Spring Preview: Offensive Line
Missouri will open its second spring under Barry Odom next month. Over the next two weeks, we preview spring ball position by position. Today, we finish the offensive side of the ball with a look at the offensive line.
SPRING FOOTBALL 2017: OFFENSIVE LINE
THE STARTERS: Mizzou brings back five players who started last year on a much-improved offensive line. Despite losing two linemen to the NFL, Glen Elarbee guided the group to a surprising strong performance. The Tigers were among the nation's leaders in sacks and tackles for loss allowed. The starters should line up like this, from left to right: Tyler Howell, Adam Ploudre, Sam Bailey, Kevin Pendleton, Paul Adams.
THE BACKUPS: TreVour Simms and Alec Abeln both saw a decent amount of playing time last season. Jonah Dubinsky filled in late in the season admirably as an injury replacement. Add redshirt freshman Trystan Castillo and juco transfer Kyle Mitchell after a year in the program and Mizzou will have a complete two-deep of contributors, which is not something the Tigers could say last spring. Darvis Holmes will also try to get in the mix for a spot in the rotation and 2017 signees Pompey Coleman and Yasir Durant will be on campus for spring ball as well.
Potential Storylines: The biggest intrigue will be how quickly Yasir Durant can get into the rotation. On the surface, the Tigers don't need a starter, but Durant could put himself in the conversation there. The line was good last season, but there is room for improvement. The increased competition will make for an interesting spring. In addition to Durant, both Castillo and Simms could push returning starters for time.
Spring Prediction: The line will likely emerge from spring the same way it enters. The real intrigue here will come in August when we could see some shakeup as far as the starting lineup goes.
Help on the Way: Missouri signed a full offensive line of the future. In addition to Durant (guard) and Coleman (tackle), Mizzou added Case Cook (center), Larry Borom (guard) and Hyrin White (tackle). Of that group, Cook seems the most likely to push for playing time as a true freshman, while the others are probably a year or two in the weight room away.