quarterbacks in week one or week two if we needed to.”
Horn's acclimation process to college
To expand a little more on Horn, it wasn't a great true freshman season. As previously mentioned, he played just one series and Cook and Garcia have the one thing Horn undoubtedly lacks 一 experience.
A lot of people expect the four-star and five-star prospects to hit the ground running and sometimes that doesn't happen because, at the end of the day, these players are still young men when they join the team, and that appeared to be Horn's case last year.
"It wasn't just about the natural talent," Drinkwitz said. "Sam is a naturally talented young man. It was about everything else off the field, whether it's controlling his diet to making sure that his diabetes is under control, making sure that his weight was adjusted, making sure he's getting sleep, making sure his grades are right. The best players have low-drama lives off the field.
"Sam is not a drama guy, don't make that assumption. But just getting the grades, adjusting to college athletics 一 learning. I think this spring, having to have baseball and spring football, all that together has really caused him to really get focused. And he has had a great spring and tremendous summer, and (I) look forward to seeing what he does when his opportunity is presented to himself in fall camp."
Horn is probably the fan favorite to win the position because he's the most athletic of the three quarterbacks and he was a four-star signee. Plus, he didn't really get a chance to play last year, so in the minds of many, it can only go up from here.
That's still the case, but it just goes to show people that he clearly wasn't ready last year, and sometimes it has just as much to do with how players are acclimating to life outside of the gridiron as they do on it.
But Horn appears to be in a different mind space and in a much better position to actually compete for the starting job.
Even with Armand Membou's ascension, there are still offensive line questions
It was always kind of known that the coaches and players for Missouri believed offensive lineman Armand Membou to be a pretty good prospect after he ended his true freshman season starting four games at right tackle.
Well, on Monday, Foster and Robinson weren't shy about letting the media know just how good they think he is and how good they think he can be.
"He's going to be very special," Robinson said. "He's, going to be sitting here one day, I can tell you that. He's worked really hard. He's really talented, and he's young. And he's a sponge. ... He's going to be special."
"Yeah, he's different," Foster said. "For me, I've just never seen an offensive lineman come in, like just so ready like that. Like, I know me, I was nowhere near where he is right now. So yeah, he's a very special player. Being the size of an offensive lineman being able to move like a skilled guy 一 like if you have that ability you're special."
While Mizzou has two players on the offensive line in Foster and Membou to comfortably lean on, the rest of the group is a work in progress.
The left guard spot seems to be the only spot on the line that will have a true battle, but there's still some uncertainty at right tackle and center for different reasons.
Eastern Michigan transfer left tackle Marcellus Johnson is making the switch to right tackle while Houston transfer and All-American Athletic Conference left guard Cam'Ron Johnson will be getting a crack at center.
Both are expected to be starters at least into fall camp with Marcellus probably having a little more breathing room at his position than Cam'Ron. But making the switch is no easy feat for either player.
Changing positions on the offensive line is very different from doing it on Madden 23.
There are little nuances that these players aren't used to and have to get adjusted to.
Drinkwitz did say Cam'Ron has snapped before, but it doesn't mean he will be better than last year's starter, Connor Tollison.
Mizzou brought Cam'Ron in to ideally be the starting center. But what if he’s not that good at it? If he’s not good at center and Mizzou decides to move him back to his natural position of left guard, who is going to play center?
Will they let Tollison start at center despite his struggles a season ago? What bout Bence Polgar, Xavier Delgado, EJ Ndoma-Ogar or someone else?
The plan in place seems good for now. But if the wheels fall off of this one then there'll probably be more questions than there already are now.
Defensive end position may not be as big of an issue as some expect
When Isaiah McGuire, DJ Coleman, Trajan Jeffcoat and Arden Walker all departed via the NFL Draft or the transfer portal it appeared to signal a massive hole in the Tigers' defense.
With the team's top-four edge rushers (snaps-wise) being on the outs, it seemed that Missouri’s defense, which is bringing eight starters back would have a position it would need to mask. Presumably, with its deep secondary group, there were questions that the Tigers may have to rely on the unit until the Tigers can be sure of what they have in pass rushers at EDGE.
Ask Drinkwitz, and that doesn't seem to be the case even though he's admitted to EDGE being without two clear-cut starters.
He's not banking on the secondary to do more. He's banking on a strong middle presence at defensive tackle, linebacker and safety, and the aggressive style of defense that defensive coordinator Blake Baker likes to play.
"I think the secondary benefits from the interior," Drinkwitz said. "I've always been told that if you're strong up the middle you've got a strong defense. ... So there's a lot of ability to stop the run. It's about creating pressure on the quarterback.
"With what y'all saw from our defense, we are an attacking-style defense that's going to create havoc plays. It's not like we just rushed four a lot anyway. So, I tend to see that Coach Baker and our scheme will make up for any deficiencies that we have there in the edge position."
It helps that Johnny Walker appears to be narrowing in on one of the starting EDGE spots. Also, Robinson will start at defensive tackle and EDGE depending on what the matchup and game calls for.
So, in a sense, it's like the spades equivalent of having one and a half books. Walker seems to be the one and Robinson is in the middle because he will be splitting time and presumably starts at both spots. However, if that's the case then Mizzou will have to have another starting-level player for games when he has to start on the inside.
Also, what if this is a Chris Jones situation?
When Kansas City's best defensive tackle tried playing defensive end for the Chiefs in 2021, it didn't work out so well. And after a handful of games, he transitioned back to his natural position and resumed his All-Pro play.
This goes to show, just because someone can do something doesn't mean they should.
Mizzou will have to gauge how worth it is to play Robinson on the EDGE if it appears he's struggling or doing okay at his new spot when he can be much more of an impact player on the inside.
Also, it's an inexperienced position group with Arizona State transfer Joe Moore being the only player who has played meaningful snaps in Power 5 action.
With the continuity Missouri is bringing on the defensive coaching staff and with the players, perhaps Drinkwitz is right and any issues it has at EDGE can be solved with scheme.
Guys who can really play are great too, but in the meantime, EDGE may not require the same level of attention as it did earlier in the offseason.
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