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 earlier this month 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 profile one of the top recruits from within the state of Missouri in the 2022 class, defensive tackle Marquis Gracial.
Position: DT
Height: 6-4
Weight: 331
Year: Freshman
Last School: Saint Charles HS
It’s not very common that a true freshman sees instant success along either line of scrimmage in the SEC, but Missouri fans don’t have to think back very far for the last example. A season ago, Mekhi Wingo played the most snaps of any defensive tackle on the Tiger roster during his first season on campus and totaled 27 tackles, a sack and an interception returned for a touchdown.
With Wingo now gone to LSU, there should be playing time available on the interior of the defensive line, and another freshman from the St. Louis area should have a chance to claim some of it. That would be Gracial, who proved his chops at the Under Armour All-America game in January when he recorded a sack and a tackle for loss against some of the top high school competition in the country.
Gracial represented a major recruiting win for Missouri, as his lengthy offer list also included the likes of Alabama, Auburn, Michigan, Oregon, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M. The nation’s No. 118 prospect committed to the Tigers more than a year ago, in May 2021, and despite taking a few official visits elsewhere, never wavered from his pledge.
Gracial will join a swath of newcomers on the defensive line, most of whom have some college experience. Missouri has added nine newcomers to the defensive front since last season ended, six of them being transfers. At defensive tackle, Jayden Jernigan transferred from Oklahoma State, Josh Landry has arrived from Baylor and Kristian Williams is expected to transfer in at the conclusion of the summer.
Still, we’re giving Gracial a chance to see the field as a rotational piece even as a true freshman. At 6-foot-4, 331 pounds, he already has SEC size. And he’s shown the ability to move, as well, playing some tight end for his Saint Charles high school football team.
“Big-time athlete,” defensive tackles coach Al Davis said about Gracial when he signed with Missouri in December. “We’re very excited about him. He’s got a couple plays (on film) where he’s catching the ball, so we’ve got a good athlete right there.”
The ideal scenario for Gracial would likely be that he rotates into game action this season and gains valuable experience that will help him become the anchor of the defensive front once Darius Robinson and Jernigan graduate.
Previous Profiles
Talk about this story and more in The Tigers' Lair
Make sure you're caught up on all the Tiger news and headlines
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for video and live streaming coverage
