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 finish our review of the roster by examining the safeties.
2019 recap
Perhaps no position group had a bigger hand In Missouri's defensive improvement from 2018 to 2019 than the Tiger safeties. Missouri adjusted its defensive scheme slightly before the season, replacing a linebacker with a third safety in its base defense (at least nominally), and got consistent production out of all three safety spots. The Tigers saw two first-time starters take over and excel at high safety in juniors Joshuah Bledsoe and Tyree Gillespie. Bledsoe ranked third on the defense with 49 total tackles and led the unit with 10 pass breakups. The hard-hitting Gillespie edged Bledsoe by recording 50 tackles and broke up seven passes. Both players are expected to be back next season. At the third safety spot, which spent more time near the line of scrimmage, serving as a hybrid between a safety and a linebacker, seniorsKhalil Oliver and Ronnell Perkins split reps. Both players graduated following the season.
Looking ahead
Departing: Ronnell Perkins, Khalil Oliver
Returning: Tyree Gillespie, Joshuah Bledsoe, Jalani Williams, Stacy Brown, Aidan Harrison, Martez Manuel
Not only does Missouri have two established starters In Gillespie and Bledsoe, the Tigers have a talented crop of second-year players waiting In the wings as well. Brown, Harrison and Manuel all burned their redshirts In their first season on campus. All three mainly played on special teams, although Manuel (the only true freshman to play in all 12 games) did draw a start when Gillespie was suspended for half a game due to a targeting penalty. Williams only saw action In two games after he missed time due to a couple different Injuries, but he might be the most talented of the bunch. The former four-star recruit out of St. Louis should benefit from adding some size to his wiry frame during the offseason.
Incoming: Tyler Jones, Jaylon Carlies
Missouri inked a pair of high school teammates in the early signing period in Tyler Jones and Jaylon Carlies. Jones will almost certainly play safety, and at 6-foot-3, it appears Carlies is likely destined to play there as well, although it's possible he could play cornerback. Like the 2019 crop of newcomers, the duo could work their way into immediate playing time on special teams, but given the depth at safety it appears unlikely they will see meaningful playing time In 2020.
Projected 2020 starters: Tyree Gillespie, Joshuah Bledsoe, Stacy Brown
Barring injury, Gillespie and Bledsoe should provide the last line of defense for Missouri again this season. Both players have all-SEC ability, and with a strong season, Gillespie could put himself in position to be an early- to mid-round NFL Draft pick. The question will be who replaces Oliver and Perkins at the hybrid spot. Brown, who already looks to have an SEC body, took the majority of third-team reps this past season, so he draws the early nod, but Harrison could push for the starting spot as well, or the two could rotate like Oliver and Perkins did.
Offseason storylines to monitor:
How can Missouri use Williams? If he can stay healthy, the Parkway North product has enough talent that he should be able to work his way onto the field in some capacity. What his role might look like remains a mystery. Could Williams move to the hybrid spot and push Brown and Harrison for playing time? Possibly, but he would likely have to beef up quite a bit during the offseason. It seems more likely that he will remain at high safety, where he could rotate with Gillespie and Bledsoe while preparing to take over the reigns as a starter in 2021. Still, though, that might not present him the opportunity to play a lot of snaps this season, since the starters hardly came off the field last season and he would also have Manuel to contend with.
