Notebook: Tigers open first fall camp under Drinkwitz

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The Missouri football team took another step toward kicking off its first season under head coach Eliah Drinkwitz on Monday, holding its first practice of fall camp. Like just about everything else during the 2020 offseason, it looked different than any other camp in recent memory.

Media members were not permitted to view the Tigers’ first official practice since March 11, when the team’s spring practices were abruptly halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews were conducted via Zoom rather than on the side of the practice field, in person. Still, we were able to glean a bit about where Missouri stands 40 days out from opening its season at home against Alabama.

In talking to Drinkwitz, a clear theme emerged. After a disjointed offseason, the tendency may be to try to make up for lost time and hurriedly install the new offensive scheme. But Drinkwitz made clear that’s not an option. He sees this fall camp as laying the foundation for not just this season, but his entire tenure at Missouri. In his words, “you gotta lay the foundation right — if you have a crack in it, you have to tear the whole thing down and do it again.”

“You can't worry about all the time that you lost, you just gotta make do with the time that you do have, and you got to make sure that you do it right,” Drinkwitz said. “Go slow and and put it in piece by piece. This is a long term play for the Tigers. I mean, obviously we're gonna do everything we can to be as successful as you can this year, but this is a long term play for me and for us and for our culture, for our team.”

What did laying the foundation look like Monday? Drinkwitz said the offense focused on installing packages to be used in the red zone, both because that’s the most important area of the field and because doing so kept receivers and defensive backs from having to run too far as they adjust back to football shape. From there the offense will work on plays for the “open-field,” then third downs and, finally, specific situations.

Not surprisingly, Drinkwitz didn’t give away many specifics about how the unit looked during those red zone drills, but he did say the timing between the quarterbacks and wide receivers was a bit off. As Drinkwitz said, with Missouri entering fall camp with an open quarterback competition for the first time since at least 2011, “that was to be anticipated.” TCU transfer Shawn Robinson, redshirt junior Taylor Powell and redshirt freshman Connor Bazelak all figure to have a shot at the starting job.

Drinkwitz was harder on the receivers’ performance than he was the quarterbacks, saying the group “didn’t catch the football well today.”

“We gotta have wideouts step up and make a catch when the ball’s a little bit behind them, and quarterbacks are gonna have to move that ball from behind them to in front,” he said. “So we got a lot of work to do.”

Drinkwitz didn’t sound discouraged. That work, he said, is the “fun part.” And while it might be tempting to rush to name a starting quarterback, so he can have more time to develop chemistry with the starting receivers, or jump ahead in the installation process to where most teams would be at the outset of fall camp, Drinkwitz will only allow the offense to progress when it shows mastery of each step.

“If you skip steps, you're gonna get burned at some point,” he said. “And it's just not worth it. So, we can’t microwave it. I wish we could. I wish we had instant oatmeal and just add a little hot water and had the offense ready to rock and roll, but that ain’t how it’s going to go.”

Before even getting a jersey number, Keke Chism has been transformed from a relatively anonymous, Division-II football player to one of the most hyped members of Missouri’s team. The graduate transfer wide receiver earned praise from Drinkwitz during a press conference last month, who called him “an absolute freakin’ stud and a steal.”

Like all newcomers and quarterbacks, Chism wasn’t allowed to speak to reporters Monday, but several of his teammates added their voices to the hype, saying they’ve been impressed with what they’ve seen since Chism arrived on campus in July. Asked which player on the roster might surprise fans this season, receiver Jalen Knox and running back Tyler Badie both singled out Chism. During his three seasons at Angelo state, Chism racked up 2,221 receiving yards.

“Just seeing that man, he’s massive,” Badie said. “So he’s going to be a big target, going to be a good player for the quarterbacks. In the red zone, all over the field, I just feel like he’s going to be a good player for this offense.”

Knox said the additions of both Chism and fellow graduate transfer wideout Damon Hazelton have not only injected needed playmaking ability into the receiver room, they have set an example that has made him better as well.

“Them bringing in their five years of experience just raised me to another level,” Knox said. “It made me figure some things out, have to really get down and grind like how they used to work.”

A few other players earned nominations as candidates to surprise fans this season, as well. Tight end Daniel Parker Jr. pointed to true freshman cornerback Ennis Rakestraw Jr. and sophomore safety Martez Manuel as “physical, talented young kids.” Meanwhile, Larry Borom nominated sophomore Thalen Robinson on the offensive line.

Missouri hasn’t yet had any players choose to opt out of the 2020 season due to coronavirus concerns, which the SEC is allowing players to do without losing their scholarship. The only player asked Monday if he had considered opting out, senior starting running back Larry Rountree III, said the thought never crossed his mind.

Rountree said the reasoning for his decision was two-fold. For one, he acknowledged that he’s not exactly a sure-fire, early-round NFL Draft pick, like many of the players choosing to punt on the season. Second, he felt he owed it to the program to finish his college career strong.

“I owe it to my teammates and class to play and end on a good note, you know what I’m saying?” Rountree said. “I’m not trying to opt out. My mom says regardless of what the circumstances is, when you start something, you’ve got to finish it.”

Rountree, who represents Missouri on the SEC Football Leadership Council, also noted that he feels comfortable with the protocols the league has put in place to protect players from COVID-19. He’s glad the conference still plans to play despite the decisions of the Big Ten and Pac-12 last week to postpone the football season until the spring of 2021.

“The SEC really feels like they're over-prepared for this situation, this COVID situation,” Rountree said. “So I feel like the SEC right now is doing a great job of communicating with us as players what they’re doing, how’s testing going to go, how the season’s going to go. And for me personally, I would say it’s good that they’re communicating with us and letting us know what things they’re trying to do and what things they want to try to do and see how it goes.”

Fall camp usually brings the first depth chart of the season for Missouri fans. Don’t expect that anytime soon. Noting that he’s now had just four practices to watch the team play, Drinkwitz said he has “no idea” who would be on the two-deep right now.

“(The players) determine who's on the depth chart,” he said. “They’re going to determine who's the starters. Football is still a meritocracy. You get what you earn. I don't care if your parents write a letter to whoever.”

But Monday’s interviews did include a couple minor nuggets that could help give an idea of what that depth chart might look like. Knox, who has lined up almost exclusively as an outside receiver during his first two years on campus, said he has been preparing to play in the slot as well. The former high school running back should be comfortable lining up all over the formation, and it might allow him to play alongside Hazelton and Chism in the starting lineup.

Borom, meanwhile, said he is practicing exclusively at tackle. Borom started the first three games of last season at left guard before playing mainly right tackle for the final nine contests.