On Sunday, March 3, Missouri will begin its march toward the 2019 football season with its first spring practice. Each day until then, we will preview the 2019 roster, one position at a time. Today, we start our preview of the defense by looking at the interior of the defensive line.
The starters: Missouri will be without both of its starters from the 2018 season on the interior of its offensive line, but the Tigers should still have plenty of talent atop the depth chart in 2019. Jordan Elliott closed last season strong and will almost certainly begin the spring as a starter. Elliott, who played his first season for Missouri in 2018 after transferring from Texas, recorded eight total tackles, including four tackles for loss and three sacks, in the team’s final two games of last season. He will likely be joined by junior Kobie Whiteside, who battled injury at times but played well when he was on the field last season. Whiteside recorded eight tackles, including a strip sack of Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, last season. One player who could shake up that starting duo is Akial Byers, who played defensive end last season but might shift to defensive tackle. More on Byers in a bit.
The backups: Like Elliott, newcomer Chris Daniels signed with Texas in the Longhorns’ 2016 recruiting class but has now found his way to Missouri. Daniels, a four-star prospect coming out of high school, played one season at Texas before transferring to Copiah-Lincoln Community College, where he played one year. Missouri will hope Daniels, who is already on campus, can immediately join the regular rotation this season. Juniors Antar Thompson, who finally made it to Missouri last season after a circuitous journey, and Markell Utsey should also compete for playing time.
Potential storylines: Will Missouri make Byers a full-time defensive tackle? It would seem a more natural fit than defensive end for the 6-foot-4, 280-pound junior, but if he moves Byers from the edge, defensive line coach Brick Haley would be taking away his most productive player from an already thin position. Byers will likely start wherever he lines up next season. Our guess is, at least for the spring, he’ll keep his options open by training to play both on the interior and the edge of the defensive line.
Help on the way: In addition to Daniels, Missouri added Isaiah McGuire to its group of defensive tackles in the 2019 recruiting class. McGuire played primarily defensive end in high school, but he’s expected to move to the interior of the line at Missouri. McGuire will arrive on campus this summer.
Spring prediction: Elliott seems pretty close to a sure-fire starter, while Daniels will push Whiteside for the second starting spot. Byers will work with the defensive tackles some in practices but his position won’t be set in stone until the fall.
