Growing up in South Carolina, Trajan Jeffcoat didn’t know much about Missouri. But as the current sophomore began searching for a college at which he would play defensive end, he recognized the names of former Tigers that had gone on to NFL success at his position. A parade of pass-rushers like Aldon Smith, Kony Ealy, Shane Ray, Markus Golden and Charles Harris who helped earn Missouri the nickname “D-Line Zou” lured Jeffcoat to campus in hopes that he could be the next Tiger edge rusher to find college and NFL success.
However, just three years removed from sending the latest defensive end to the NFL, Missouri now finds itself searching for answers at the position. The Tigers struggled to pressure opposing quarterbacks a season ago, recording 27 sacks in 13 games. That rate of 2.08 sacks per game ranked No. 66 nationally, which isn’t bad, but the defensive ends only accounted for 6.5 of those sacks. The lack of pass rush hurt the defense as a whole. In the five games in which Missouri defense gave up 34 or more points, it mustered just five total sacks and allowed an average of 358.8 passing yards per game. The team went 1-4 in those games.
The December arrest of Tre Williams on suspicion of assault magnified those concerns entering the 2019 season. Williams started all 12 regular-season games last year and led the Missouri defensive ends with 2.5 sacks. He has been suspended since the arrest. At this point, hoping for a return to the pass rushing productivity seen during the D-Line Zou heyday is likely unrealistic, but the Tigers desperately need somebody to emerge as a threat on the edge so opposing quarterbacks can’t simply stand in the pocket and pick the secondary apart.
That’s where Jeffcoat comes in. The defensive coaching staff is counting on him to step up and fill a larger role than he did as a true freshman. So far, his growth during the offseason has inspired confidence that he can do just that. Head coach Barry Odom said Jeffcoat “has had as good an offseason as anybody.”
“He’s growing up,” said defensive line coach Brick Haley. “Still got a lot of things to work on, still young and still green, but I think the thing that he’s done is he’s shown some maturity, and he’s got himself in a position to, I think, go play some quality minutes for us.”
The Missouri coaching staff felt it pulled off a coup when Jeffcoat signed with the Tigers in December of 2017. At 6-foot-3, 245 pounds, he certainly looks the part of a menacing edge rusher, and even though he didn’t arrive on campus until June of the last year, it quickly became apparent that Missouri would need to play Jeffcoat in more than four games due to its lack of depth at defensive end. But Jeffcoat largely struggled as a true freshman, notching just one sack, which came late in a blowout of Arkansas.
Jeffcoat admitted he was caught off-guard by the adjustment to both the size and speed of college players and the complexity of a college playbook. But despite the growing pains, he believes seeing action in all 13 games a season ago helped him entering the offseason. Now, he feels he is “on pace with everybody else.”
“The transition from high school to college is a big difference, it’s a tremendous difference,” Jeffcoat said. “Just mind-blowing. Everything’s faster, everybody’s stronger, and you just have to adjust.”
Following last season, Jeffcoat prioritized mastering the nuances of Missouri’s defensive scheme. After spending a full winter studying the playbook, he is able to play more instinctively and showcase his athleticism.
“I think with his understanding, now he can play fast and use his skills and technique,” Odom said. “He’s made a lot of progress, and I look forward to seeing him as the summer keeps going because I think he’s got a chance to be a really good player.”
Jeffcoat isn’t the only player on the defensive line who the coaching staff hopes can develop into a reliable edge rusher this offseason. Like Jeffcoat, sophomore Jatorian Hansford drew excitement with his athleticism after signing with Missouri in the 2018 class, and he saw the field quickly, playing in eight games and using his first year of eligibility last season. Hansford didn’t see as much game action as Jeffcoat, but he, too, struggled to adjust to the complexity of a college playbook. Now that he has a better grasp of his role, Hansford said he is more confident.
Junior defensive tackle Jordan Elliott, who spoke highly of both Jeffcoat and Hansford, said he has seen a difference in Hansford’s performance as a result.
“He’s more fluid in his movement, he’s not as stiff, and he just looks like a d-end,” Elliott said. “He looks like he’s going to be a dominant player. That’s what he looks like.”
Hansford and Jeffcoat said the Missouri coaches have not danced around the issue of the pass rush. They know Missouri needs someone to provide more consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks if the team is going to improve on last year’s eight-win season. Neither player said he feels individual pressure to start or hit a certain number of sacks, but each certainly recognizes the opportunity for playing time.
Both Hansford and Jeffcoat hope to take advantage of that opportunity and emerge, if not as the next prolific pass-rusher from D Line Zou, at least as the missing part needed to improve Missouri’s pass defense this season. Based on their development since the end of last season, the Missouri coaches are optimistic the sophomores tandem can do so.
“I think both of those guys are going to be leaned on pretty heavily to give us some pressure on the edge, get out there and do some things that we really feel like they are capable of doing body-wise,” Haley said. “And we feel good about them.”
