Missouri Spring Football Position Preview: Offensive line
After producing its best season in nine years and a win over Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl, Missouri's beeline toward a berth in the 12-team College Football Playoffs begins sometime in the next week or so when spring practice starts, with the Black and Gold spring game taking place on March 16.
Until then, we will preview the 2024 roster by doing position-by-position previews. Next, we'll look at the offensive line.
The starters: All-American left tackle Javon Foster and starting left guard Xavier Delgado ran out of eligibility and are headed to the NFL. So, the Tigers had a couple of spots on the line they needed to fill (we will get to this later) this offseason.
On the other hand, center Connor Tollison, right guard Cam'Ron Johnson and right tackle Armand Membou will be back in 2024.
Last spring camp, Tollison struggled with snapping the ball, and it seemed like the Tigers were going to look for a center in the portal in the spring, and they did. They signed Johnson, who Tollison beat out rather quickly in fall camp. From there, Tollison would go on to have his best season.
According to PFF College, he had the team's second-highest run blocking grade at 80.4, and a pass-blocking grade of 64.8. He did continue to have trouble snapping the ball at times, but it's unlikely that’s for him to be usurped of his starting gig.
Johnson struggled heavily for most of the season and was tied for the nation's lead in penalties through seven games with nine. However, he cleaned up the penalties and only had two in the last six games.
He had a run-blocking grade of 73.3 but a pass-blocking grade of 53.9. Johnson had a strong enough showing at the end of the season for the team to feel confident about his abilities as a starter. After all, he is a 2022 first-team All-American Athletic Conference selection.
Membou built off his promising freshman season in 2022 with a more than solid showing in 2023. He had a pass-blocking grade of 75.9 and a run-blocking grade of 64.4.
He's considered as one of the foundational pieces of the entire offense. So, there's no chance a healthy Membou will lose his job.
At least one of the two aforementioned vacancies on the left side of the line has been resolved with Oklahoma guard and Lee's Summit North alum Cayden Green transferring in.
Green lined up at left guard for 531 of his 569 snaps last season, with the other 38 coming at left tackle, and the latter position is what he will be playing for Missouri.
He had a pass-blocking grade of 71.8 and a run-blocking grade of 49.8.
As for who would be the left guard, there are several options.
JUCO transfer Jayven Richardson has tackle experience, but he was a top 12 JUCO prospect in the nation. If that's the case, Missouri is going to see where they can fit him in so he may get the first shot.
Soon-to-be redshirt sophomore Tristan Wilson and redshirt freshman Logan Reichert are also players at the top of the list who may get shots at left guard.
The backups: Mitchell Walters, Drake Heismeyer, Curtis Peagler, Brandon Solis and three-star signees Caleb Pyfrom, Talan Chandler and Ryan Jostes round out the roster.
The offensive line will have everyone on the roster at spring ball, which is something the other offensive positions don't have.
Walters played quite a bit in 2022 and has the size to play tackle or guard, but he struggled mightily when he played. Heismeyer has logged 86 career snaps in four seasons with 75 of them coming at center and the rest at left guard.
He and Chandler would be the backups to Tollison. But Walters and Heismeyer, no one else has logged a snap in college.
Storyline to watch for: The main storyline will obviously be who snags the left guard spot, but who snags the swing tackle position will be another story as well. Marcellus Johnson had that role last year and he appeared in six games in various roles. So, that's also an important role that needs to be filled.
Another thing isi t's possible the team fills the role of swing tackle and not left guard, and if they feel uneasy about continuing the position battle at left guard after camp, they may decide to grab someone in the portal.
PowerMizzou's prediction: Green, Tollison, Johnson and Membou are joined by Richardson for the first team reps in spring ball. However, it won't be a full share of the starting reps. Wilson may get a chance to run with the ones and the same goes for Reichert. If he doesn't work out during spring ball then Missouri may look in the portal for someone to fill that spot.
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