Rumors and more random thoughts....

Maty Mauk

If you don't follow football recruiting, then the name Maty Mauk won't mean a darned thing to you.  However, if you're a recruiting junkie it gets your palms just a little sweaty.  For those of you that aren't held hostage to this addiction, I'll tell you a little something about Mauk.  He's a 6'2", 185 pound quarterback from Ohio who's thrown for about 13,500 yards and 151 touchdowns in his first 3 years of high school.  He's one of the top 2 or 3 quarterbacks in the country, has offers from such programs as Michigan and Notre Dame, and there's a fair chance he's going to be giving his commitment to come to CoMO in 2012.  The Tigers have landed some pretty highly ranked recruits in Missouri, including guys like Blaine Gabbert, Sheldon Richardson and Jeremy Maclin, and recently starting picking up some 4 star kids out of Texas like Tristan Holt and recent verbal, Jonathan Williams.  But Mauk would be an anomoly.  He's from Kenyon freaking Ohio, not the normal Tiger recruiting ground.  Getting Mauk would signify that the Tigers are prepared to go head to head with anyone anywhere in the country for recruits.  The places Gary Pinkel has taken this program since his arrival is truly remarkable, even if there seems to be a head scratching loss every season.

Sheldon Richardson

And speaking of quarterbacks, we will, for the first time since August 31st when Brad Smith tore up defending Big Ten champion Illinois 33-20 in the first of 6 consecutive ass kickings Pinkel's Tigers have administered to the whining Illini.  You'd have to say that although James Franklin ended the spring period strong, that it's still way to early to call him the starter this fall.  Tyler Gabbert, and junior to be Ashton Glaser both showed signs this spring that they were more than capable of leading the Tiger offense.  While all 3 struggled at times, there's one thing you need to remember, and I'm dead serious about this.  The offense won't face many defenses as strong as the one they practice against.  If Sheldon Richardson indeed makes it on campus in June to add to a defensive tackle rotation that already includes guys like a hopefully healthy Dominique Hamilton, Terrel Resonno, Lucas Vincent and Marvin Foster to go along with the defensive ends, you are going to be a handful for offensive coordinators.  It's the kind of Missouri football I grew up watching and frankly, I can't wait.

Chris Freeman

I'm also hearing the Tigers will be committing more to rushing the football this year.  4 experienced tailbacks are returning and 4 seniors on the offensive line which was one of the best in the conference last year.  And what's even more amazing is the depth behind the starters.  Next year we'll be breaking in 4 new starters but will be picking them from kids named Gatti, Freeman, Demien, Meiners, Morse and Britt.  The Tigers are red shirting kids that would have come in as starters 5 years ago.   I'll be looking at more reports soon and trying to figure out what to look for this fall.  Until then, at least there's softball and baseball to talk about.  But now, I'm getting out of town for a few days much needed vacation.  Talk to you soon.  I'll try to keep up my scoreboard and some fun news stories and current events on my website.  I hope you'll stop by.

Quick hits

Lost in the shuffle of the opening day loss, 4-2 to the Los Angeles Angels, something we're probably going to see a lot of this season, was the reopening of the George Brett Bridge in time for the first pitch.  It was really remarkable to me that the contractor, Clarkson Construction was able to get this done in the time allotted.  The bridge was imploded on January 14th, following the Chiefs final game, which was later than expected following a season that included a home playoff game.  Had the bridge, with it's I 70 access not been completed in time, it would have been all that much tougher a sell to get people into Kauffman Stadium.  Realistically the Royals could struggle to avoid losing 100 games again this year.  But it does make it easier for us to make a snap decision to head out to the park on a warm summer evening.

To Missouri fan who's self loathing knows no limit seems to be uninformed as to what is what's going on with Oklahoma's search for a basketball coach.  Athletic Director Joe Castiglione has now struck out with his first 4 choices after firing Jeff Capel.  Local media guy Kevin Harlan said on the Border Patrol said that coaches seemed to be running away from the job and apparently he's correct.  At last count Bruce Weber, Dave Rose, Lon Kruger and Buzz Williams have declined offers from the Sooners.  Apparently a portion of the OU fan base is worrying that they're about to drop into obscurity in the new Big XII conference and they'll become the new Nebraska, all football.  It's odd when so many of our fans wish we had Joe C. back in CoMO instead of Alden.  OU makes between 30 and 40 million a year than the Tigers and aren't having much luck showing anymore success.  And if you want to mention how far ahead their football program is to ours, may I at least remind you of the score last season.

Speaking of football, there was nothing going on with the students out on spring break, but there's a lot of speculation that James Franklin being the starting quarterback on September 3rd at the opener against Miami of Ohio may be premature.  Tyler Gabbert has continued to look good leading the offense and has moved into pretty much a co-number 1 right now.  Brad Madison, while not making people forget about Aldon Smith appears to be developing into a dominant pass rusher, and Kony Ealy may well move into the 3rd spot in the rotation.  Despite losing 3 starters the defensive backfield looks to have more talent than ever.  If Dominique Hamilton comes back from an injury and Sheldon Richardson makes it on campus this could be a very formidable defense.  Some questions still on the offensive side of the ball, including the young receivers moving up and threatening for jobs and whether one of the running backs will be able to stake a claim as the premier back.      

Recruiting is the lifeblood of college football

Of course the title of this post is obvious.  Like saying water is wet.  Without a steady stream of talent, no college football program will continue to succeed.  In the last 4 years, Missouri has won 40 football games despite not having classes that were considered to be the best.  This year the Tigers took a small class of 17, which would have been smaller without the early departures of their two most visible prospects, Blaine Gabbert and Aldon Smith.  Tiger nation has been bemoaning this class since Rivals ranked it 47th among FBS schools, behind such powers as Boston College, The University of Central Florida and kansas for God's sake.  However, I believe that once we take a look back in three years or so we'll find that this class was better than we thought, and I have some historical evidence to prove that as SI.com re-rated the 2008 class that was ranked 25th by Rivals that year.  We've got to remember that the services give higher marks for teams that sign more players, and well, sometimes they just miss it on how highly a player is rated.  A 3 star quarterback that was considered a little too short to be successful in D1 football named Chase Daniel ring a bell with anyone? 

This year the Tigers obtained a commitment from only one 4 start player, Sheldon Richardson who was a 5 star when he originally signed two years ago.  Sheldon had to detour to junior college in California, and flirt with USC before finally coming to his senses and re-signing with the Tigers after much soul searching and his mother threatening him with a cast iron skillet.  Everyone agrees that if he does in fact make it and is on the team this fall, that he's the kind of player that can make a huge impact on the defensive line, an area that improved greatly last year but still could always use depth.  Some guys that don't seem to be getting as much attention that I think will be very successful for Mizzou are Gerrand Johnson, a 270 lb defensive tackle from Rayville, LA and Kentrell Brothers, an undersized linebacker from Oklahoma that was voted the defensive player of the year in that state.  Yes, he's coming in at only 207 lbs, which is about 10 pounds heavier than an unknown kid from Texas named Weatherspoon and he seemed to turn out ok.  If Pat Ivey says he can grow them, I tend to believe him.  With 8 offers from BCS conference teams, offensive lineman Taylor Chappell may turn out to be quite a find also, as well as Shane Ray, a defensive end from the KC area who passed on offers from Wisconsin and Notre Dame, among others to sign with the Tigers.  

Depth on the offensive line was addressed with 4 signees, they got the quarterback they wanted as well as defensive players to replace guys like J. Smith, Lambert, Ebner and company after they graduate this year.  This simply wasn't a year they had anything they were desperate to address.  Coach Pinkel has depth across the board now and players that would have gotten offers 5 years ago just aren't getting them today.  This is evidenced by Darrien Miller, who some considered to be the best player in the state, not receiving an offer.  However, next year is huge and the staff will need to get a jump.  It's one of the best classes in Missouri high school football we've seen in the past 5 years, which is saying a lot considering some of the talent we've seen in 2008 and 2009.  But, I'm going to give Pinkel and company some credit.  At least until next season starts.  But we need to get a jump on a great class.  Maty Mauk from Ohio would be a great start.

Can the defense be a little less offensive?

Sorry about the delay from my last post.  I've been finishing an e book project that was actually my first paid writing gig.    Between that and not really knowing how to address this.  Frankly, since a very good performance in 2007, the defense has suffered horribly the past 2 seasons.  Many were rejoicing after the 2008 season when Matt Eberflus left for a job as the linebackers coach for the Cleveland Browns.  He was replaced by Dave Steckel, long time linebackers coach under Gary Pinkel.  A former Marine, Steck was expected to toughen up the defense that had become too passive under Eberflus.  However, things didn't really change much as the Tigers were about as successful at defending their territory as the French Army.
But, it's just the beginning of spring practice and optimism always flows like water for me.  The practice reports I've read from Gabe DeArmond and Dave Matter have both mentioned the defensive back playing more press coverage and less giving the receivers 8 to 10 yards of cushion.  This would definitely be a good thing, but one thing I have noticed is the Tigers lack of a defensive tackle that creates chaos on the line.  In 2007 Lorenzo Williams was an absolute terror in the middle, collapsing pockets and giving the quarterback no place to go.  In '08 Ziggy Hood was a run stopping piece of machinery, but rarely provided any discomfort for the quarterback as he tried to step up to get away from pressure.  Last year it was more of the same for starters Jaron Baston and Dominique Hamilton.  However, Hamilton was a red shirt sophomore and came on as the season went along so I have some high hopes for him.  I have no idea where the other starter comes from but some candidates are Terrell Resonno, Jimmy Burge, Marvin Foster and possibly even incoming freshman Lucas Vincent.  We simply have to get some pressure up the middle, whether it come from a down lineman or a linebacker.  There are ways to scheme around the lack of an overpowering defensive tackle.  It's just going to be up to Steckel and the rest of the defensive staff to find it.

Now when you talk about defensive ends and the Tigers, it's hard not to smile when you have guys like Jacquies Smith and Aldon Smith coming back.  Aldon was a freshman all america and the future looks just insanely bright for the kid coming out of Raytown.  Blessed with a 6'5" frame and a wingspan like a Cessna, the kid has early round NFL pick written all over him.  Behind these 2 are such notables as Brad Madison, Marcus Marbrough and Brayden Burnett.  As nervous as I am about the defensive tackle situation, I'm very confident that Mizzou has defensive ends that are as good as anyone in the country.  
Another spot I feel good about is the linebacking situation.  Missouri has quietly built depth there and despite the loss of All America Sean Weatherspoon,  I expect the crew to be more than adequate.  The guy in the middle should be junior Will Ebner; a Texas kid that just loves to hit people.

The down side of will however is the fact that he probably couldn't cover me out in the flat.  For him to be truly effective the Tigers have to have some guys on the outside that can run and cover a tight end or running back.  One guy that fits that description is Andrew Gachkar, a kid from across the state line in Blue Valley, kansas that the beaks let get away from them.   He's got the speed of a safety in a 230 pound body and another kid with a nasty streak.  Look for sophomores Zaviar Gooden or Donovan Bonner to man the other side, but don't forget about transfer Josh Tatum who was out with injury last season.

So now we come to what I really was regretting, the defensive backfield.  The upside is that all of the starters are returning.  The other side of the coin is that we were on the far side of terrible last year.  The starters, at least entering spring ball were Carl Gettis and Kevin Rutland at the corners and Jarrell Harrison and Jasper Simmons at the safeties.  You have to assume/hope that they'll all be improved with another year under their belts but I'm hoping to see some pressure put on them by younger guys such as Robert Steeples, Trey Hobson and Kenji Jackson.  If not, then the coaching staff showed their concern by bringing in no less than 5 and possibly as many as 7 new DB candidates in last years recruiting class.  The popular opinion is that EJ Gaines from Fort Osage and Tristen Holt from Gilmer, Texas would be the 2 most likely to contribute early, as in against Illinois at the dome on September 4th.

So in closing, I remain hopeful, but that's just how I am.  I think the talent level on the defensive side of the ball is comparable to any in the league except for the defensive tackle position.  The Tigers have a lot of young talent at that position but so far have rarely been able to find someone that's a real difference maker.  The offense should be good enough to position the Tigers for a run at a division title and possibly a conference championship.  If the defense can just wind up top 50 in the country, the Tigers should be a force for the next couple of years since this is still one of the younger teams in the league.  You have to think that this is in the coaches corner.  And the tackle position does have some bright spots also for 2011 when Vincent has a year in the program and hopefully we see Big Sheldon Richardson ride into Columbia.  
No idea what I have going on to write about next time, so if you have anything you'd like to hear about, please let me know.  I know people are reading this since I hear from some of you from time to time.  Please feel free to leave me a comment and have a great week.