Position Reset: Defensive end
The first Missouri football season of the Eli Drinkwitz era showed both plenty of reasons for optimism as well as room for improvement. The Tigers finished a 10-game, all-SEC schedule with a record of 5-5, including an upset of defending national champion LSU and at one point cracking the College Football Playoff rankings at No. 25. However, the team also dropped its final two games of the season and saw an average margin of defeat of 24 points in its five losses.
In this series, we will go position by position to break down Missouri's performance in 2020 and look ahead to spring football practices, which should start later this month, and kick off preparation for the 2021 season. On Tuesday, we started our look at the defensive side of the ball with a breakdown of the defensive tackles. Today, we move to the edge of the defensive line and examine the defensive ends.
2020 Recap
Perhaps the underrated storyline of the year for Missouri was the re-emergence of Trajan Jeffcoat. Jeffcoat, who originally signed with the Tigers as a member of the 2018 recruiting class, played all 13 games as a true freshman but then suffered an injury prior to the 2019 season and was dismissed from the program before he could return to health. He suddenly reappeared back on the roster prior to last season and, even after a year away from football, made the kind of impact Missouri had been missing from an edge rusher for several years. Jeffcoat recorded six sacks, fifth-most in the SEC. He finished the season with 23 total tackles. As a result, he was named to the all-SEC first team by the league media.
Jeffcoat actually spent most of his time playing the BUCK linebacker position — basically a stand-up rush end — rather than lining up with his hand in the dirt. He split time there with Tre Williams, who had a solid senior season before opting out and entering the transfer portal. Williams had 21 tackles, including two sacks, on the season. On the other side of the defensive line, sophomore Isaiah McGuire overtook Chris Turner for the starting spot and showed some impressive flashes. McGuire had 18 tackles and three sacks on the year. In total, Missouri's defensive ends combined to record 11 sacks in 2020. While that might not quite compare to the production at the height of the D-Line Zou, it's about as many as the position group produced in 2018 and 2019 combined.
2021 Outlook
Departing: Tre Williams, Sci Martin
Returning: Trajan Jeffcoat, Chris Turner, Isaiah McGuire, Jatorian Hansford, Cannon York, Johnny Walker, Z'Core Brooks
Missouri should have a pair of solid starters at defensive end in Jeffcoat and McGuire — although it's possible that McGuire transitions to the interior of the defensive line, depending on how new defensive coordinator Steve Wilks and defensive line coach Jethro Franklin decide to position their defensive front. The depth behind those two, however, has quite a bit to prove. Turner has the most playing experience of the group, but it's never quite translated into production. The senior, who opted to take advantage of the NCAA's ruling that last season didn't count against players' eligibility, has totaled 56 tackles and 4.5 sacks across his four years at Missouri. Hansford, too, has received starting opportunities, but he has just 19 total tackles and has yet to record a sack in 23 career games. It is worth noting, though, that Hansford missed all of fall camp and six games last season due to an injury. Walker and Brooks, both of whom will be freshmen again next season, haven't seen any meaningful game action yet. York, a former walk-on from Lebanon, Missouri, actually made his first career start last season and earned a scholarship as a result.
Incoming: Travion Ford, Kyran Montgomery, Jonathan Jones, Arden Walker
Missouri placed a heavy emphasis on finding edge rushers in its 2021 recruiting class, and the Tigers might not be done adding to the position. The Tigers lost one commitment from the position group in junior college prospect Shemar Pearl, so it wouldn't come as a shock to see the staff use one of its three or so remaining spots on a pass-rusher who could make an immediate impact. Regardless, there appears to be a lot to like about the crop of current signees.
Missouri went outside of state lines to land Montgomery, the highest-ranked recruit in the Tigers' 2021 class. Montgomery racked up 159 total tackles and 30.5 tackles for loss across his junior and senior high school seasons combined. Ford, another four-star prospect, had 46 tackles and six sacks across just six games as a senior. He has already enrolled at Missouri and will participate in spring practices. Drinkwitz raved about Jones when he signed, listing him as a prospect that might have gotten overshadowed, and Walker provided a bit of a surprise when he committed to Missouri over his home-state school, Colorado, on the first day of the early signing period. There will likely be an opportunity for at least one newcomer to work his way into the Tigers' rotation, perhaps on third downs.
Projected Starters: Trajan Jeffcoat, Isaiah McGuire
Assuming McGuire stays on the edge, this seems like a pretty safe prediction. Jeffcoat should have an even larger role early this season than he had last year, when he was still working his way back into game shape. And while McGuire certainly has the size to play on the interior of the line, we would guess he spends more of his time at defensive end. Assuming Wilks does wind up utilizing a four-man front in his base scheme, McGuire seems like a candidate to play on the edge on first and second downs and slide inside on third downs, like Akial Byers has done in the past.
Spring Practice storyline to watch: How does the playing time shake out behind Jeffcoat and McGuire? As mentioned above, there are quite a few bodies in the running for regular playing time behind the starters, but none has consistently produced to this point. Turner will almost certainly have some sort of role, but Missouri is going to need production from more than two or three defensive ends this season, and the competition for those top backup spots should be wide open.
Previous Position Breakdowns:
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