Missouri looking for immediate impact from newly signed receivers

For the most part, the story surrounding Missouri’s 2018 recruiting class has been the players the Tigers failed to land — specifically, nine of the 10 members of the “Tiger 10,” a group of in-state prospects whom Missouri hosted on the same weekend.

But with National Signing Day in the books, a quick glance at the list of prospects who actually did sign with the Tigers reveals a clear focus.

Missouri sought wide receivers. More specifically, new receivers coach A.J. Ofodile said, Missouri sought receivers who can make an impact next fall.

Ofodile believes the incoming crop of six wideouts — Harry Ballard, Danny Gray, Dominic Gicinto, Jalen Knox, Kam Scott and Khmari Thompson — will be able to do just that.

Missouri’s need at wideout exists in part due to the graduation of J’Mon Moore, the team’s leading receiver each of the past three years. Even more so, it’s due to a recent failure to get high school pass catchers to campus. In the past two years, Missouri has signed a total of four wide receivers. Only two, Dimetrios Mason and Dominic Collins, ever played in a game for the Tigers. Mason left the program midway through last season and Collins and his ten receptions used up his eligibility last year.

While Emanuel Hall and Johnathon Johnson, who combined to catch 71 passes for more than 1,500 yards and 14 touchdowns last season, will each be back this year, head coach Barry Odom made it clear in his press conference Wednesday that adding receivers in this year’s class was a priority.

“The urgency for that position specifically, because of who we have or don’t have coming back on our roster, that was a huge need for us moving into the next year,” Odom said

So, how did Ofodile and company go about identifying receivers who are likely to be able to make an instant impact? Ofodile said the coaching staff zeroed in on one particular trait: speed.

“We wanted to go out and get the fastest guys we could find and still had a skillset that is conducive to catching balls at this level, making plays at this level,” Ofodile said.

Ofodile said the group of incoming receivers is so speedy that “those guys can come in and probably compete for our track team in the 200.” To illustrate his point, Ofodile said Scott, Thompson and Knox all have recorded times in the low-21-second range in the 200 meters. (For reference, Missouri’s fastest returning sprinter on the track team, John Ashford, has a personal best of 21.13.) Plus, Gray won the Texas 3A state title in the 100 last spring.

“We felt like going in that just based off speed and athleticism alone there’s guys that would have a shot to come in and be an impact immediately,” Ofodile said.

Additionally, while each of the six newcomers has speed in common, Ofodile expects each to bring different skillsets to the receiving corps, allowing them to compliment one another

Scott is the deep threat. Ofodile compared him to Hall, who averaged 24.8 yards per reception this season. Knox is a former running back who is “elite with the ball in his hands.” Thompson is a more “traditional wideout” — the most polished of the bunch in his route-running. Gicinto, a Kansas City native, is “the consummate slot guy.” Ballard is what Ofodile called a possession receiver — a bigger, more physical presence who can burn defensive backs with his speed and also catch jump balls.

In coming years, the differing skillsets among the new wideouts should provide Missouri much-needed depth at the position. In the immediate future, however, trying to prepare the young group to make an impact will be more challenging.

Ballard seems to be the most likely candidate to be ready for immediate playing time. Ballard originally committed to Missouri in its 2016 class before failing to qualify academically and playing a season at Jones County Junior College. Along with Gicinto, Ballard is already enrolled at Missouri, so he will be able to practice with the team this spring.

Andy Hill, the former wide receivers coach who has since been named the special teams coordinator, said the staff made it clear to each of the other five receivers that they, too, will be expected to contribute early in their college careers. He believes the group will be up to the task. Hill pointed out that bringing in six players at the same position in a single recruiting class is rare, mostly because the presence of so much competition tends to scare some prospects away. The receivers in this group were not intimidated.

“Usually when you sign more than two or three at any position they’re going to go, ‘Well, there’s a lot of competition. I’m going to go somewhere else,’” Hill said. “I think these guys that we signed here, especially in December, felt like there’s a good opportunity to play, and hopefully they can take advantage of it.”