Past or present: Comparing Missouri's 2023 & 2024 wide receiver rooms

Spring ball and the spring transfer portal are long behind us, which means Missouri's roster is taking more of a definitive shape. So now is as good a time as any to compare the 2023 team to this year's team.

PowerMizzou will do a position-by-position comparison. Next up, are the wide receivers. We'll do just the top five scholarship players on the depth chart for this group.

In 2023, Luther Burden III had one of the best receiving seasons in program history with 86 receptions, 1,212 yards and nine touchdowns. Those were good for the sixth-most receptions and third-most receiving yards in Mizzou single-season history.

It's hard for Burden to do better in 2024 when he started the season with six straight games with 96 or more yards. However, he put himself in the upper echelon of wide receivers last year and with Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers and Rome Odunze in the NFL, Burden may be the best receiver in the nation.

Another year under offensive coordinator Kirby Moore and a third season with quarterback Brady Cook might allow for Burden to improve on his receiving totals across the board in 2024. It won’t be easy but it’s very possible.

Theo Wease couldn't have landed in a better place.

The former Sooner built a good connection with Cook as WR2 in Wease’s first year in Columbia, and he proved to be the viable red zone threat Mizzou was missing a year earlier with five of his six touchdowns coming in the red zone.

He recorded 49 receptions for 682 yards and six touchdowns.

With Burden, Brett Norfleet, Speedy Johnson, Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll, Wease can't be doubled in the red zone. So there should be more opportunities in general but especially in the red zone.

Like Wease, Cooper had a career year in 2023 with 36 receptions for 447 yards.

Cooper had some big moments last year and from Weeks 3-8 recorded at least 50 receiving yards in five of the six contests.

Mizzou doesn't need him to carry the whole receiving load, it just needs him to do his part. He did that last year and can probably do it again with the aforementioned playmakers on offense being able to help with the spacing.

If Cooper can get to the 500-600 yard range and get into the end zone (hasn't scored a touchdown since 2021) then that would be an excellent season.

Johnson was one of the breakout players for the Tigers last year. He was a great example of making the most of his reps. Despite appearing in just 102 snaps in 13 games, he recorded 13 receptions for 383 yards and three touchdowns.

His straight-line speed is incredible and his presence alone on the field stretches defenses and opens up the passing game for everyone.

There's still more than enough room for improvement in 2024 with Johnson mentioning during spring ball that he wants to be a more polished receiver, but what he does in stretching defenses is something that can't be quantified.

Mekhi Miller dealt with some injuries that limited him to 11 games but he still recorded 11 receptions for 148 yards and a touchdown. He's sometimes referred to as "Mr. Consistency" by Eli Drinkwitz.

He's one of the better third-down players on the team and Mizzou could use him in the fall as it tries to improve on its 41st-ranked third-down offense (.426) from a year ago.

He's a good route runner with strong hands and if he's a team's WR4 or WR5, it indicates a pretty deep wide receiver room.

Other scholarship receivers: Joshua Manning (So.) Daniel Blood (So.), Courtney Crutchfield (Fr.), James Madison (Fr.)

Overall advantage: 2024 wide receiver room

It's not too often a team brings back their top seven receivers but the Tigers are. Couple that with their starting quarterback returning, it makes for a lot of synergy. It's hard to see this group decline (barring injuries) when the same quarterback and offensive coaching staff are in place. Adding four-star Pine Bluff (Ark.) signee Courtney Crutchfield and four-star St. Thomas Aquinas signee James Madison doesn't hurt this group either.

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