We're a little over 2 weeks away from the start of spring football. That means we now have less than two months with no college football to follow. Now I happen to consider that about 6 weeks too many, but then I'm something of a fanatic. The Tigers return 35 of the 44 players in the 2 deep from last year so you wouldn't expect there to be a lot of questions, but early departures by quarterback Blaine Gabbert and defensive end Aldon Smith created a couple of unexpected holes. I'm going to talk about some of the questions on the offense today, which has to start with, who's going to be the guy pulling the trigger for the offense now that BG has left for the NFL? The smart money says it's going to come down to 2 guys that were freshmen last year, James Franklin and Blaine's younger brother Tyler. Both were highly regarded prospects coming out of high school and appear to be capable of taking over for Blaine, who in my opinion was under-appreciated by Tiger nation. It can't have been easy following Chase Daniel who's always going to be considered a legend in Columbia following that magnificent 2007 season. But let's remember that CD had guys like Maclin, Franklin, Coffman, Rucker and Saunders to throw to. In Blaine's first season when he had Danario Alexander still around he had numbers that were very similar to Chases' sophomore season. He just lacked the game breaker last year, other than TJ Moe's last minute catch against San Diego State and Jerrell Jackson's catch against OU in the 4th quarter that put the Tigers back in the lead to stay. If I was handicapping this, I'd have to go with Franklin, but guys that watch the team daily say don't go to sleep on Tyler Gabbert. If I was a betting man, which I'm not I'm guessing the loser of the battle could well transfer following the season, along with 3rd stringer Ashton Glaser who appears to be the odd man out. Incoming freshman Corbin Berkstressor had a great senior season but I expect to see him red shirt this year.
The one loss that was expected was center Tim Barnes graduating. For the past 2 years Travis Ruth was expected to be the successor, but it seems most everyone is talking about a lightly regarded kid from Lebanon, Missouri as most likely to be the starter this fall. Justin came from my neck of the woods and may well be the first kid to start on a division 1 program. He was also scorned as a 5.4 two star player who many felt was offered simply to fill up slots. However, he's been praised by the staff since the day he got on campus due to his work ethic and understanding of the game. He's yet another exhibit as to why we shouldn't take Rivals or Scouts rankings too seriously. Actually, after guys like Alexander, Weatherspoon and Hood we should have had some idea that the coaches had some idea what they were doing, but then we wouldn't be Missouri fans. If it teaches us anything though, we should realize that kids that are really good wrestlers in high school understand the concept of leverage and be able to transfer that to football. Justin was a two time state champion in the heavyweight division.
At running back, the Tigers went with mostly a three headed, but sometimes four headed monster during the season. All of the backs experienced some success, but the fact is, it's hard to recruit backs to the system unless you have someone that breaks out as a feature guy. I know the Tigers realize this, especially with the difficulties they've had recruiting the big name kids, even those that are residents of the Show Me State. All four of the returners are similar in that they're smallish guys with bursts of speed. All are capable of breaking the big play any time they touch the ball, but questionable in their ability to break tackles and get the tough yards. If indeed they attempt to get more touches to one guy, then I'm going to guess, and it's just a guess that the top two getting their chance to shine would be junior Kendial Lawrence and sophomore Henry Josey. Both were highly regarded kids out of Texas and show more speed than De'Vion Moore, who was usually the starter last year, and Marcus Murphy, who spent the year as the deep man on kickoffs. And don't rule out red shirt freshman Greg White as a potential short yardage guy.
One spot that you'd think with no questions would be at wide receiver with all three starters returning, but I'm convinced the team has to find a deep threat. Last year the Tigers brought in three highly regarded recruits, although two of them were red shirted. Marcus Lucas shed his shirt, but only made three catches last year, although he gained PT as the season went along. I see him in sort of the D. Alexander mold; a tall receiver with good hands and deceptive speed that's capable of turning a short pass over the middle into a long gain. Hopefully he can be nearly as effective and healthy. For sheer speed, give me a look at the two kids that red shirted, Jimmie Hunt and Bud Sasser. I expect both to earn plenty of playing time this year. You also have to remember the kid everyone from the 'Lou was raving about a couple of years ago, Rolandis Woodland. There's no doubt the kid is a burner. Now he has to show he knows the playbook and can bring in the critical catch when it's prime time. I believe TJ Moe is a lock to hold on to his spot, but if I'm Jerrell Jackson or Wes Kemp, I'm making sure to get in some extra work this off season. There are a lot of young lions looking to take your spot.
That's all for today. I imagine we'll talk about how the basketball team fared this week next time, but when I get back to football, we'll discuss the defense. Hope your weeks going well for you.
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