Missouri gives cornerback Raymond Wingo some work at slot receiver

Redshirt freshman Raymond Wingo is listed as a third-string cornerback behind juniors Aarion Penton and John Gibson on Missouri’s spring depth chart.

He spent Tuesday working out at slot receiver.

“We’re just looking at him, that’s all we’re doing …,” Tigers coach Gary Pinkel said when asked after practice whether the move was a permanent change. “It’s not unusual. We try to do that occasionally with some players just so we get a pretty good evaluation.”

Missouri returns precious little experience at wide receiver and the group didn’t show much explosiveness or playmaking ability during Saturday’s scrimmage.

“After last week’s scrimmage, you try to kind of reevaluate your goals a little bit …,” Pinkel said. “He was a pretty good athlete with the ball in his hands in high school. He’s got quickness and acceleration and everything else. He’s one of the fastest guys on the team.”

Pinkel said Wingo — whose older brother, Ronnie Wingo Jr., is a running back with the Atlanta Falcons — also has great hands and the potential to be a great cornerback.

Wingo totaled 482 yards rushing, 241 yards receiving and seven touchdowns as a senior wide receiver at St. Louis University High School in 2013.

“A lot of times what you do is you try to find out if a player can help the team at one position more so than another position,” Wingo said. “With all the young players that we have, the youth on our offense, we might as well bring another young guy in there, right?”

Injury report

▪ Missouri senior offensive lineman Connor McGovern, who started at right guard the last two seasons, suffered a sprained right knee during Saturday’s scrimmage.

McGovern is likely going to be shut down to the spring as a precaution, but the injury isn’t considered serious.

He is one of three starters on offense currently sidelined by injury, joining sophomore wide receiver Nate Brown (knee sprain) and tight end Sean Culkin (shoulder sprain).

▪ Running backs Morgan Steward (hip) and Trevon Walters (knee) have been ruled for the spring along with safety Tavon Ross (knee), while linebacker Eric Beisel (foot strain) and tight end Austin Ray (broken finger) also missed Tuesday’s practice.

This story was originally published April 7, 2015 at 7:57 PM with the headline "Missouri gives cornerback Raymond Wingo some work at slot receiver."