Top Ten Tigers: The most important players for Mizzou football in 2021

The annual SEC Media Days have come and gone, which means the countdown to the 2021 football season is on. Missouri will kick off fall camp practices on August 6. The Tigers enter the year, the second for head coach Eli Drinkwitz, with a renewed buzz surrounding the program. Drinkwitz overcame a lack of practice time and all-SEC schedule to finish 5-5 in his debut season, and fans are optimistic that his team can take a step forward now that he's had a normal offseason with the squad.

If that's going to happen, Missouri is going to have to have some players step up — either elevating their play from a season ago or stepping into a spot vacated by one of the five Tigers selected in last spring's NFL Draft. In this article, we'll rank the 10 players who will be most important to a successful season. Note that we aren't just trying to predict who will be the 10 players who rack up the best numbers, but those who will be important either because they could answer a question mark entering the year or don't appear to have much depth behind them. (If you're looking for a more in-depth breakdown of each player, we've already previewed each position group heading into fall camp. That series can be found here.)

Missouri hasn't found a consistent receiving threat at the tight end position since Albert Okwuegbunam left for the NFL following the 2019 campaign. Hea, a junior out of CBC in St. Louis, is probably the most likely candidate on the current roster to assume that role. Fellow tight end Daniel Parker Jr. might play as many or more snaps, but his strength is his blocking. Hea, meanwhile, showed glimpses of his playmaking ability a season ago, catching 14 passes for 130 yards and two scores. If he could become a more consistent weapon, it would benefit Connor Bazelak and the rest of the passing game.

Once known for its seemingly unending stable of edge rushers, Missouri's defensive line has generally struggled to pressure the quarterback in recent years. Both players and coach are optimistic that can change in 2021, and if it does, McGuire will likely be a significant reason why. Fellow defensive end Trajan Jeffcoat is the headliner at the position after he recorded six sacks and earned all-SEC first-team honors in 2020, but at SEC Media Days, defensive tackle Akial Byers pointed to McGuire as the player who has caught his eye during the offseason. McGuire showed some flashes a season ago, recording 18 tackles and three sacks, while lining up at both tackle and end. He will likely spend more time on the edge this season, and if he can become a more consistent force, it would help alleviate some of the double-teams that are sure to come Jeffcoat's way. If you're looking for a most important unit for Missouri, it might be the defensive line. Drinkwitz said last week that the unit needs to be the strength of the Tiger team.

Missouri's secondary underwent a major overhaul during the offseason, as starting safeties Tyree Gillespie and Joshuah Bledsoe left for the NFL, while cornerback Jarvis Ware transferred to Central Florida. The coaching staff appears to have found replacements for Bledsoe and Ware in the transfer portal, but Carlies, who started a couple games at cornerback as a true freshman a season ago, looks like the most likely candidate to take over Gillespie's deep safety spot. The sophomore drew high praise during spring ball and has shown the ability to pick up new positions after he played wide receiver in high school, but his position will likely be the biggest question mark on Missouri's defense entering the season. We would put Carlies higher on this list except it's still not a sure thing he'll start, as he'll have to battle Jalani Williams for the top spot during camp.

After spending the past three seasons working as a change-of-pace back behind Larry Rountree III, Badie should get a chance to show what he can do as a feature back in 2021. Missouri will hope he's up to the task, because the Tigers don't have many other running backs with game experience on the roster. Elijah Young carried the ball 10 times as a true freshman last season while Dawson Downing has logged 69 carries across his four-year career. Other than that, the Missouri backfield is comprised of Simi Bakare, who didn't touch the ball last season, and a pair of true freshmen. Running back is generally a position where players can be fairly interchangeable, but given Badie's explosiveness and experience, having him healthy and productive all season would figure to raise the potential of the Tiger offense.

Of course, it doesn't matter how good Badie is if Missouri's offensive line can't create room for him to run or protect Bazelak. With both Case Cook and Michael Maietti back this season, the interior of the line should be solid. Tackle, however, remains a major question mark, especially after Larry Borom left school early for the NFL Draft. Missouri will get Hyrin White back this season after he missed all of last year with a shoulder injury, which could give the line a boost. The Tigers also bring back Zeke Powell, who started eight games at left tackle last season, but the junior college transfer struggled with inconsistency. Ultimately, we think both tackle spots will be up for grabs during fall camp, with Javon Foster, Bobby Lawrence and Montana State transfer Connor Wood also in the mix to start. Regardless who comes out atop the depth chart, Missouri's offense will benefit if the tackles can raise their level of play a bit from what we saw from players not named Borom a season ago.

As mentioned above, Missouri addressed what at one point looked like a major weakness when it added Tulsa transfers Evans and Allie Green IV to the cornerback room. Evans was the more high-profile of the two, as his scholarship offers included Georgia, Texas and Notre Dame and some NFL Draft analysts have talked about him as a potential second-day pick. If Evans can live up to the hype, he could help Missouri slow down opponents' No. 1 wideouts, something the Tigers struggled with a season ago. Alabama's Jaylen Waddle racked up 134 yards and two touchdowns against Missouri; LSU's Terrance Marshall went for 235 yards and three scores; Treylon Burks of Arkansas accumulated 206 yards and a touchdown. The expectation is for Evans to line up out wide opposite sophomore Ennis Rakestraw, so one of the two needs to step up and embrace the challenge of covering the other teams' top wideout, and we think Evans, who helped limit Oklahoma State's Tylan Wallace to four catches last season, could be that guy.

Speaking of transfers who will be asked to play major roles right away, all Alldredge will be asked to do is replace all-American Nick Bolton at the weakside linebacker spot. While it's unlikely any one player can replicate what Bolton did the past two seasons, Alldredge's numbers from his three seasons at Rice are impressive. He racked up 102 tackles, including 21.5 tackles for loss, which tied for the most in the nation, as a junior in 2019. In five games a season ago, Alldredge recorded 47 tackles and an interception. Alldredge didn't arrive on Missouri's campus until June, so he will have to learn the defensive scheme in a hurry, but the clear expectation is for him to start alongside Devin Nicholson at linebacker.

On one hand, it seems counterintuitive to put a wide receiver this high on the list, as there might not be any other position where players are more interchangeable. But Cooper, a former top-100 recruit out of St. Louis who transferred to Missouri from Ohio State after he didn't play last season, has the potential to bring a couple facets that the Tigers missed a season ago. Namely, his speed makes him a big play waiting to happen. Gadget plays aside, Missouri struggled to generate explosive plays last season, especially in the passing game. The Tigers need someone to prove they can beat defenses over the top in order to open up the rest of the offense, and Cooper looks like a potential candidate. His dynamic skillset should also fit Drinkwitz's scheme well, as we saw Drinkwitz utilize a variety of methods to get the ball in the hands of his receivers a season ago. Lastly, Cooper could provide a much-needed threat in the return game. Missouri ranked a lowly 101st nationally in punt return average and 118th in kickoff return average last season. Having a player who can provide a spark on special teams could mean the difference in picking up an extra win or two.

Obvious as it may be, the top spot on this list has to go to Bazelak. The quarterback is just about always the most important player on a football team, and in Missouri's case, it's impossible to envision the Tigers winning eight-plus games without Bazelak taking a significant step forward. Bazelak performed well after being thrust into the starting spot midway through last season. He completed 67.3 percent of his passes for 2,366 yards and was named the SEC co-freshman of the year following the season. He struggled in two areas, however: deep passes and red zone production. Bazelak completed 28 percent of passes that traveled more than 20 yards downfield and threw just nine touchdowns compared to seven interceptions. During the offseason, Drinkwitz has consistently reiterated that Bazelak will be Missouri's starter behind center, but he also hasn't shied away from pointing out that he will have to be better in those areas. The good news for Tiger fans is that this marked Bazelak's first real offseason practicing with a college team, as he was rehabbing from a torn ACL at this time a year ago. Drinkwitz and Cook both said last week that Bazelak looks more comfortable and confident than ever before. If the quarterback can prove them right and put together a second- or third-team all-SEC caliber of season, it suddenly becomes a lot easier to envision Missouri winning the eight or nine games a lot of fans have been calling for.