Missouri's spring football session is officially over.
The Black team defeated the Gold team 10-9 in the Black and Gold Spring Game on Saturday, but the team held a couple of closed practices earlier this week to truly finish spring ball.
Three weeks ago, we posted five Missouri spring football storylines to watch, and now that spring ball is over, we will go over those storylines and see what we learned.
How does Batoon implement his system? What changes about the defense?
The first time new defensive coordinator Corey Batoon was interviewed since getting hired in mid-January was the first day of spring camp.
So, the question everyone was sitting on was how the defense changes with him at the helm defensively.
The answer is we won't know until later.
Throughout camp, from Batoon's first press conference through his second appearance at the podium after the second week of camp, he kept saying that spring ball isn't about diving deep into the system. It's about individual improvement.
What we know is head coach Eli Drinkwitz said Batoon will learn the system in place and then when he's comfortable he will implement some things he wants to do.
Since Batoon and former defensive coordinator Blake Baker both run the 4-2-5 defense this isn't much of a problem. The players won't be behind and Batoon still has five months before fall camp to learn the playbook and implement what he wants.
So, this is likely a question to revisit in fall camp.
How does the running back room shake out?
In the post-Cody Schrader era, how would the Tigers go about their running back room with five scholarship backs on the roster?
The idea was that one of the team's two transfer portal additions, Marcus Carroll or Nate Noel would possibly take an RB1 role.
Not many people thought the running back share would be quite what it was with Schrader and Nate Peat when the former took almost every snap every game. But there was a possibility that spring would show who Mizzou was likely leaning toward as the RB1.
Well, it appears to be a 1A and 1B situation going into fall camp.
Carroll will embody that Schrader roll as that downhill, bruiser back, while Noel is a receiving scat back who wants to get into open space.
Both players come from an outside zone scheme, so there didn't seem to be a large learning curve.
"Yeah, we're still working through that process (of how to use the running backs)," offensive coordinator Kirby Moore said after the March 9 practice. "Today, right away, Nate making a few plays out in space. Making guys miss. (He) catches the ball in the open field. You think he's going to get tackled, right? No. Puts the juke move on, and then from Marcus Carroll just physical downhill inside zone. (He) made several nice runs throughout the day."
If these two keep this pace going into the season, the thinking would be that 1A will depend on what the Tigers want to do to start that particular game.
If they want to get out and pass the ball to start a game Noel may start the game because he can catch the ball out of the backfield or be motioned out of it. (Although, Carroll also showed his receiving chops throughout camp).
If Mizzou wants to get the ground game going and impose its will on the opposition, then maybe Carroll gets the nod.
Regardless, these two backs are at the top of the depth chart.
Behind them, Jamal Roberts, Tavorus Jones and later this summer four-star signee Kewan Lacy will compete with the two transfers to get some of those reps.
Who is in line to start at left guard? Who can be the swing tackle?
The answer to the first question was revealed rather quickly. Cam'Ron Johnson will be starting at left guard. He started at right guard all last season but was a first-team All-American Athletic Conference selection in 2022 at Houston while in the spot left of the center.
That is more of a comfort thing for Johnson and by extension offensive line coach Brandon Jones, who coached Johnson at Houston.
So, the starting vacancy goes from left guard to right. Missouri had every offensive lineman who will be on the fall camp roster at spring ball. So, everyone was competing for the right guard spot but Logan Reichert appeared to get the first-team reps for most, if not all of camp.
The 6-foot-6, 369-pounder was a four-star signee in the class of 2023.
By no means, does this mean Reichert has locked up the starting right guard spot, but he may be the favorite.
It's still very possible the Tigers go to the transfer portal in early May and try to find another guard, but for now, Reichert looks like the leading candidate.
Swing tackle is a position you don't know about until the season because it's not a starting spot. It's a sixth-man spot.
For basketball, if a team needs a new sixth man, you won't know who that player is until you see the team play.
So, there isn't a definitive answer for who Mizzou's swing tackle is. However, JUCO transfer Jayven Richardson would probably be the man for that job. The team likes his versatility he could play guard or tackle, which is what a swing tackle should be able to do.
"I think the big thing for me is, especially the more you get reps within the system and play with more confidence, which is what those guys are doing, the faster you play," Moore said of Reichert and Richardson. "They're playing faster (and) with that they've played at a higher level."
Who will make up the two-deep at defensive end?
For the second offseason in a row, going into spring ball the question of who can replace starting player leaving for the NFL Draft.
In 2023, it was who would replace Isaiah McGuire and this year, it's who will replace Darius Robinson.
Last year, the question remained through spring ball. Robinson switched from defensive tackle to defensive end during spring ball that year and the team got Nyles Gaddy out of the transfer portal after camp.
This year, the Tigers got Zion Young and Darris Smith out of the transfer portal before spring ball, and this time it seems like the Tigers have quelled the questioning.
Johnny Walker will start for sure. That was known going into camp. But who would start opposite of him?
It's likely to be Young when you consider his experience. He recorded 26 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks for Michigan State last year. Young has been described as a good player who has a high motor and brings a lot of energy.
After him, will be Smith, who Missouri believes has the athleticism and physical stature akin to DJ Coleman, who was a 6-foot-5, 263-pound defensive end on the 2022 team.
Smith only racked up three tackles, a tackle for loss and a pass deflection in 2023 as an outside linebacker for Georgia. But his athleticism and motor lends him to the "Joker" role the team wants to implement more in 2024.
The "Joker" in this defense is a premier pass rusher who can drop into coverage, most likely the flats, and be able to snuff out the short pass. Smith is athletic enough to do that.
"Shout out to Coach Peoples. He left us in a pretty good situation there with Zion Young and Darris Smith coming in," EDGE coach Brian Early said. "(I've) been really impressed with 一 a lot of times you can get transfers from other Power Five institutions and there's a certain sense of entitlement that they have when they get to your program. I have seen zero of that from either one of those guys. (They're) really humble, willing to learn, they allow me to coach them and they work hard.
"I know you guys aren't in practice very much and haven't seen any of the competitive team stuff that we do. But there are flashes of, 'Oh, wow,' here and there from those guys. And if we can get them to be that person consistently, which I think we can do before we start playing games around here, I think that both of those guys are going to be good players for us in the fall."
After that, the team has Joe Moore, Austin Firestone and three incoming freshmen coming in the summer: five-star Williams Nwaneri, four-star Elias Williams and three-star Jaylen Brown.
One of those players will occupy the DE4 spot, but the Tigers won't be searching for a defensive end in the portal (unless it's a best-player available situation). They're happy and excited with the depth at the spot entering the fall.
What returning player will step up and what newcomer will stand out?
Cornerback Dreyden Norwood appears to be the player who may have the most new responsibility fall on his shoulders. Due to the departures of Kris Abrams-Draine and Ennis Rakestraw, Norwood is expected to ascend to a CB1 role with
According to his teammates and coaches, Norwood has taken a step forward.
"I've been really pleased with Drey's growth," cornerbacks coach Al Pogue said. "When he first got here, he hadn't played that much but like I said, I've really been impressed with him this spring, even though he still has some things he has to work on. But he's been really attentive. You can tell he's in his playbook more. He's getting really comfortable with the scheme.
"And he's just letting his natural ability come through and make plays and I think the biggest thing for him is you can see the confidence. He has the confidence that he could compete in this league. He's always believed in himself. And now you're starting to see it every day."
Norwood has been CB3 the last two seasons and got some starting experience last year when he played in 12 games (started five) in place of Rakestraw. The former Texas A&M Aggie racked up 20 tackles, three pass deflections and a fumble recovery in 2023.
No one necessarily got the hype and praise that Triston Newson received during spring ball in 2023 after transferring in from a JUCO but Carroll, Noel, Smith, Young and a couple of others were all talked about glowingly and will be integral pieces at their respective positions.
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