Roster review: Offensive line
Since the 2019 football season ended, a lot has changed for the Missouri football program. The Tigers fired head coach Barry Odom on Nov. 30 and 10 days later announce the hire of Eliah Drinkwitz. Drinkwitz had just eight days to salvage a class for the early signing period, all while slowly piecing together his staff of assistants. Drinkwitz appears to have the defensive side of the ball set, but will hire two more offensive assistants.
Now that the dust has finally begun to settle, it's time to take a look back at the 6-6 season. In this series, we will go position-by-position to evaluate the performance in 2019 and the pieces In place for 2020. Today, we round out the offensive side of the ball by examining the offensive line.
2019 recap
Missouri's offense had a lot of problems during the second half of the 2019 season, but perhaps the most damaging was the performance of the offensive line. A unit that returned three starters from 2018, when it led the SEC and ranked in the top 10 nationally in both sacks and tackles for loss allowed, struggled in both run and pass blocking. Missouri gave up 27 sacks and 73 tackles for loss in 2019, both of which ranked in the mid-70s nationally. The Tigers also saw their team-wide rushing average dip by nearly a full yard per carry, from 4.76 to 3.82 yards per tote. The coaching staff tried shuffling players around on the line throughout the first half of the season before eventually settling on a set formation for the second half, but the group's production didn't improve.
Looking ahead
Departing: Yasir Durant, Trevour Wallace-Simms, Trystan Colon-Castillo
Returning: Case Cook, Larry Borom, Hyrin White, Bobby Lawrence, Xavier Delgado, Mike Ruth, Thalen Robinson, Javon Foster, Luke Griffin, Jack Buford
The bad news for Missouri Is that It loses three starters from last year's line, Including left tackle Yasir Durant, who was the highest-graded of the group by Pro Football Focus. Durant and guard Tre'Vour Wallace-Simms both exhausted their eligibility, while center Trystan Colon-Castillo opted to enter the NFL Draft after Missouri fired Odom.
The good news Is that a reshuffling of the personnel up front might actually benefit the Tigers. Missouri has stockpiled quite a few bodies up front, but most of those players are unproven. Cook and Borom both started for the majority of the 2019 season, with Cook at right guard and Borom at right tackle. Cook can also play center and Borom might be better suited for guard. Hyrin White started the first few games of the year at right tackle before being phased out of the rotation, and Bobby Lawrence drew one start there as well. Aside from Cook, Borom and White, no player among the group has played 100 snaps In his career. Thalen Robinson, who could play either guard or center, seemed to draw the highest praise from the coaching staff out of the rest of the group, though with a new offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, that admittedly doesn't mean much.
Incoming: Drake Heismeyer, Mitchell Walters
Missouri hasn't had any true freshmen see meaningful playing time on the offensive line in recent years. With a new staff and three departed starters, there's certainly a slim chance that one of the two St. Louis products could work his way into meaningful snaps this year, but a redshirt season appears more likely for both. Look for Drinkwitz to add at least one or two more offensive linemen to the signing class, as well.
Projected 2019 starters: Hyrin White, Thalen Robinson, Case Cook, Larry Borom, Bobby Lawrence
The competition should be absolutely wide open up front, which makes predicting a starting five difficult. Borom struggled at tackle last season, so it wouldn't be a surprise to see him slide back to right guard. That would leave White and Lawrence as the most experienced tackles, though Foster should have a shot at one of those two starting spots as well. Assuming he Is healthy, Cook is probably the best bet to start, but whether that will be at guard or center remains to be seen. For now, we'll peg Robinson for the final spot due to the fact that he worked his way up to the second team as a true freshman, with Delgado and Ruth also candidates.
Offseason storylines to monitor:
Between personnel, scheme and coaching, there will be a lot of changes to the offensive line this offseason. Again, that might not be a bad thing. One aspect to monitor will be how much zone blocking Drinkwitz brings with him from Appalachian State. Zone blocking was a staple of the Mountaineers' rushing attack, while Missouri featured more man blocking under Derek Dooley. It will be interesting to chat with the players during the spring about the challenges of transitioning to a new blocking scheme.