8/6/2023 football Edit

Mizzou Football Notebook: Moving parts on the offensive line

Jarod Hamilton • PowerMizzou

Staff Writer

It was no secret, changes on the offensive line had to be made for the Tigers going into 2023, and so far, there's been a number of them as the Tigers finish up their first week of fall camp.

It began with the addition of Marcellus Johnson in January and then followed up with the additions of offensive line coach Brandon Jones and Cam'Ron Johnson in April.

In addition to the new acquisitions, there are some players who have already been on the roster that will be going through position changes or at least competing for different positions than they played last season.

Working with new coach Brandon Jones

According to head coach Eli Drinkwitz, there is no such thing as the right time in college football anymore.

When former offensive line coach Marcus Johnson left to take the same job at Purdue during spring ball the Tigers had to find a replacement quickly and they did in Jones.

Jones, who was a center himself in the mid-2000s at Texas Tech, comes to Columbia after four years at Houston and comes into the season with 15 years of coaching experience having worked alongside Sonny Dykes, Lincoln Riley, Dana Holgorsen and Kliff Kingsbury.

So far, Drinkwitz believed the hire has been a good one.

"I think Coach Jones has done better than I expected and anticipated he would as far as acclimating himself with our players, having a plan for individual player development and unit cohesiveness," Drinkwitz said. "He's done a great job of building relationships and showing the guys who he really is so they can buy into his process of coaching.

"Now, he's going to do what he's best at which is on the grass coaching his guys and molding that unit, and I anticipate him doing a really good job in moving that unit forward."

In 2022, Houston had two offensive linemen make the All-American Athletic Conference first-team, including Cam’Ron, and it also had the best pass-blocking grade in the conference at 88.0, according to PFF College.

Mizzou finished 11th in pass blocking grade at 63.3 and didn't have any all-conference selections on the offensive line. So, the Tigers are hoping Jones can turn their fortunes around this season.

Much more depth in 2023, O-line performs well in first week of camp

The injury bug was a big problem in 2022. One that stretched from the offseason all the way until the Tigers' bowl game loss to Wake Forest in the Gasparilla Bowl.

It started with right tackle Hyrin White missing time to start the season (he never played). Then it was his replacement, Zeke Powell, who suffered a season-ending neck injury in week four at Auburn.

Left guard Xavier Delgado missed the week three contest versus Abilene Christian.

Guard EJ Ndoma-Ogar had a season-ending lower leg injury in week 10 and both center Connor Tollison and guard Mitchell Walters had to be helped off of the field in the aforementioned bowl game.

When it wasn't injury hampering the team, it was poor play on the field.

There's no guarantee that the injury bug or poor on-the-field performance won't happen again, but if it does, the Tigers feel like they're in much better shape depth-wise to handle it.

"I think it's the deepest offensive line that we've had 一 there are probably eight or nine guys that can end up being starters in these 25 practices so watching that unfold will be really fun," Drinkwitz said on media day before fall camp.

Those eight or nine players that Drinkwitz is likely referring to are Javon Foster, Xavier Delgado, Tollison, Armand Membou, Marcellus Johnson, Ndoma-Ogar, Cam'Ron Johnson, Valen Erickson and Tristan Wilson.

So far through a week of fall camp, it appears most of the linemen have improved dramatically.

"I think there's a lot of jobs competing for jobs and they know the best five are going to play and I think they're anxious," Drinkwitz said on Saturday. "They've definitely been putting in the work and that has really been fun to see those guys being rewarded.

"Like inside run is fun again because it's really competitive. The defense will stuff us a couple of plays and then we will bust through the hole. It's been a lot of fun to see."

Going into the season, the only person who is going to start without much worry is Foster, who is a preseason All-Southeastern Conference second-team selection.

After Foster, it would be Membou, who is a virtual lock to start at right guard. Of all of the offensive linemen not named Foster, he's been getting the most buzz this offseason.

"He''s had a really good few months since I've been here," Jones said. "He's starting to come into his own person but he also understands what's in front of him. He's got to continue to work on his craft which he's done this summer and it's going to put him in a position to be successful this fall.

"He's just quick twitch but he's strong too. So, he's got that elite combination of speed and power which is something you seldom see out of offensive linemen."

After Membou, it seems like Marcellus will have right tackle locked up with left guard and center being up for grabs.

Through the first week of camp Foster, Delgado, Tollison, Membou and Marcellus Johnson made up the first-team unit.

Position changes

Of those eight or nine players who Drinkwitz believes can start, five of them will be starting at or at least moving to a different position than what they played last season.

Membou will start at right guard after starting four games at right tackle last season and Marcellus will move to right tackle after 32 starts at left tackle at Eastern Michigan.

Ndoma-Ogar made both of his starts at right guard last year and will flip to the other guard spot to compete with Delgado.

Tollison will be competing for the starting center spot but Drinkwitz and Jones seemed to be enthused about the idea of him moving to tackle if he doesn't reclaim his starting center gig.

Cam'Ron will be competing with Tollison at center.

An offensive line already demands everyone to be in sync for the unit to work. The line is only as good as its weakest link.

With all the movement along the line, everyone will have to hold up their end of the bargain, and then some, but Jones believes if the players want to make the NFL like they say they do, they'll have to learn some versatility anyway.

"I think if you look at the NFL, it's all about position versatility," Jones said. "So in the NFL they only take seven linemen to the games. The interior guys are going to have to be able to play center and both guard spots, and then they take a swing tackle. So, it's kind of like dangling a carrot in front of them like, 'Hey, you might have to play a different position to get paid moving forward.'

Everything Jones said about versatility is why Cam'Ron is willing to make the move to center, and having Jones lead his development was a big part of why he followed him to Mizzou.

"He does a really good job with the scheme of things and everything," Cam'Ron said. "I've been with him for four years. So, it's something I'm very comfortable with and I know what he wants done. I think with my play style, I can get around the field as an offensive lineman, and it works well with what he has going on."

Besides the versatility aspect of it, the decision to have Cam'Ron compete for the center spot is simple for the Tigers coaching staff.

Get the five best players on the line and work it out from there.

"Well, it's all about competition," Drinkwitz said. " We're going to find the five best players. So, if he can snap, great, if not, he will be out of that position, and we're going to open up other positions for him to compete. We're not stubborn to say, 'Well, that's the only one (position) he's competing at.'

"We want the best five offensive linemen, and he's had the ability to snap in the past, so we want to see if he can do that and create competition with Connor."

Tollison tied for the second-most penalties on offense last year with seven and struggled for much of last season and in spring camp.

However, Drinkwitz and Jones believe Tollison's offseason has been much better since Jones' arrival, and he thinks Tollison has put himself in a good spot to compete and possibly retain his starting center position after a week of camp.

"I do think Connor's had a really good offseason, at least since I've been here," Jones said. "Being a former center, I'm a little biased towards that position and I know the rigors and demands of it, but I think he positioned himself to be in the competition."

"I've been really impressed with how Tollison has attacked this camp," Drinkwitz said. "He looks like he's having fun again. He's enjoying running the show and competing and I've been very impressed with the way he's attacked. We're still five days in.