Mizzou 2024 Spring Football Topics

Spring football practices will begin soon in Columbia, Mo., with the spring game scheduled for Saturday, March 16, the closing ceremony of preseason practice.

This year’s camp will have far less of an existential crisis than past seasons — a year ago, we were dreading an injury-riddled quarterback competition and measuring what it would take to warm Eli Drinkwtiz’s seat. But as the ground begins to thaw in Mid-Missouri, the only burn this year will come not from the chef’s professional status, but from the afterglow of the triumphant 2023 season.

Some general storylines will emerge during the 2024 Mizzou Football season. This is the first year of the expanded, divisionless SEC. There are cash injections for the NIL and stadium expansion. The show will move away from the exciting days of Désirée Reed-François and the loss of the guy who made the mini-movies.

But on a more concrete football level, there are some storylines and position battles that will command our attention during spring ball and set the tone for fall camp and the 2024 season. Let’s take a look at some of the discussions and competitions that will shape the program for the next campaign.

1. Top seven rotation

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This is arguably the biggest concern when it comes to depth charts for the upcoming season. Not only is the team replacing star DE Darius Robinson and LB Ty’Ron Hopper, but also DT contributors Jayden Jernigan, Realus George and Josh Landry, end Nyles Gaddy and LB Chad Bailey, while also welcoming a new defensive coordinator. and a new coaching position. Mizzou’s front seven will look a lot different in 2024, with five impact transfers listed for spring and breakout prospects.

What will we learn in practice? New defensive coordinator Corey Batoon has run both a 4-2-5 and a 3-3-5 at South Alabama, and it will be interesting to see how the rotations evolve with versatile veterans finding their role in the team. Defensive tackle Chris McClellan played two-thirds of his snaps at Florida last season as a three-tech player and one-third in a five-tech alignment. Georgia transfer Darris Smith played primarily in the cleanup role as an edge rusher for the Dawgs, but has the athletic pedigree to play linebacker and was even used in slot coverage in Athens. Other transfers are likely stuck at the positions where they saw the most playing time, with Sterling Webb (three-tech), Zion Young (end) and Corey Flagg (middle linebacker) all factoring into the lineup.

Beyond the use of transfers, it will also be interesting to see how returnees fare. Talented youngsters like Jalen Marshall, Marquis Gracial, Brayshawn Littlejohn and many others will have the opportunity to emerge. Outside linebacker Triston Newson was the star of last year’s spring workout and is ready to build on his productive end to the season. Will this year’s spring candidates live up to the hype, or are they just placeholders until all-galaxy rookie Williams Nwaneri shows up this summer?

2. Who intervenes in secondary school?

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Much like the defensive front, Mizzou will replace a number of starters heading into the NFL Draft. Some positions will be locked in: Clemson transfer Toriano Pride is expected to start at cornerback, and Joseph Charleston and Daylan Carnell* will continue at safety and STAR (nickel), respectively. But players new and old will need to step up this season, and the path to solidifying a starting role begins in the spring. Will young people like Marvin Burks and Philip Roche see their role expanded? How will rotational veterans like Tre’Vez Johnson, Sidney Williams, Marcus Clarke and Dreyden Norwood handle a starting workload?

*I would like to go on record – I will probably write it about twenty times on these e-pages between now and Labor Day – that Daylan Carnell will become a star in his own right in 2024. Yam Banks has become one of the most big names from the Sun Belt are playing a big role in South Alabama’s Corey Batoon defense, using his history as a high school center fielder to become one of the best ballhawks in the country. Carnell has the same flair for the game and is ready to become a household name. Buy your stock now.

3. Young running backs

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Replacing Cody Schrader’s historic production won’t be easy, but we have a pretty good idea of ​​what Sun Belt transfers Marcus Carroll (Georgia State) and Nathan Noel (Appalachian State) can offer. Carroll is a workhorse, an efficiency freak in the Schrader mold, and Noel is greased lightning, one of the best big-play backs in the country when healthy. But will either of Mizzou’s two young, unproven four-star recruits show enough to challenge the old faces in the fall? Neither Tavorus Jones nor Jamal Roberts have had many opportunities to showcase their talent on the field as Tigers, and with another heralded rookie, Kewan Lacey, joining the fold this summer, it’s time to “put in place” this pair.

4. Luther’s launch

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I’m so excited about this offseason of hype for superstar wide receiver Luther Burden, who will catch fire in the spring as the tracks are laid for the 2024 campaign. Burden is perhaps the most important rookie in the history of football. Mizzou, and after getting his feet wet in 2022, his production matched the prep school hype in 2023. Now is the time to become a superstar. Luther’s spring and summer will be full of preseason accolades, viral content, stardom in NCAA football from EA Sports, and hopefully a Heisman push from the athletic department. While this storyline isn’t playing out in message board practice reports or beat reporters’ texts, it’s one of the most exciting things about Mizzou’s 2024 offseason.

5. Spring Transfer Portal Window

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Eli Drinkwitz opted to hold spring practices again earlier this season; Even though a cold-weather spring game doesn’t generate as much attendance as a warm-weather game, the choice is purely strategic. Ending practice early makes it easier to determine which players will leave in the second portal window and gives the staff enough time to recruit their replacements. Keep your ear to the ground during Spring Ball to avoid being surprised when a player behind in his position battle decides to leave after Spring Ball.

Expect Missouri to be a portal looking for a backup quarterback and some secondary depth, and you can always use more bodies on both lines. New needs could emerge in camp: tight end still seems quite shallow, left guard is an open battle and both specialists are being replaced. While position battles can be won or lost in the spring, some might give the staff some clarity on the need to go back to the drawing board entirely in the spring portal.