Could Mizzou make College Football Playoff with 2 losses in 2024? (2024)

COLUMBIA, Mo. — There’s a new mathematical toy on ESPN’s website: a playoff predictor.

You start by picking one of 24 teams that the site has determined have the best chance of making the 12-team College Football Playoff this fall — Missouri has the eighth-highest chance, level with Tennessee and Oklahoma at 37%. Then you pick the result of a few key games for that team, and ESPN spits out an updated probability of that team grabbing a spot in the bracket based on your predicted results.

The three games the ESPN algorithm needs to see for its Mizzou-specific fortune telling are the expected ones: at Texas A&M, at Alabama and home against Oklahoma. Say the Tigers lose the first two and win the third, and they have an 84% chance of making the CFP — and still a 34% chance of hosting a first-round playoff game.

That would likely lead to MU finishing the regular season 10-2, a popular predicted record for the Tigers.

Pick Missouri to win all three key games and ESPN spits out a 100% chance of getting in and hosting — it doesn’t matter what would happen in the Southeastern Conference title game in that scenario. Losses in all three drop MU’s CFP chances to a meager 7%.

Fiddle around with the options enough and a question that needs no computer simulations emerges: Just what record will be enough for Mizzou to make the playoff field at the end of the season? Will the Tigers be OK with two losses, or on the bubble? Could they sneak in with three losses?

The Post-Dispatch dug through the spreadsheets to answer those questions, looking back through every season since the College Football Playoff selection committee started putting out its final top 25 in 2014 to determine what the 12-team field would’ve looked like each season.

It’s not a perfect exercise. For one, the committee was picking four-team playoffs, not the dozen it will be choosing moving forward. And the Pac-12 conference has all but evaporated this offseason, meaning it won’t be a factor in 2024 but was for the previous 10 seasons.

Still, the analysis is worth something. For one, it shows that an SEC team with two losses is likely to land in the top 12 — and even three losses could be tolerable. But one precedent raises some concerns about what could hold a 10-2 Mizzou team back from a coveted playoff spot.

First, the quick explanation of how the CFP committee will construct a 12-team playoff field. Five teams will receive automatic bids: the five highest-ranked conference champions. Functionally, that will be the winners of the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC title games, plus the Group of Five conference champion with the best ranking. Four of those auto bids will get the top four spots in the playoff, which comes with a first-round bye.

The seven at-large bids can go to any program from any conference. The SEC and Big Ten could split all of them. Another Group of Five team could slip in. A highly ranked Big 12 or ACC team that loses its conference championship game could merit a spot.

Got it?

The focus here, though, is on the SEC. The conference would have had 29 teams make it into the 12-team CFP over the course of the playoff era, an average of 2.9 per year. Five were undefeated, nine carried one-loss records, 10 had two losses and five had three losses.

Two-loss SEC teams have been very successful at making it into the top 12. Alabama’s 2019 team is the only one that wouldn’t have made it into the CFP field, with every other two-loss program making the cut — including Georgia in the pandemic-busted 2020 season.

That also includes Mizzou in 2023, of course.

But what would have kept that 2019 ’Bama squad out of the 12-team CFP, and should it concern the Tigers?

Perhaps. That year, the Crimson Tide finished with the 40th-toughest schedule in the nation, according to ESPN. All of the other two-loss SEC teams, which all would’ve qualified in the top 12, had strength of schedule coefficients that landed 19th or better in the country.

It’s true of the three-loss SEC teams that would’ve made the cut, too: They each had the first-, ninth-, 10th-, 12th- and 37th-toughest schedules in the years of their playoff-caliber performances, with the latter — 2018 Florida, which lost to MU — being an anomaly.

And it makes sense. That the CFP selection committee will make decisions based on strength of schedule seems fair and likely.

It could also be unnerving for Missouri. On the doorstep of the 2024 season, the Tigers’ strength of schedule sits 29th — 10 spots below the threshold of 19th that has been enough for two-loss SEC teams to land among the chosen 12 in the past.

That metric can and will change over the course of the season, and it’s only one variable that could impact how the CFP committee will pick its debut 12-team field.

But for now, the Tigers seem like a team that — if they go 10-2 during the regular season — might be hoping their opponents have good seasons themselves to boost the strength of their 2024 schedule.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri men’s basketball released its entire 2024-25 schedule on Tuesday, unveiling the 31 games that will give the Tigers a chance to rebound from last season’s dismal campaign.

Mizzou’s nonconference slate is markedly gentler than last year’s, resembling the ramp-up the program used during coach Dennis Gates’ successful first season. Southeastern Conference play marks the return of Texas and Oklahoma to MU’s schedule.

As previously reported, Missouri will open its season on the road against Memphis on Monday, Nov. 4. Later that week, the Tigers’ home opener will be against Howard on Friday, Nov. 8 — the day before Mizzou football hosts Oklahoma in one of the most hotly anticipated gridiron matchups of the season.

Eastern Washington and Mississippi Valley State, two previously reported opponents, will come to Columbia on Monday, Nov. 11, and Thursday, Nov. 14, respectively.

The Tigers have more than a week off before a home game against Pacific on Friday, Nov. 22. There’s just a day between games then for Mizzou, which will host Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sunday, Nov. 24.

Lindenwood will play in Mizzou Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 27 — the day before Thanksgiving — before an uptick in quality of opponent.

As part of a crossover series between the SEC and Atlantic Coast Conference, California — Gates’ alma mater — will play in Columbia on Tuesday, Dec. 3.

A Border War showdown with Kansas is slated for Sunday, Dec. 8, with MU hosting the rivalry game this year.

Mizzou will likely get a bit of a reprieve with Long Island coming to town on Saturday, Dec. 14 and Jacksonville State scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 17.

This year’s Braggin’ Rights game between Missouri and Illinois, once again taking place in St. Louis’ Enterprise Center, will be played Sunday, Dec. 22.

The Tigers’ holiday season and final nonconference opponent will be Alabama State on Monday, Dec. 30.

SEC play begins Saturday, Jan. 4, with a road game at Auburn — Mizzou’s first chance to end a conference losing streak that stretches back to the end of the 2022-23 season. Louisiana State will visit MU on either Jan. 7 or 8. Most SEC midweek games have been designated as flexes between Tuesday and Wednesday time slots.

Vanderbilt’s Saturday, Jan. 11, visit will give the Tigers a two-game homestand before a midweek trip to Florida on Jan. 14 or 15.

The first of two Missouri-Arkansas games will arrive Saturday, Jan. 18, in Columbia. MU’s lone game against SEC newcomer Texas will take place in Austin either Jan. 21 or 22.

The month will conclude with a visit from Ole Miss on Saturday, Jan. 25, and a week without a Tuesday or Wednesday matchup. Mizzou will play at Mississippi State on Saturday, Feb. 1, and face one of two sets of back-to-back road games by traveling to Tennessee for a game on Feb. 4 or 5.

Texas A&M will visit Mizzou Arena on Saturday, Feb. 8, with Oklahoma following on Feb. 11 or 12. Mizzou plays at Georgia on Saturday, Feb. 15, before hosting Alabama on Feb. 18 or 19.

The return leg of the Tigers’ series with Arkansas is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 22, in Fayetteville. South Carolina will play at Missouri on Tuesday, Feb. 25.

MU’s second stretch of consecutive road games contains its second matchups against Vanderbilt and Oklahoma, slated for Saturday, March 1 and either March 4 or 5, respectively.

The regular season will conclude with Missouri and Kentucky facing off in Columbia on Saturday, March 8.

Mizzou’s schedule does not include a home game against Minnesota, which was expected to be in place following the Tigers’ trip north to the Big Ten program last year.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — There’s something about Nicholas Deloach Jr. and taking leaps.

He did it in high school — really well in high school, to be precise, to the point he pushed for a triple crown of Illinois state championships in the triple jump, long jump and high jump.

Ahead of his second season as a cornerback at Missouri, Deloach has done it again. This time, his leap is developmental. And instead of landing on a mat or in a spray of sand, the Cahokia product has a chance to land on the field in a prominent role for the Tigers defense.

“He’s gotten a lot of reps with the 1’s,” coach Eli Drinkwitz said, referring to the first-team defense. Through recent preseason camp practices, Deloach has rotated with former East St. Louis star and Clemson transfer Toriano Pride Jr., suggesting there’s a degree of competition for that cornerback spot.

Deloach is playing more confidently in 2024, coaches have said, which has made all the difference. Pair that with a degree of athleticism from a three-sport preps career, and Mizzou has the makings of a cornerback prospect it very much enjoys.

“Man, if I can not screw it up and just coach him up, you guys will be looking at me for a long time,” cornerbacks coach Al Pogue said in the spring. “He’s going to be really good for us.”

That the excitement around Deloach stretches back to the spring suggests that a breakout offseason shouldn’t have caught anyone by surprise. Even as a three-star recruit out of high school — nothing to scoff at but not a ranking of particular note to a Southeastern Conference program — the young defensive back had vaulted himself onto MU’s radar.

It started at a recruiting camp that Missouri hosted, one that Pogue remembers well. Deloach was a workhorse, playing eight games of seven-on-seven football in front of coaches. On top of that, Pogue and then-defensive coordinator Blake Baker asked Deloach to complete an individual workout so they could get a closer look at his game.

He left Columbia with a scholarship offer — one he earned “the old-fashioned way,” Pogue said.

At Cahokia, Deloach won the Class 2A triple jump with a leap of 14.12 meters. He was the runner-up in the long jump and finished third in the high jump, a trifecta of podiums that nearly gave him the jumping triple crown, which hadn’t been completed in Illinois since 2007. He won the triple jump again during his senior season, also running in the 4x400 meter relay.

Deloach also qualified for the state wrestling championships during his time at Cahokia, in addition to football stardom. Some of his takedowns from his grappling days have found their way onto the gridiron, he said.

“He’s extremely athletic,” said cornerback Dreyden Norwood, who will likely start opposite Deloach or Pride.

Still, Deloach’s transition to the college game came with some difficulties.

“Last year, being a freshman, being new to everything, I had a lot of anxiety,” he said. “I was nervous out there. I was overthinking too much, but I learned that you have to slow everything down, you have to trust your coaching and just play.”

The bright side was that Deloach redshirted behind Ennis Rakestraw Jr. and Kris Abrams-Draine, two cornerbacks who wound up being taken in this year’s NFL draft. Deloach is still in contact with the budding pros — “they check up on us, we check up on them,” he said — and took plenty of notes.

When spring ball rolled around, Mizzou saw a different type of player climbing the depth chart at corner.

“Nic Deloach is a guy that this was his first spring practices for us at Mizzou,” Drinkwitz said, “and I feel like really grew, competed and I know that we’re very excited about what he did.”

Pogue noted gains in the weight room, where Deloach worked intensely with athletic performance director Ryan Russell, which boosted Deloach’s already consistent performances in vertical jump and 40-yard dash tests — he regularly lands among the Tigers’ best in both drills.

The players he goes against in practice have also noticed Deloach’s improvement.

“On the defensive side, Nic Deloach has been looking really good at corner,” wide receiver Joshua Manning said.

Pride brings another year of experience to the competition with Deloach and seems like the favorite to start — though Deloach seemed to wind up in the first team more often during Friday’s practice that was open to media in its entirety and Saturday’s walkthrough that was open to fans. Veteran Marcus Clarke is also in the mix of depth cornerbacks.

As Missouri sees it, getting Deloach into a game could be key to further unlocking his ability and possible status as the Tigers’ cornerback of the future. At a minimum, his practice performances during spring practices and preseason camp seem to have solidified that.

“He’s got great man-to-man skills, he’s a really good athlete, can run, very smart, instinctual player,” Drinkwitz said. “He just doesn’t have a ton of confidence because he hasn’t had to do it on the main stage. But like we’ve told him: If you can cover Theo Wease, Mookie Cooper, Luther Burden, Mekhi Miller, Josh Manning and Marquis Johnson, you can cover anybody. I think that has built his confidence and his skill set.”

COLUMBIA, Mo. — The rotation keeps on rotating.

Down one player after edge rusher Darris Smith’s season-ending injury earlier in the week, Missouri’s group of defensive ends was one fewer in number during Friday’s practice but still conducting business as usual.

Zion Young and Johnny Walker Jr. remain the projected starters at the end positions. Joe Moore III remains solidly in the mix as a regular sub. Jahkai Lang has impressed enough during preseason camp that he could be in line for some snaps. But the edge rusher who could see the biggest increase in role because of Smith’s absence is Eddie Kelly Jr.

“Me, Zion, Joe, Jahkai, we gonna all get after it,” Kelly said this week. “We all got depth so we know what we need to do.”

He seemed to take a healthy number of second-team snaps during Friday drills, an indicator he’s likely to be one of the four edge rushers the Tigers will rotate through during games.

Kelly transferred to Mizzou from Georgia Tech during the offseason, making this his second consecutive year in a new place after moving on from South Florida ahead of the 2023 campaign.

“Ultimately, why it was Missouri is because I believed in Coach Drink(witz),” Kelly said. “I appreciated Coach Drink for taking a shot on me and I understood what the program did the year before.”

In a depth role, Kelly recorded 6.5 tackles for a loss and 1.5 sacks during the 2023 season after playing minimally during his first year of college football. Each step of his career has seen an uptick in level of competition, but that doesn’t seem like something that intimidates the Orlando, Florida, product.

“I played a lot of SEC teams when I was in the AAC (with South Florida), and I played a lot of SEC teams when I was in the ACC (with Georgia Tech),” Kelly said. “Everybody puts their pads on the same way, their shoulder pads on the same way, so if you’re a dog, you can go out there and ball regardless. That’s how I feel about the game of football.”

Tech played Georgia and Mississippi last year — Kelly picked up a sack in the latter affair — and South Florida faced Florida during the defensive end’s stint there.

His game doesn’t make him a like-for-like replacement for Smith, whose long, lean, athletic build makes him a prototype for the Tigers’ joker role on the defensive line. At 6-foot-4, 278 pounds, Kelly has the versatility to play closer to the interior as well.

“Anything the team needs me to do, I’m willing to do it,” he said. “They need me to rush from the three (technique), they need me to take some blocks from the three, I’m here to do it.”

Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz allowed writers to observe the entirety of Friday’s practice — usually, media are only invited for individual drills — which allowed for a handful of observations as the Tigers close out preseason camp.

Tight ends Brett Norfleet and Jordon Harris, who have both been absent from practice of late because of unspecified injuries, returned to action as expected. Both donned green non-contact jerseys, though Norfleet didn’t seem to be particularly limited in drills. Harris, however, spent a significant portion of practice doing individual work on the sideline.

During situational offense vs. defense drills, Mizzou’s personnel usage almost completely aligned with the projected version of the depth chart that the Post-Dispatch published earlier this week.

Interestingly, though, Marquis Gracial took more first-team reps than Chris McClellan did at defensive tackle, perhaps suggesting that the competition for a starting spot alongside Kristian Williams remains open. Regardless of who gets the starting nod, D-tackle is likely to be a four-man rotation with Sterling Webb also involved. Sam Williams and Jalen Marshall, who have been consistently pushing the first four tackles throughout camp, looked competitive.

One bit of schematic consistency between new defensive coordinator Corey Batoon and Blake Baker, his predecessor, looks like it will be the use of a prowler package in some scenarios — likely 3rd and long situations. That look involves trading out a linebacker for an additional defensive back, turning into something of a 4-1-6 alignment. It’s more fluid than those numbers suggest, though, allowing for more creative coverages and blitzes with an unconventional personnel grouping.

During Friday’s snaps where the defense played prowler, Khalil Jacobs occupied the lone linebacker role.

Wide receiver Daniel Blood was the first punt returner to take the field, followed by Marquis Johnson with the second team. Johnson and safety Marvin Burks Jr. were the first-team kick returners, with running back Jamal Roberts and wide receiver Joshua Manning as the second unit.

Playing with the second-team offense, Blood secured a stellar catch against cornerback Nic DeLoach, who was alternating first-team reps with Toriano Pride Jr.

Mizzou’s offensive starters struggled to string together much. During one sequence that placed the offense on its own 15-yard line with the task of getting enough first downs to start a drive — and with the defense trying to secure field position, Cook went through all of his progressions on first down but threw a checkdown to running back Nate Noel incomplete. Walker “sacked” Cook on second down — quarterbacks weren’t live, so he didn’t hit Cook — and a third and 17 pass to wideout Mookie Cooper on a crossing route went off Cooper’s hands.

To close out the practice, Mizzou ran 4th and goal plays from the 8-yard line. Cook tried to force a pass to a double-covered Luther Burden III at the pylon for the first team’s attempt, which safety Joseph Charleston broke up. Second-team quarterback Drew Pyne threw a fade at the feet of Blood, who would have been short of the end zone anyway.

Normally, football royalty names such as Brady, Belichick and Saban would command all the attention for transitioning into broadcasting for the soon-to-start gridiron season.

But while those certainly are major headliners in the vastly new TV landscape this year, they are far from the only focus in what will be a much different way for fans — especially of college football — to watch the sport.

We’ll start with the big names:

TOM’S TIME: Former pro quarterback extraordinaire Tom Brady has joined Fox, which pushed Greg Olsen out of its No. 1 game analyst role to open the spot for Brady — and his reported $375 million salary spread across 10 years. He joins play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Burkhardt, who replaced Joe Buck on Fox’s lead NFL crew after Buck moved to ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” three seasons ago.

Brady actually made his Fox debut in St. Louis, where he had a cameo appearance in the booth for the United Football League title game June 16. He gets going for real Sept. 8 for Dallas’ contest in Cleveland.

There has been a lot of questioning if Brady can translate his success on the field, where he carved defenses, into the booth, where a great analyst likewise can carve teams and personnel in an analytical, not personal, fashion. After all, Brady never was a glib quote machine as a player.

He addressed his approach in an appearance this summer on an episode of the “SI Media With Jimmy Traina“ podcast, saying he might actually have to tone down what he is thinking.

“The important part for me would be how do I continue to make it fun for people to enjoy the viewing experience,” Brady said. “Sometimes I get a little too serious because I see myself as ‘quarterback Tom Brady’ as opposed to ‘let’s enjoy a great game of football Tom Brady.’ Sometimes I become a little too critical. So I’m trying to make sure I have the right tone. I’m very specific of how I think the game should be played. I want to see the game evolve and grow.”

There was more.

“I think there’s a high expectation of how I expect the game to be played because I was there and I saw Coach (Bill) Belichick and I saw Hall of Famers and I played with them and played against them and I played in big games,” Brady said. “There’s just a certain expectation level that I see for really great performers.”

NICK’S KNACK: While Brady will have a prominent NFL role, legendary college football coach Nick Saban will have a key broadcasting post at that level. Saban, who retired in the offseason after an iconic coaching career that included winning seven national titles — six at his final stop, Alabama — has been added to ESPN’s “College GameDay” show, the popular Saturday morning program leading into the long day of game action.

Saban, at the Southeastern Conference football preseason hype sessions last month, vowed to prepare for “GameDay” in a similar fashion to what he did for an opponent on the field.

“For this (event), I talked to every coach, I watched everybody’s spring game,” he said. “I looked at some film to try to figure it out. I’m going to do the same thing in the fall when it comes to ‘GameDay.’”

Unlike Brady, who said he might have to try to not be overly critical, Saban sounds as if he will take a different approach.

“Nobody has told me I have to be critical,” he said then. “I don’t want to be critical. I want to be objective, but I don’t want to be controversial. You can take any decision ... that anybody makes and make it controversial. Like, if we go for it on fourth-and-3 we’d have 100,000 people in Alabama say, ‘I’m glad he’s going for it.’ And we’d have 100,000 people say, ‘He’s (dumb) for going for it.’”

Saban contributed to ESPN’s NFL draft coverage and is set for his “GameDay” debut at 8 a.m. Aug. 24. That leads into the first game of the season, Florida State and Georgia Tech tangling in Dublin, Ireland, in a game to be televised on ESPN at 11 a.m. (St. Louis time).

TWIN BILL: The “Big Three” additions to the football broadcasting scene this season is rounded out by iconic former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, he of six Super Bowl titles while leading the team. He’s set to pull double duty, appearing on ESPN2’s “ManningCast” alternate version of ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” telecasts and on “Inside the NFL,” the storied weekly show that now is on CW Network.

Belichick is scheduled to be on every one of the 11 “ManningCasts” this season (including playoffs), beginning Sept. 9 when the Jets and 49ers meet to cap the season’s opening week. The shows are co-hosted by former NFL quarterbacks Peyton and Eli Manning and feature several high-profile guests each time.

Belichick also has been added to the “Inside the NFL” panel of former NFL players Ryan Clark, Chris Long and Chad Johnson. That program used to mix recaps of the previous week’s action and NFL Films premium-level highlights with commentary and a look at the coming week’s schedule and was a staple on HBO and Showtime for decades. But it has bounced around in recent years and could use a boost that Belichick could provide in its retooled format.

“Inside” is set for its second season on the CW Network (KPLR, Channel 11 locally), and the focus is being shifted to discussion on upcoming games more than looking back. It also is being moved to 8 p.m. Fridays instead of its former Tuesday night slot. Its season kicks off with a league preview show Aug. 30.

“I’m thrilled to join my new team at NFL Films and to work on such a historic television franchise,” Belichick said in a statement. “I’ve always appreciated ‘Inside the NFL’s’ depth of analysis, and I hope to bring the same detailed insight to the CW.”

College corner

There is a maze of significant changes in the way college football will be televised — most notably the loss of CBS’ 2:30 p.m. Saturday showcase slot for a big game in the league, a staple for decades.

ABC (KDNL, Channel 30, locally) now has that feature slot for the SEC, part of a 10-year deal with Disney worth a reported $300 million annually that is beginning. Games will be spread across ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, SEC Network and ESPNU. The primary slots for games will be at 11 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

While 2:30 will remain a key spot for Disney, it won’t necessarily always be the most important one.

“It should be one of the two best games, at least on paper, each week,” Nick Dawson, senior vice president of college sports programming and acquisitions for those Disney outlets, has told the Post-Dispatch. “There will be times we shift the feature game to ABC in prime time. We’d have an SEC game on ABC (at 2:30), it might just be the second game, or ‘A-’ game.”

For Week 1, Miami-Florida is set for the 2:30 spot with Notre Dame-Texas A&M to follow at 6:30 p.m.

CBS (KMOV, Channel 4 locally) replaces the SEC with the Big Ten in that marquee midafternoon Saturday slot, sharing that league’s package with NBC and Fox. CBS kicks things off Aug. 31 with Akron-Ohio State. Big Ten Network also remains in the mix. It also will have the Big Ten title game.

Fox (KTVI, Channel 2 locally) joins the shake-things-up crowd, adding a Friday night game throughout the season with contests coming from the Big Ten, Big 12 and Mountain West conferences. That schedule kicks off Sept. 13 with Arizona at Kansas State. Illinois appears in the package the following Friday with a game at Nebraska.

NFL news

Key NFL moves this season center on streaming, something the league began to kick into high gear three seasons ago when it shuffled most of its Thursday night games from over-the-air TV to Amazon Prime Video — where the vast majority of them again will be this year.

The league is adding the Friday night of opening week to its schedule, when it sends the Packers and Eagles to Sao Paulo, Brazil, for a game Sept. 6 to be shown on Peaco*ck.

It also will send a Christmas Day doubleheader to Netflix — Chiefs at Steelers at noon, Ravens at Texans at 3:30 p.m. Because the holiday falls on a Wednesday, the league originally wasn’t planning to play that day. But money talks, especially to the NFL.

“Last year at this time, we weren’t really thinking about Christmas Wednesdays,” NFL Vice President of Broadcast Planning Mike North told reporters when the games were announced. “But when you saw the viewership numbers that you saw for Christmas for the tripleheader last year and the tripleheader the year before, the fans have spoken. They want the games there, and our broadcast partners want the games there.”

There also is a game exclusively streamed on ESPN+ (Chargers-Cardinals on Oct. 21). Plus, Amazon has the Raiders at Chiefs on Black Friday afternoon and will have a wild-card playoff contest.

Up next

Media Views returns Sept. 6.

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Talking about the nitty gritty of name, image and likeness while seated in the back of a golf cart parked next to a Missouri preseason football practice, Brad Larrondo is perched between two parts of the college sports world that he knows well.

Larrondo is the new CEO of Every True Tiger Brands, the marketing and branding agency tethered to Mizzou athletics for NIL purposes. The agency, which isn’t like the NIL collectives seen across most major university athletic departments, is what makes MU’s model stand out in modern college sports. Every True Tiger is behind the MU-branded cookies, pizzas and ice cream available in grocery stores around Missouri.

And Larrondo has recently migrated there from the Missouri football program.

Previously, Larrondo was an assistant director of athletics at Mizzou, also carrying the title of director of football external relations and recruiting. He has worked closely with football coach Eli Drinkwitz — the two first met when they overlapped at Boise State nearly a decade ago.

Just after starting his new role, Larrondo sat down with the Post-Dispatch in the aforementioned golf cart to talk about what makes Mizzou’s NIL operation successful, how the onset of revenue-sharing will impact it and what fans misunderstand when it comes to compensating athletes. Answers have been edited some for clarity.

P-D: What prompted you to move from the football program to Every True Tiger Brands, and what did that process look like? What excites you about the change?

Larrondo: Well, I would say that, in the world we’re living in right now in college athletics, NIL is such an instrumental and critical component of how you build programs and make sure that you’re competitive at the highest level. I’ve got a background in external relations, fundraising, marketing, sponsorships and then obviously the internal, working side of roster management and recruiting within a high-level football program.

Being able to be representative of what that takes for coaches and be able to assist them, whether it’s football or any other sport in our department, along with my external background, my ability to get out, make relationships, meet people and create effective branding and marketing campaigns really is what was attractive. It’s certainly one of those areas that is so critical to a program’s health that I just felt like I could make an impact in that way, continue to build what we’re doing at Mizzou, continue to keep all of our teams and athletes, that experience, that competitiveness to win championships, keep that rolling.

P-D: What will your day-to-day work look like as Every True Tiger’s CEO?

Larrondo: I think there’s really three or four main components of it. First and foremost is, as an NIL branding agency, we need to make sure that we have ironclad, buttoned-up contracts with the student-athletes that are on NIL, that they are performing activities to receive those payments. And then at the end of the month or whenever they get their payment, that they are able to be compensated for their name, image and likeness that we have the opportunity, through the contract, to utilize and to promote — and to help them build their brands. So operationally, you’ve got to make sure all those things are dialed in with compliance, how we’re doing that, that they complete their activities and that they receive their NIL payments.

From there, you also want to be able to look at other revenue-generating opportunities. Are there some other businesses or individuals that want to get involved with NIL and utilize student-athletes in that regard, for their name, image and likeness, and how do you go and do business development that way? There’s an educational component of it. We’re doing a disservice to our student-athletes if we don’t also teach them things that go along with how NIL works. That can be everything from financial literacy to how to do their taxes to how they use social media. They’re all in an entrepreneurial stage and they’re in some ways running their own business, so how do you put them in a position to be successful, brand themselves, make those connections and be able to utilize that — not just right now but down the road when they’re done playing their sport at Mizzou or they’ve graduated from Mizzou and then move on to a professional area. How do we make them more professional?

And then I think the last component is: How do we get the word out about what Every True Tiger is and what it means to Mizzou athletics, the University of Missouri, the state of Missouri and what we’re trying to do, how impactful NIL can be for the student-athletes and how they can participate in that if they desire to do so. A lot of it is some of that, the PR, the community relations that you try to do in getting that Every True Tiger message out there.

P-D: Why is the “Mizzou model” for NIL so respected in the industry?

Larrondo: First and foremost, you’ve got all-in buy-in from university leadership, from what the state legislators were able to do with the legal side of it — the laws of the state of Missouri — so you’ve got some synergy that way, from state leaders to university leaders. And then the coaches understand the importance of it with their sports and how it can impact the student-athlete experience and the recruiting of athletes to the state of Missouri. We’ve figured out a model that has been really, really good.

There’s some things that you have to continue to evolve with the model so it can become even more self-sustaining. We’re very fortunate that we have top-level people that have put some emphasis on what NIL means to the student-athletes of Missouri. How can we go out and execute it and utilize their name, image and likeness of these student-athletes, not only to develop their own business opportunities but also be able to promote things that can drive revenue for Missouri athletics, that can promote different activities around Missouri?

And becoming more of a branding agency than just a collective that’s out there collecting money and then distributing it. It’s much more tactical and strategic on how we approach how we’re educating and developing these student-athletes and utilizing NIL as an opportunity for them to really get what the true meaning of NIL is, which is brand yourself, align yourself with a project, a company, an opportunity, and then complete the work that does that and get paid for that.

P-D: Do you see that model evolving as revenue-sharing takes effect across college sports?

Larrondo: I think there’s a lot of unanswered questions about how that’s all going to come down. There’s a lot of things that still have to play out. I don’t think that the toothpaste is ever going to go back in the tube on what this is, so you’re constantly looking at and studying and trying to strategize on where does NIL fit with revenue sharing? How does revenue sharing in its entirety fit within what athletic departments’ visions are? How does that affect an Every True Tiger Brands or Collective A, B and C from other schools? Where does that all go? I don’t think we have the answer to that.

I think the one thing we do know is that it’s coming, and you know it’s going to happen. Even if there is revenue sharing plus NIL and you put it all into one category, student-athletes are going to be able to continue to benefit and receive compensation for the use of their name, image and likeness. You have to be prepared to set up a system that helps execute that in the best way, compliance-wise, legally, and that they’re maintaining the activities that they do to earn that money. That’s what we’re trying to do every single day is make sure that we run a very clean operation that understands the objectives for educating our student-athletes, what they have to do to be compensated and how that fits in with the coach and roster management in this day and age of revenue sharing, NIL, transfer portal, all these things that are happening — and also be able to go out to their field, their court, whatever it is, and put a competitive product on the floor. That’s a lot for a head coach to have on their plate.

P-D: How does the $22 million revenue-sharing cap that’s been floated out there compare to how much is already out there in the NIL universe for a school like Missouri?

Larrondo: You see that kind of number, and that is a big number for any school to have to adjust to. There are probably situations or things you read about where there are some large NIL deals, but by and large, most schools are probably not approaching that kind of money from strictly going NIL.

Now, when you throw revenue sharing into it, that is a sizable amount of money going back to student-athletes, and then when you have the potential of NIL on top of that and how it all plays out, you’re going to see that over the course of the next two, three, four or five years, that number could be over $22 million.

Not every school is going to be able to do that. Schools are going to have to figure out what’s the best model for them and how do they get to the point where they can still be competitive in the marketplace and the league that they’re in. Everybody forgets that’s a cap. That’s not a floor. You’ve got to figure out where that cap goes and what you can do and how you can make it work.

That’s where, collectively, between Tiger Scholarship Fund, Mizzou Sports Properties, Every True Tiger, the revenue-generating sources that are in and around and surrounding Mizzou athletics, how do we help crack that nut? How do we make it sustainable so that we can have success with these student athletes on and off the field?

P-D: Contracts have been a subject of conversation, at least outside of the industry, with ways that the transfer portal could be worked into them or clauses, like with Georgia, about fines for athlete arrests. Are those pieces that are in contracts now? That you’d like to see? What do you see as the path forward there?

Larrondo: Every school is going to be different on how they approach things. I think you have to be very careful with how contracts are written up and what they’re doing because the No. 1 concept is: You have to have the student-athletes as an independent contractor to be able to perform the activities. That doesn’t necessarily mean they are employees receiving benefits or anything that way because they are not — they are independent contractors, and they’ve got to be able to perform the activities and duties in order to receive the compensation.

That’s the No. 1 thing for us at Every True Tiger is that we’re able to set that contract up, they’re able to execute the deals that are put in front of them. They do it, we upload it, we make sure that all of it is handled accordingly and then they receive their payment. All the other stuff in between it, those are things that are pretty private, things that we don’t really want to get out into the open, and honestly, we’ll have to continue to face and deal with over the next 12, 18, 24, 36 months as you see some of this evolve and where does that landscape end up at.

P-D: There’s been talk of the NCAA establishing a clearinghouse for NIL deals worth more than $600 to in order to vet those arrangements. Good idea? Bad idea?

Larrondo: Everybody’s trying to put guardrails around how this works. Any time you try to put guardrails, there’s going to be some people that like it, some people that don’t. There’s going to be unintended consequences that come up.

I think that at the end of the day, the NCAA is trying to figure out how they can properly monitor this type of deal. If schools are doing it the right way and these are actually legitimate opportunities and student-athletes are completing the tasks that are assigned to it and they’re through businesses, they’re through corporations, they’re through legitimate things — just like we’re doing with Every True Tiger, just like our model is set up — then it really won’t have an impact on us that way.

P-D: Last question. What do you think is the biggest misconception out there about Missouri and NIL?

Larrondo: Well, I think it’s really just educating people. A lot of people hear those three letters, N-I-L, and they kind of have a basis or an understanding of it. But the reality is sometimes you’ll read stories about crazy things that are happening and the amount of money out there, and that’s not always the reality. That’s a small percentage of what happens in this.

A large percentage of it is probably, 95%, 98% of these student-athletes really value their educational opportunity, getting a scholarship, being able to participate at a high, high level in the SEC in their collegiate sport — and also be able to monetize themselves through their name, image and likeness and do it the right way and do it so that it helps them earn a little bit of money right now, which is the intent of the rule change.

Also, those connections help set them up for life. I think being able to tell those athletes’ stories, the impact it can have them as student-athletes, anywhere from 18 to 22, 23 years old at a very critical juncture of their life where they’re trying to set themselves up, they’re trying to build their future, that’s the real beauty of what NIL and the true intent of it is. And realize that there’s a lot more stories on that end than some of the wild ones you see out there on Twitter or in the media.

Bring your Tigers football, basketball and recruiting questions, and talk to Eli Hoff in a live chat at 11 a.m. Thursday.

Transcript

Eli Hoff:Hi all, and welcome to another Mizzou chat. Feel free to drop any questions you've got about preseason camp, takes you want out in the world, or whatever else is on your mind. One programming note for today's chat: A handful of player interviews are scheduled for noon, so I'll be ducking over to the stadium and back around that time. Rest assured that I'll get questions answered, though, so drop them in at any time. I'll keep the chat open 'til about 2 p.m. today because of that gap.

I do want to make sure one story is on your radar: This morning, my projections for Mizzou's full two-deep (plus some) depth chart went online. It's 3,000 words of what I've seen and heard during camp, so I think it's worth your time if you want to get the full picture of how this year's Missouri team is stacking up.

Also, I'll tease a story that will be coming your way tomorrow: I sat down with Brad Larrondo, who's the new CEO of Every True Tiger Brands — Mizzou's NIL agency. I know a lot of y'all have questions about how NIL works, and we talked a lot about both MU's current model and where things could be headed. Keep an eye out for that tomorrow.

MG:How does Mizzou's NIL risk compare to other SEC institutions? Are they more or less aggressive?

Hoff:Risk is tough to evaluate. There's inherent risk in investing significant chunks of money into young people whose brains aren't fully developed yet. It's even true of pro athletes. Things happen. I don't think Mizzou is overly or underly risky when it comes to being willing to compensate players. One thing you'll see in tomorrow's Q&A is that they're diligent about making sure players uphold their end of NIL bargains. The idea of "legitimate NIL" vs. "pay to play" is emerging more often, and Mizzou wants to be sure it can fall in the former and avoid suggestions of the latter. That's the safe route. But in general, MU's model to shift from reliance on a collective and instead create a branding agency is quite progressive in the NIL space and one of the like paths forward for a lot of schools.

bigron:Eli, appreciate your keeping us up to date on what's happening at Mizzou...where is the men's Bball team as far as what's going on with the pre-season workouts?

Hoff:The men's basketball team has had some time off recently between the end of summer practices and the start of school (classes start Monday, which you can tell by the platoons of U-Hauls driving around Columbia today). That's not to say there haven't been players in the gym, but organized practices have taken a break. They'll start ramping back up soon. I count 11 and a half weeks until the first game of the season.

Lu:I'm devastated for Darris Smith. I was really looking forward to watching him play. Two questions, will he be able to retain his eligibility for this year via medical redshirt? Does this open a pathway for Nwaneri to have a more significant role than expected?

Thanks for your work, Eli. The articles leading up to the season have really gotten me excited. Especially loved the piece on Toriano Pride

Hoff:Thanks, Lu. Pride is a fun guy to talk to, so I enjoyed writing that piece.

Preseason injuries are just horrible. Doesn't matter the team, the player, the sport. You're talking to a Vikings fan who's still grappling with the potential franchise QB of the future missing his entire rookie season after just a few drives in a preseason game... but I won't bog y'all down with my Minnesotan misery.

Yes, this should allow Darris Smith to get another year of eligibility, since he won't play a snap this year. If he has NFL ambitions, his goal might not be to use that and instead return next year and parlay that into a decent draft spot, but 2026 will be on the table for him.

It does technically open the pathway for Williams Nwaneri to get more action. There's one fewer player ahead of the freshman in the rotation. That said, I don't think it changes the coaching staff's view of how they want to handle Nwaneri this season. If they're dictating his role off his readiness, they still have that luxury. Johnny Walker Jr., Zion Young, Joe Moore III and Eddie Kelly Jr. can be the four-man rotation, Jahkai Lang can be the reserve (or replace one of those), and then Nwaneri can slot in when they want him to. It's not a need. I go back and forth with how much I think Nwaneri will see the field this year, but I feel confident in saying Smith's injury doesn't actually do a ton to change that probability.

GD:You think Burden gets in Heisman talk this year?

Hoff:Yes, but not seriously. In 2020, Alabama's DeVonta Smith was the first wideout to win the Heisman in a looooong time. Desmond Howard in 1991 had been the last to do it. Smith's season-long stats were 117 catches for 1,856 yards and 23 touchdowns. Not that it was a factor in the Heisman, but Alabama won the CFP that year — they were the No. 1 seed, so that was clear when the award was handed out.

Can Luther Burden III do that? Probably, but I don't see that happening in reality. I mean, 23 touchdowns is just a wild statistic. That's just under two per game. He's the betting favorite for the Belitnikoff, which goes to the top wide receiver, but it's just difficult for a wideout to win the Heisman. Again, I could see some buzz, but his position diminishes real chances of taking home the big one.

Mizzou Fan:Eli - There is a lot of talk, as there should be, about our receivers being the strength of this team. However, we don't seem to mention Brett Norfleet and the upside he has to be an all SEC tight end. Is it because our talent at wide outs and of course Luther Burden? Thank You.

Hoff:The breadth of talented wideouts is certainly part of it. Mizzou doesn't necessarily need to have much in the way of a pass-catching tight end with how many other receiving options there are. Of the 352 passes MU threw last season, just 33 of them targeted a tight end. That's 9.4%. The Tigers are bringing back those wideouts, and you assume running backs will remain involved in the passing game, so the math doesn't need to change a whole lot. Every target given to someone is a target taken from, like, four or five other players who you could make the case to get them. That's the challenge facing Kirby Moore this season.

It's going to take Norfleet demanding more targets for him to really get them, I think. And I don't mean pounding his fists in Moore's offense, but showing a reason for him to get them. That's absolutely possible for him to do, and his ceiling remains very high. You just also have to put him in the context of the rest of the talent in this offense.

It's kind of like when people debate who's a top 5 or 7 or 10 quarterback in the NFL. It always seems like people will readily say 9 different guys are a top 7 QB, and that's just not how it works. Mizzou is going to leave talented receiver options without as many targets/touches as they/fans/etc might like to have. That's the nature of this depth, and the definition of a good problem to have.

Ed from Idaho:Greetings from Idaho. Do you think our FB defense is good and deep enough to deliver a two loss or less season?

Hoff:Hello to Idaho! I have been there twice in my life and had both a magical huckleberry milkshake several summers ago and some surprisingly tasty pizza when I was there for a wedding this summer, so I trust you're dining well up there.

I'm going to say I don't know the answer here, which is kind of a cop out, but I'll justify it by saying nobody knows, and anybody who thinks they know doesn't. There are too many newcomers and players in new roles to really know what Missouri is working with defensively, plus a new coordinator. It's not even like watching a scrimmage in preseason camp (which I haven't been able to do, to be clear) would show that much. A fully respectable defense might get beat often by this Mizzou offense just because of the O's talent.

And, to be honest, I don't know when the answer will be clear. Maybe Boston College and a mobile QB test it a little bit, but if Mizzou has learned anything about its defense through those first four games of the season (Murray St., Buffalo, BC, Vanderbilt), it's probably not anything positive. So buckle up for the kind of start to the semester where you don't actually learn anything until October...

Brian:Hi Eli, thank you for your response to my email a few weeks back. I felt like last year, Missouri was a better team than Old Miss. Considering Missouri has a more experienced and more accomplished QB, along with so many key starters returning, why is Mississippi ranked higher and frankly held in higher regard by more publications over Missouri? And if we're being honest, if Lane Kiffin's last name was Smith, he wouldn't have received so many opportunities after he flopped so hard earlier in his career. Missouri has a big edge on coaching. What am I missing?

Hoff:The Mizzou-Ole Miss parallels fascinate me. I wrote about that at SEC media days, and it's kind of uncanny in some regards. Brady Cook and Jaxson Dart had remarkably similar stats last year, both teams had the same record, there are even some similarities between the coaching styles of Eli Drinkwitz and Lane Kiffin.

That said, I don't really know why the Rebels get buzz that the Tigers don't. My current hypothesis is that it has to do with Missouri having some higher profile losses in Cody Schrader, Darius Robinson and other defensive players. Maybe seeing so much talent depart catches the eye of national folks who gravitate toward the additions that Ole Miss picked up — though again, even those have similarities to Mizzou. So I don't think you're really missing anything, it's just a byproduct of talking season being what it is. Sometimes the hype train picks up on things it should or shouldn't or gives weight to the wrong ones. Frankly, Drinkwitz and co. might be happier to be in this position. Keeping the "something to prove" motto is a lot easier to do in an underdog role...

Brian:If you were going to rewrite the conferences to make sense geographically, and for rivalries and other factors I should be considering, who would Missouri be in a conference with and would you have divisions in each conference? And, should there be conference championship games? And would you return the Thanksgiving tradition of Nebraska vs. Oklahoma or is that traditional dead and buried?

Hoff:If you're prioritizing rivalries, you're pretty much prioritizing history, which would mean the Big 12. Or really, the Big Eight. If you had Mizzou play those seven schools — Kansas, K-State, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Iowa State and Colorado — I think people would get their rivalry itch good and scratched. That conference would be too small to make divisions worthwhile and you could easily have every team play every other team, so you might not need a championship game. I think all traditional games should be on the table.

You could make the Big 8 a division in a 16-team conference with a Big 12-type footprint that mixes in some SEC/Southwest/Big 12 members for geography's sake — like Texas, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Tech, Baylor, SMU, Rice, TCU — and then have a few divisional cross-over games to maximize rivalries. That allows Texas-OU to take place, and you could keep Mizzou-Arkansas, if you fancy it.

If you're willing to toss aside rivalries, I (and my dad) would love to see Mizzou in the Big Ten (not this new transcontinental version), but I know that won't be a popular take. I just want to see the Tigers play the teams I grew up watching.

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Set aside the X’s and O’s, for a moment, and give the Jimmies and Joes your full consideration.

Missouri’s preseason camp has plenty of scheme installation, particularly with a new defensive coordinator in Corey Batoon entering the fold, but the few weeks of practices leading up to the first game of the season are also about personnel.

More specifically, Mizzou is working out which players will see regular playing time in 2024 and which will be positioned as key backups.

Coach Eli Drinkwitz and the rest of the Tigers staff will designate starters, yes, but their mission — and list of players they’ll use — leads them deeper into the depth chart than just 11 players on each offense and defense.

“So much, now, for football is different just because of the rotational amount of players. Really besides quarterback and offensive line, everybody else is playing snap counts,” Drinkwitz said over the weekend. “I feel pretty confident that we’re two deep at just about every position.”

Based on the roughly 120 players listed on Missouri’s roster, Drinkwitz has a number in mind of how many playing-time-ready options he needs to find.

“For us, it’s about continuing to establish that competitive depth at special teams and making sure that 35-50 are able and ready to win in the SEC,” he said.

After observing portions of a handful of preseason camp practices and interviews with most of Mizzou’s assistant coaches and more than a dozen players, the Post-Dispatch is ready to predict the Tigers’ depth chart ahead of the 2024 college football season.

This is your position-by-position guide to who’s likely to play for Missouri this fall, with a couple of asterisks.

First, this is wholly unofficial and based on anecdotal observations from the limited portions of practice that are open to media, which mostly includes individual drills. Interviews and players' past stats were also factored into these determinations. Second, this is a prediction or a projection, not an argument for or against this version of the depth chart.

On to the good stuff.

Quarterback

Starter: Brady Cook, senior

Backup: Drew Pyne, sophom*ore

This is arguably the biggest difference from Mizzou’s depth chart at this time last year: Cook is the undisputed starter. That’s a first for the signal-caller entering his final college season, and his confidence has been palpable during practices. He’s taking first-team reps himself, and there’s no talk — forced or legitimate — of anyone usurping him for the QB1 role.

Pyne has impressed since arriving in Columbia after a late transfer meant he wasn’t with the Tigers for spring practices. His experience — Pyne and Cook are in the same class — is evident, and his reps have been crisp. Strong scrimmage performances suggest Pyne’s schematic transition to MU is going well, which makes sense given that working with offensive coordinator Kirby Moore was a selling point for the former Notre Dame and Arizona State quarterback. Should Cook miss time at any point this season, Pyne is the clear QB2 for the Tigers. His preseason has raised his stock for the likely quarterback competition that will precede a Cook-less 2025 season.

Beyond Cook and Pyne, Mizzou’s quarterback options are tougher to reckon with. Sam Horn, last season’s backup, is out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. True freshman Aidan Glover looks more settled since a shaky spring but is inexperienced. JR Blood, a transfer from Southern, is a veteran — albeit one who hasn’t played at the Southeastern Conference level. Brett Brown and Tommy Lock have had capable practice reps but weren’t brought into the team to compete for the starting job.

Running back

Starters: Nate Noel, senior; Marcus Carroll, senior

Backups: Jamal Roberts, redshirt freshman; Tavorus Jones, sophom*ore

Noel and Carroll, who have 1,000-yard seasons on the books at Appalachian State and Georgia State, respectively, transferred to Missouri to be part of an experienced “thunder and lightning” backfield tandem. Carroll fits the bruiser role, while Noel flashes more potential on the perimeter and in the passing game. Coaches have compared them to the former MU duo of Larry Rountree III and Tyler Badie. Noel seems to get slightly more first-team reps than Carroll does, though that could be the Tigers trying to limit contact, which is a core part of Carroll’s game. They seem likely to receive similar workloads at the start of the season, which could evolve as the campaign progresses.

Roberts, who may well have seen a role last season if Cody Schrader had not assembled a record-setting season, has another year of training under his belt. His versatility as both a north-south rusher and a pass-catcher makes him appealing as an RB3. Jones has received more buzz during this preseason than the last, but the running back room is crowded ahead of and around him.

The speed and talent of freshman Kewan Lacy made him one of the jewels of this year’s recruiting class. Getting up to speed with an SEC program has been a process, and a soft-tissue injury has limited him at times during preseason camp. Austyn Dendy, another true freshman, switched from safety to running back over the weekend. He performed well in a scrimmage but is positioned as an emergency tailback for now.

Left tackle

Starter: Marcus Bryant, senior

Backup: Jayven Richardson, sophom*ore

Bryant and Richardson, transfers from SMU and Hutchinson Community College, respectively, entered preseason camp in a competition for the starting left tackle job. As expected, Bryant won that battle after a week and change. His size fits in at the SEC level, and the Missouri staff recruited him by telling him he was the final piece of the offensive puzzle. While Richardson’s experience has come mostly at left tackle, he seems like a candidate for the Tigers’ swing tackle or “sixth man” role, which was occupied by Marcellus Johnson last season. Even with the entire O-line healthy, Richardson could see the field in some six-linemen heavy formations.

Left guard

Starter: Cayden Green, sophom*ore

Backup: Logan Reichert, redshirt freshman

When Green transferred to MU from Oklahoma, the question was not whether the young lineman would start — it was where. He spent the spring at tackle, his more natural position in the eyes of some, but Bryant’s arrival pushed Green to the interior as a means of getting what coaches see as the best five linemen onto the field together. Green and Reichert are the same year, and both hail from the Kansas City area. Reichert, nicknamed “Big Show,” remains the heaviest player on the team at 369 pounds (he's also 6-foot-6). His gains over the course of a redshirt season and offseason seem to have centered around refining technique.

Center

Starter: Connor Tollison, junior

Backups: Drake Heismeyer, senior; Tristan Wilson, sophom*ore

Tollison struggled with consistency when it came to snapping the ball this season but didn’t shy away from those errors, something that has led to better performance through spring and preseason practices. Grading services like Pro Football Focus tab Tollison as one of the best run blockers in the nation at his position. Like with Cook, he’s unchallenged as a starter this season after defending his position atop the depth chart last year.

Heismeyer has been with the Tigers for the entirety of Drinkwitz’s coaching tenure but was played almost exclusively on special teams. Wilson’s snapping work appears to be a newer development. In a pinch, right guard Cam’Ron Johnson or freshman Talan Chandler could also be center options.

Right guard

Starter: Cam’Ron Johnson, senior

Backup: Curtis Peagler, sophom*ore

Johnson came to MU from Houston alongside offensive line coach Brandon Jones to push Tollison at center but wound up starting at right guard. Eleven penalties mucked up an otherwise solid first season in the SEC for Johnson. Peagler, who did not make it onto the field in his first two seasons, seems poised to begin pushing those higher up the depth chart for snaps.

Right tackle

Starter: Armand Membou, junior

Backup: Mitchell Walters, senior

There aren’t many college football players at any position who are more athletic than Membou. MU strength coach Ryan Russell told The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman that Membou has squatted 650 pounds, benched 425 and hit 20 mph running down the field. What does that mean for Mizzou’s right tackle spot? An easy decision about who to start. Walters was a starter at times in the 2021 and 2022 seasons but has settled into a backup role. He’s been with the program since 2020, making him a veteran option should the Tigers need him.

Slot wide receiver

Starter: Luther Burden III, junior

Backups: Mekhi Miller, junior; Daniel Blood, sophom*ore

Does writing Burden’s name in Sharpie under this position need any justification? The East St. Louis product who’s landing on preseason All-America teams is one of the best wideouts in the country — if not the best. His move into the slot last year was productive. Expect Moore to keep Burden moving around so that other teams struggle to consistently cover him the same way.

Miller battled injuries last season but popped up in big ways when he was on the field, including the first touchdown of the 2023 season. Blood leveraged a strong offseason and brings an ability to pick up yards after the catch, which appeals to coaches.

Wide receiver

Starters: Theo Wease Jr., senior; Mookie Cooper,senior

Backups: Marquis Johnson, sophom*ore; Joshua Manning, sophom*ore

Both Wease and Cooper chose to come back for another season of college football and reprise their starting roles from last season. The strengths of Wease, a former Oklahoma wideout, in red zone and contested catch situations are well-documented by this point, but he shows a sneaky quickness that can catch opponents by surprise. Cooper, who spent a year at Ohio State before transferring to his home-state school, can run routes out of a variety of locations and will still see a healthy share of targets, even as the third wide receiver on the field.

Johnson’s freshman season backed up his nickname, “Speedy,” with the first-year player finding opportunities to burst over the top of the defense for big plays. That kind of role isn’t going away, but coaches have challenged him to expand his route tree to merit more snaps and targets. Manning has taken first-team reps over Wease and Cooper at times during preseason camp, though that may be a case of load management or experimentation. Still, he has the size to match Wease’s role and seems likely to get a few targets in his second season.

Freshmen Courtney Crutchfield and James Madison II have impressed at times during preseason camp but face an uphill battle for any significant number of snaps because of the crowded, experienced wideout room.

Tight end

Starter: Brett Norfleet, sophom*ore

Backups: Jordon Harris, sophom*ore; Tyler Stephens, senior

Norfleet and Harris have been absent from practices lately as they recover from injuries, though both are expected to return to camp action near the end of this week. Norfleet’s ascendance during his freshman season flew under the radar, but assuming he takes an expected step forward as a blocker, he should be a consistent starter. What’s less clear is how many targets will go to him and the Tigers’ other tight ends, given the depth and prowess of the team’s wide receivers.

Stephens has experience but struggled with drops in the back half of last season, eventually leading to Norfleet’s promotion into a starting role. Harris didn’t get as much playing time behind that duo but could be a factor this season.

One freshman to watch here: Francis Howell product Jude James has taken more reps with Norfleet and Harris sidelined and is an intriguing H-back-type option. Whether that will make it off the practice field, though, remains to be seen.

Defensive end

Starters: Zion Young, junior; Johnny Walker Jr. (joker), senior

Rotation: Joe Moore III, senior; Eddie Kelly Jr., junior

Backups: Jahkai Lang, redshirt freshman; Williams Nwaneri, freshman

Here’s where the rotational aspect of constructing a depth chart — and the Tigers’ biggest injury of the preseason to date — come into play. If recent trends hold true, Mizzou will turn to four edge rushers each game, mixing them in and out fairly frequently. Darris Smith, a transfer from Georgia, likely would have been No. 3 in that rotation, but after a season-ending injury, he’s off the depth chart.

Walker will start once again and play a similar role to last season — except now his position is called the joker. That means there may be a little bit of pass coverage responsibility from time to time. Young, who transferred from Michigan State, will be the more traditional defensive end.

Moore looks likely to reprise his role as a part of the D-end rotation, and the experience of Georgia Tech transfer Kelly suggests that duo will be the group that comes off the bench. Lang may be younger but has taken some second-team reps during preseason practices, so he may well end up ahead of Kelly. There’s plenty of external demand for in-game Nwaneri reps, but Missouri is not inclined to rush him onto the field. For the time being, playing time given to the freshman would stand to be developmental for him rather than necessary for the team, but Smith’s injury means this position group has a little less depth to work with.

Defensive tackle

Starters: Kristian Williams, senior; Chris McClellan, junior

Rotation: Sterling Webb, junior; Marquis Gracial, sophom*ore

Backups: Jalen Marshall, sophom*ore; Sam Williams, redshirt freshman

For a bit, it seemed like Mizzou might target one more defensive tackle in the transfer portal, but Drinkwitz and Co. are sticking with this group to comprise another likely four-man rotation in the trenches. Williams is the only returning member of last year’s defensive tackle group and looks to be its leader in terms of snaps. McClellan has SEC experience from his time at Florida, which has helped him take command of the other tackle spot.

Westminster graduate Webb is making the jump from New Mexico State to a much more physical league, which could be quite the transition. Gracial was a highly rated recruit out of St. Charles and now seems poised for playing time after two seasons of limited action. Marshall and Williams have taken reps alongside the second-team defense at times during preseason camp.

Middle linebacker

Starter: Chuck Hicks, senior

Backup: Corey Flagg,senior

Hicks is back for a whopping seventh year of college football and is a projected starter after filling in for Chad Bailey for most of last season. Hicks brings stability to the core of a defense that’s otherwise seeing some significant turnover. Flagg transferred in from Miami ahead of spring practice and seems geared for a spot at middle linebacker, though he might find other opportunities when the Tigers want a blitz-prone option in the center of the field.

Outside linebacker

Starter: Triston Newson, senior

Backups: Khalil Jacobs, junior; Brayshawn Littlejohn, redshirt freshman

Like with Hicks, Newson saw some significant playing time as a fill-in last season, albeit for Ty’Ron Hopper in Mizzou’s outside linebacker role. Newson will likely be asked to step up his pass-rushing capabilities, but he’s a sound tackler who has been serviceable in coverage as well. Jacobs, a transfer from South Alabama, seems to have slotted in at the outside position more than the middle. Littlejohn saw some special teams action as a freshman, but that hasn’t translated to a clear path to defensive playing time this season, barring an injury.

Cornerbacks

Starters: Dreyden Norwood, junior; Toriano Pride Jr., junior

Backups: Nicholas Deloach Jr. redshirt freshman; Marcus Clarke, senior

Norwood and Pride are both new starters, though they’ve both got some experience. Norwood filled in at times last year and was smooth in coverage. He started the Tigers’ Cotton Bowl win over Ohio State, setting up his path to a starting role this year. Pride didn’t see a massive role at Clemson, his first stop, but brings a physicality — and trash-talking — to the secondary that has him poised for key snaps in 2024.

Cahokia's Deloach has been one of preseason camp’s most surprising breakouts, actually splitting first-team reps with Pride during some drills. Clarke is experienced and was a backup cornerback last season, too, but doesn’t seem to be in the mix for any starts beyond those required by an injury.

STAR

Starter: Daylan Carnell, junior

Backup: Sidney Williams Sr., senior

Carnell has become synonymous with Missouri’s hybrid safety role, which blends secondary and linebacker responsibilities. A pick-six highlighted his 2023 campaign, but this year, Carnell’s versatility could be one of Batoon’s most intriguing weapons when it comes to crafting pass coverages and blitzes.

Williams, like the rest of Mizzou’s safeties, can fill in at a variety of positions but has spent most of preseason camp working with the STAR room.

Safeties

Starters: Joseph Charleston (field), senior; Marvin Burks Jr. (boundary), sophom*ore

Backups: Tre’Vez Johnson (field), senior; Caleb Flagg (boundary), junior

Charleston returns the most tackles of any MU defender and retains his starting position from a year ago. Burks (Cardinal Ritter), who earned playing time as a freshman, is a young starter replacing Jaylon Carlies.

Johnson can play either safety position as needed but has tended to replace Charleston when the second team takes the field. Flagg, who was the defensive MVP of Missouri’s spring game, wasn’t expected to be a force in the competition for playing time but seems to be the primary backup after impressing in camp.

Kicker

Starter: Blake Craig, redshirt freshman

Backup: Nick Quadrini, sophom*ore

Consistency is the key for Craig, who has the leg to be one of the better kickers in college football but is still settling into making routine kicks look, well, routine. The ball comes off his foot as it should for a kicker. He’s never attempted a field goal or extra point in a game before. Quadrini has been the second kicker to take the field during camp.

Punter

Starter: Luke Bauer, junior

Backup: Orion Phillips, sophom*ore

Bauer (De Smet) seems likely to keep the starting job after it was handed to former punter Riley Williams at times last season. The punting competition hasn’t been a dominant part of preseason camp, but Bauer seems like the more likely option. Both he and Phillips may boot the ball away during the first games of the season, though, if coaches feel a need to continue the battle.

Long snapper

Starter: Trey Flint, senior

Backup: Brett Le Blanc, sophom*ore

If you made it this far, congratulations. There doesn’t seem to be a long snapper battle during camp. Flint, who took over snapping duties last season, looks consistent.