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Mizzou Tigers Season Preview

Posted on 8/28/15 at 7:58 pm
Posted by JesusQuintana
St Louis
Member since Oct 2013
33366 posts
Posted on 8/28/15 at 7:58 pm
As Im sure you all have been waiting with bated breath, here it is. All you ever wanted to know about your defending back to back East Champions in one post.

The Tigers wrapped up their fall camp yesterday with their third and final scrimmage. Most is well in the Zou and Pinkel's boys are ready to roll.



An official depth chart wont be released until Monday, but here is my semi educated best guess of the two deep.

QB
Mauk RS JR
Lock FR

-Mauk is back for another year after an up and down performance in 2014. There was a stretch of play to start the conference slate where he was flat out awful. Henson pulled the reigns back a bit after that, and we saw a slow improvement from Mauk to end the year. Mizzou will need a more consistent presence from him this year to repeat as East Champs or anything beyond that. His fall camp, unfortunately, has been up and down as well. True FR Drew Lock is drawing rave reviews. He was almost assuredly going to RS but has been a camp phenom and looks to have worked himself into PT. Maybe a QB controversy. Largely dependent on how Mauk plays.

RB
Hansbrough RS SR
Witter SO

-Russel Mansbrough is back. Hes probably the least talked about returning 1000 yard rusher in the conference, but he plays for Mizzou so that is to be expected. Hes got HR speed, agility to make guys miss, and he is a tough runner for his size. Hes also added 10 lbs this season to handle an expanded workload. Behind him, questions abound. Witter is the defacto #2 but he hasn't done much in camp. Tiger fans were excited about Steward (coming off of serious injury) and Abbington (4* JUCO transfer) but neither have been able to gain traction. Depth is definitely in question here.

X WR
Blair RS FR
Moore RS SO

H WR
Brown SO
Wingo RS FR

Z WR
Leftwich SR
Dilosa RS FR

-Most people had qustions regarding the WR corps coming into camp, but they have been answered. We look to be very deep here and athletic, even if lacking experience. Brown looks every bit the part of a #1. Blair has made highlight reel after highlight reel catch during camp and looks to have wrestled away the starting spot from Moore. Leftwich (fastest white guy in the conference) is the lone SR and has been steady in camp getting open and catching the ball. We also have a bevy of young WR who have been VERY impressive. Unfortunately, Johnathan Johnson (TN) who was wowing during camp and looks like a future star suffered a likely season ending ankle injury. Two other freshman Hall (TN) and Smith (GA) have also been standouts during camp. Hall is a very polished. Great routes, hands, and definitely ready to play. Smith is a 6'7" monster with good speed. Matchup nightmare.

LT
McGovern RS SR
Cuellar RS SO

LG
Chappel RS SR
McNulty RS SR

C
Boehm SR
Abeln RS SO

RG
Hall RS SR
Pendleton RS FR

RT
Crawford RS SO
Rhodes RS SO

-tons of experience on the line. Guys with starting experience as backups. Two sunday guys in 4 year starter Boehm and 3 year starter McGovern. Crawford is the only starter without multiple starts under his belt. Lots of depth and a good amoung of talent. Tigers look good here.

DE
Harris RS SO
Williams RS FR

DE
Frazier RS SO
Brady RS FR

-Harris is primed for a great year and looks to be our next great pass rusher. Frazier (JUCO) is the starter at the other end and has drawn praise for how quickly he has picked everything up and earned a starting spot. Depth behind is young. Cant afford injuries.

DT
Hatley RS SR
Beckner FR

DT
Augusta RS JR
Logan RS SO

-Really like our DT talent. Augusta is a monster and possible high draft pick if he can keep his weight down enough where he can stay on the field without gassing. Beckner (5*) has been a bright spot in camp. Has all the talent in the world. SEC Ready. Depth situation here is scary though. These four are our only scholarship DTs who aren't 260-270lb true freshman. Brantley loss was huge. Cant afford any injuries.

Will
Brothers RS SR
Hall FR

Mike
Scherer RS JR
Lee RS SO

Sam
Newsome RS JR
Green RS SR

-Mizzou returns the top tacklers in the SEC in Brothers and Scherer. Brothers is a probably a day two talent and Scherer is one of the smartest players we have. Newsome looks to be a candidate for a break out year in Odom's system. Behind them Green has a lot of experience and the coaches love both Hall and Lee. Plenty of talent and depth.

CB
Penton RS JR
Cheadle SO

CB
Dennis RS SR
Gibson RS JR

S
Simon RS SR
Wilson SO

S
Sherrils RS SO
Browning RS SR

-Strong in the secondary. This is probably the best secondary we have had under Pinkel in terms of talent and depth. Dennis and Penton are one of the better CB combos in the league. Simon is a SR captain and 3 year starter. Sherrils is an absolute stud athletically, big and fast. Looks like the light has came on for him. Oh, and Cheadle is Don's cousin. So there is that.

K Bagget RS SR
P Fatoney FR
RT ?????

-We'll miss Murphy. I don't think the coaches are close to settled on who will be returning kicks. Like all SEC teams we have several fast, athletic guys but it takes something else to be a top notch returner. Wouldn't surprise me to see several guys get a shot until someone makes good on theirs.

I'm seeing 9-10 wins with a +/- of 1 either way from that. We are strong in several areas and GP will have his guys playing hard, but there are a few spots that could become issues if starters get injured.

Posted by throwingoranges
Member since Jul 2014
555 posts
Posted on 8/28/15 at 8:10 pm to
thumbs up for the work.
Posted by TheDudeAbides12
Member since Jul 2015
284 posts
Posted on 8/28/15 at 8:10 pm to
Yall could win the east again with that schedule.
Posted by RunningBlake
Member since Aug 2011
4107 posts
Posted on 8/28/15 at 8:13 pm to
Damn, that's an easy schedule.
Posted by rockytop627
Member since Jan 2014
10041 posts
Posted on 8/28/15 at 8:15 pm to
quote:

Drew Lock is drawing rave reviews. He was almost assuredly going to RS but has been a camp phenom and looks to have worked himself into PT. Maybe a QB controversy. Largely dependent on how Mauk plays.


You could almost call him a "lock" for playing time at this point.
Posted by Thurber
NWLA
Member since Aug 2013
15402 posts
Posted on 8/28/15 at 8:34 pm to
Playing at Arkansas state? How'd that come about?
Posted by TRUERockyTop
Appalachia
Member since Sep 2011
15904 posts
Posted on 8/28/15 at 10:32 pm to
Good write up brotha. Appreciate the insight
Posted by kilo
Member since Oct 2011
27441 posts
Posted on 8/28/15 at 10:36 pm to
quote:

JesusQuintana


Well done buddy

Posted by Legendary0903
Tree Fiddy Green Money
Member since Jan 2014
4416 posts
Posted on 8/28/15 at 11:14 pm to
Thank you for the insight.

Two things stood out to me. First off, the experience along the OL is incredibly impressive. Secondly, that schedule is unimpressive. Mizzou will be right in the thick of things for the East title.
Posted by Bwana Whiskey
Member since Dec 2008
6777 posts
Posted on 8/28/15 at 11:16 pm to
Beat UGA and should be back in ATL in December.
Posted by Pitch To Johnny
Houston
Member since Jun 2015
4195 posts
Posted on 8/28/15 at 11:21 pm to
Glad we aren't playing yall this year so I can finally 100% be a bandwagon fan for the Mizzou defense. One of my good friends from HS is in the two deep, excited to see him get a shot.
Posted by the808bass
The Lou
Member since Oct 2012
111720 posts
Posted on 8/28/15 at 11:36 pm to
"I've never heard of any of your players."

"Yankees."

"Excepting Mizzery was the dummest thing the SEC has ever did."

How'd I do?
Posted by Rescue22
South Carolina
Member since Jul 2015
4118 posts
Posted on 8/29/15 at 8:19 am to
I'll give Maty Mauk the credit he deserves. He's a pretty good QB. Will be interested to see if Mizzou can pull off an East title for a third time. They'll have to go through Georgia for that title.
Posted by Old Sarge
Dean of Admissions, LSU
Member since Jan 2012
55592 posts
Posted on 8/29/15 at 9:00 am to
quote:

-Mauk is back for another year after an up and down performance in 2014. There was a stretch of play to start the conference slate where he was flat out awful.




He had some type of injury though
Posted by spytiger
Right Behind You
Member since Aug 2015
568 posts
Posted on 8/29/15 at 11:18 am to
The @UGA game is the time by which we'll know if the predictions and assumptions about the players have been correct.

Either Mizzou is 6-0 and looking to steal one in Athens to go back to Atlanta, or they're something like 4-2 and people are starting to wonder about 2016 and if Drew Lock becomes the starter.
Posted by IAmReality
Member since Oct 2012
12229 posts
Posted on 8/29/15 at 8:54 pm to
Missouri's schedule so easy.

@UGA is obviously the hardest game and a win there could very well win the East again.

@Akransas the last game could also be quite difficult if Arkansas actually has their shite together.
Posted by reedus23
St. Louis
Member since Sep 2011
25485 posts
Posted on 8/29/15 at 10:05 pm to
Getting back to your OP, 2 things that are almost opposite of what I would have thought going into spring.

1. I never would have been concerned about RB. I am now. I'm gonna keep drinking what Semo is serving...for now...and hope that 1 or 2 of them take the bull by the horns by mid-season. But right now, what I thought was a strength has me a bit concerned.

2. What I thought was a huge concern at WR I now feel more than confident. That's not to say there's a Jeremy Maclin on the team, but the depth of talent blows the unit from last year out of the water when looked at as a whole.

The whole Lock thing is interesting. At least on paper, he was by far, and I mean by far, the best QB on the field. On the one hand, I'd like to see him RS but the other side of me would just as soon see him getting real reps in during practice instead of running a scout team. I feel for GP the next 2 years. I don't know how holds off playing Lock if he is in fact the best QB on the team.
Posted by everytrueson
Los Angeles, CA
Member since Mar 2012
5921 posts
Posted on 8/30/15 at 10:32 am to
quote:

JesusQuintana


I'm late to this party, but solid post/insight.
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