Missouri lands commitment of St. Louis DB Tyler Hibbler
Missouri head coach Eliah Drinkwitz made in-state recruiting a priority when he took over the program in January, and the results have been immediate. On Tuesday Drinkwitz landed his sixth in-state commitment for the 2021 class in St. Louis Trinity Catholic safety Tyler Hibbler.
IN HIS WORDS
“I chose Mizzou because I feel we can build something in our home state. Only we are going to fight as hard for our (home team). That was (Drinkwitz’s) main focus, his No. 1 topic - it was an emphasis on the guys from home.
“It’s a big pride because when you go out on the town back home, if you are with the home school, everyone watches it and everyone back home is going to notice.”
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RIVALS’ REACTION
Hibbler received his first Power Five scholarship offer prior to junior year, but his second did not come until this past January. By the time his offer list began to take shape, college football recruiting had gone into a dead period and no college visits could be taken. Missouri did not offer until April 20, but because of his familiarity with the home-state school, several of the Tiger’s commitments and his previous visits to the campus, the recruiting shut down actually helped Missouri. Over the last two months the coaching staff was able to cultivate that relationship and, with the help of other in-state commitments, convince Hibbler to stay home before the visit window opened back up. The No. 27 ranked safety prospect in the 2021 class, Hibbler expects to be used as more of a safety/linebacker hybrid in the Tiger’s defense.
SCOUTING REPORT
Hibbler jumped out to me early in his prep career. I am not even sure where I first saw Hibbler, but it may have been prior to his sophomore year. I have seen him steadily since then, at Rivals Camps, 7-on-7s and covering his high school games live. Every time I am impressed with his full arsenal of talents, including athleticism and instincts. We measured Hibbler during the 2019 Rivals Camp at 6-foot, 183 pounds when he was still a sophomore, so his size is legit for the safety position. When I covered his second game of junior season, though, Trinity Catholic was using Hibbler at nickel cornerback. That attests to his ability to man up receivers and shows he has position versatility, which Missouri plans to use by making him a hybrid player. What I like about him in that role is Hibbler has a great feel for where all the pieces are on the field, and he uses it to put himself in good positions on a regular basis. Hibbler also has no hesitation when coming up in run support, and he has shown on junior film he can play close to the line of scrimmage. When we first rated Hibbler he had one Power Five offer, but he started on the cusp of four-star status because he checks a lot of boxes for that safety position.
WHICH SCHOOL IT HURTS MOST
Iowa State was the first Power Five school to offer Hibbler a scholarship, six months before his second Power Five offer came through. The Cyclones were top contenders throughout, but come out as runners-up in a race where second place is only the first loser. Iowa State has a safety committed in this class, but not a prospect who brings the breadth of talent that Hibbler does. Iowa State is recruiting and competing at a higher level every year under head coach Matt Campbell, but adding a player of Hibbler’s talent would have been a big boost to their 2021 class. At least they do not have to see him go to another Big 12 program.