8/12/2023 football Edit

Missouri Football Notebook: OL & WRs continue to get better

Jarod Hamilton • PowerMizzou

Staff Writer

Almost two weeks into Missouri's fall camp, and it's getting towards the dog days of it where some offensive linemen are getting a little tired of going up against each other, but they're getting great work in under the stewardship of new offensive line coach Brandon Jones.

Left guard Xavier Delgado, who is in the midst of his sixth fall camp under his third offensive line coach, said he likes Jones' style and how he's handling the group so far.

"He's a great teacher, and I'm really enjoying my time with Coach Jones so far," Delgado said. He breaks things down very well for us, and he's a really good coach, and I'm having a good time working with him."

The motto for the team all offseason has been "something to prove," but right after that, it's probably been something along the lines of embracing competition.

Head coach Eli Drinkwitz's said earlier in the camp this offensive line is the best he's had depth-wise since he’s been the here, with the fourth-year Tigers coach believing "eight or nine" players can start.

Delgado, who has started 32 straight games, has embraced the competition that stands in front of him on a daily basis.

"We talk about iron sharpens iron. There's always going to be competition," Delgado said. "At the end of the day, we have to establish who is the starting five and who is going to be the best five we can put out on Saturdays. So, it's always good to have competition. It always pushes each other."

A couple of players Delgado has been battling alongside for the past couple of years are center Connor Tollison and right guard Armand Membou.

Both players have received positive reviews from Drinkwitz and Jones for how they've attacked the offseason and fall camp, and Delgado said he sees the improvements both players have made during camp.

"He's (Tollison) taken more of a leadership role at center," Delgado said. "Centers are kind of like our quarterback. I think he has taken that and elevated his game. I think he's gotten stronger and has a better mentality for sure and it's great to see him grind.

"Just mentally with the game, football IQ-wise 一 he's (Membou) just awesome. He's gotten a lot stronger. Like, you can see he's bulked up quite a bit."

A couple of newer faces in the offensive linemen room are Eastern Michigan tackle transfer Marcellus Johnson and Houston guard/center transfer Cam'Ron Johnson, who have been good veteran additions to the for the line since they arrived earlier in the year.

"(They have) great work ethic. Marcellus has always done the right thing and is ready to work with us," Delgado said. "The same thing with Cam. He brings great energy, great veteran leadership as well. And he brings great experience from Houston. The transfers have been doing good."

A year ago at this time, the Tigers offensive line was dealing with all sorts of things like right tackle Hyrin White being limited due to injury, Bence Polgar being ruled ineligible by the NCAA and getting inexperienced players up to speed.

A lot of that contributed to the line's poor play throughout the season which saw them rack up 32 of the team's 54 offensive penalties during the regular season.

In terms of unity, Delgado said the unit has done a 180° compared to this time last season.

"I feel like the cohesion, the camaraderie we have in our group is a lot better than last year, " Delgado said. "Just having a better mentality coming into practice and all that. (We're) just working as one."

Mookie Cooper talks self-improvement, acclimating to Kirby Moore's offense and WR depth

The focus schematically for the offense has been to be more explosive this season and the Tigers brought in former Fresno State offensive coordinator Kirby Moore to take over the same job and do that with them.

It certainly makes it easier to do that with the depth Missouri has at wide receiver, including Mookie Cooper, who is feeling a lot more comfortable entering his third fall camp with the Tigers after spending his first year at Ohio State.

The former Buckeye racked up 26 receptions for 298 yards a season ago and is in line for an increased role this season.

"I'm feeling good as a Tiger, I'm comfortable with that, but I'm still working on everything with Kirby's new offense and just finishing up on all the details every day," Cooper said. "I'm out there a little more I will say that 一 he still wants us to make plays, and I feel like we have more opportunities to make plays. So, that's kind of the role right now."

Drinkwitz said before fall camp he believes nine or 10 guys legitimately are capable of playing, but it'll probably widdle down to six or seven at best.

Cooper agrees with Drinkwitz. and believes this is the best wide receiver room he's been in since he’s gotten here with Luther Burden III, Mekhi Miller and Theo Wease being some of the receivers who’ve stood out to him the most during camp.

"We actually probably have the most loaded (wide receiver) room since I've been here as far as depth," Cooper said. "We have a lot of good young guys doing well in camp, but we'll be ready to make the same impact or more this year.

"I feel like Louie got way more mature in his game and how he goes about his business this year. Mekhi Miller as well. He knows every position on the offense and I feel like we're both ready to make bigger plays in the offense than we already did (last year).

“(Theo has) leadership and he can move for his size. He got some wiggle to him. A lot of big guys be a little stiff, but he plays like one of the guys my size."

Cooper said going into the offseason, he's tried to work on the little things like body language in addition to his conditioning and it appears Drinkwitz has noticed.

Toward the end of the first week of fall camp, Drinkwitz called Cooper "Mr. Consistent," something the wide receiver appreciated.

"I feel like I'm more in shape. I feel like (strength and conditioning) coach (Ryan) Russell did a great job this summer and got guys ready," Cooper said. "I feel like I'm comfortable playing in the SEC now and it's really just another fall camp really.

“I just wanted to be more in shape this year. I know for myself last year I got tired (and) my body language shows sometimes walking down the field. Specifically, the Florida game. I feel like I was the most tired being out there."

Cooper is less than three weeks away from putting that conditioning to the test when the Tigers host South Dakota on Aug. 31, which will be the start of Cooper's only goal this season 一 to go 12-0.