The Missouri football roster in 2022 will look drastically different than a season ago. Eli Drinkwitz and his staff have added a whopping 34 scholarship newcomers to the team since last season ended, thus turning over more than one-third of the roster. Nineteen of those newcomers arrived on campus in June to begin summer conditioning.
As we continue to count down the days to fall camp, PowerMizzou is going to profile each of those 20 newcomers who have arrived since the end of spring practices in order to help fans get to know all the new faces on the roster. Today, we take a look at incoming freshman wide receiver Ja'Marion Wayne.
Position: WR
Height: 6-2
Weight: 186
Year: Freshman
Last School: Parkway West high school
The newest addition to Missouri’s receiving corps didn’t spend too much time playing wideout for Parkway West high school in St. Louis. That’s because Wayne was busy doing just about everything else.
Wayne played quarterback, running back, receiver, defensive back and returned kicks during his high school career. On National Signing Day, Drinkwitz pointed out that he scored points just about every way possible on a football field with the exception of a safety. Assistant coach Bush Hamdan said he couldn’t really tell what position Wayne was best suited for, but it didn’t really matter. Missouri wanted him for his athleticism.
“This is a guy we’re extremely excited about,” Hamdan said. “I think the athleticism jumps to mind. He’s got huge upside. And ultimately whether he ends up crushing it at receiver, I know this guy’s going to be doing great things for the Tigers.”
As a senior at Parkway West, Wayne threw for a touchdown. He rushed for 651 yards and 12 touchdowns. He caught 30 passes for 413 yards and another six scores. Plus he found the end zone four more times on either punt, kickoff, fumble or interception returns.
Wayne committed to the Tigers early, well before that senior season began, and never wavered in his pledge. Now, he’ll focus all of his athleticism toward playing receiver.
Drinkwitz hasn’t been shy about looking to infuse big-play ability into the receiver room, and Wayne should bring that. The question is how raw he is and how quickly he will be able to adapt to running routes and blocking in a college offense. Especially since Wayne wasn’t on campus for spring practices, it wouldn’t come as a shock if he redshirts his first season on campus. However, we aren’t discounting the possibility that Drinkwitz finds some creative ways to get the ball into his hands, similar to how he used Kris Abrams-Draine as a true freshman. Look for Wayne to perhaps factor into special teams, as well.
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