Takeaways from Mizzou football’s early signing class

Missouri signed 16 of its verbal commitments Wednesday, the first day of the new early college football signing period, which runs through Friday. Two others are expected to sign by Friday and three of the Tigers’ pledges plan to wait until February to sign.

Odom spoke highly of Missouri’s two signees from the Kansas City area in Daniel Parker Jr. and Dominic Gicinto.

“We had him in camps and were so impressed with the things he did,” Odom said. “He competed better than anybody we had in camp all summer.”

Gicinto helps fill a need for Missouri at wide receiver after the Tigers had no freshman receivers on scholarship after losing a few commits to other schools shortly before National Signing Day in February.

Parker, who played both offensive and defensive line at Blue Springs will play defense at Missouri.

“The biggest thing with him is he’s got length,” defensive line coach Brick Haley. “He’s got some initial quickness, he’s edge presence, those things are all what you look for in defensive ends.”

Tigers coach Barry Odom could add a number of signatures in February, but here are some early takeaways from the program’s current 2018 class.

No quarterback, no problem … at least not yet

Missouri lost James Foster, a highly touted quarterback from Alabama, during the Tigers’ 1-5 star, got back into the picture and was knocked out when offensive coordinator Josh Heupel left to become coach at Central Florida. Missouri doesn’t plan to announce a replacement for Heupel until after the Texas Bowl, which makes it tough to recruit a quarterback. But do they even have to? If Drew Lock declares for the NFL Draft, Missouri will absolutely have to add a signal-caller and could even go to the grad transfer market for one. If Lock stays, then probably not. On Tuesday, Missouri offered Lindsey Scott Jr., a junior-college quarterback who was once committed to LSU, but it appears that isn’t an indication of Lock’s decision. Scott Jr. has three years of eligibility remaining and appears to interest the staff as a player who could replace Lock in a year, should he return.

The Tiger 1(0)?

When Missouri hosted all 10 highly touted in-state prospects in the spring, many thought the program would be able to have a highly ranked class without having to leave Interstate 70. Well, that didn’t happen. The Tigers appeared to lose interest in some of those prospects and others dropped out during the 1-5 start. Blue Springs defensive end Daniel Parker Jr. is currently the lone member of the “Tiger 10” to sign. The Tigers made a late run for St. Louis defensive end Ronnie Perkins, the brother of Missouri safety Ronnell Perkins, but he stuck with Oklahoma. Missouri could still add another defensive lineman out of St. Louis in Michael Thompson, but he isn’t expected to announce until February. Missouri is considered the favorite for Thompson’s services.

Speaking of the defensive line …

Defensive line coach Brick Haley is going to need some extra chairs in his meeting room next season. Terry Beckner Jr. didn’t even want to flirt with the NFL Draft and announced weeks ago that he’s returning for his senior season. Pair that with the addition of Texas transfer Jordan Elliott, who sat out last season, and Missouri already has a heck of an interior defensive line before any letters were signed. But Haley added even more depth to the program’s most successful position in recent years. Antar Thompson originally signed with Missouri in 2013, with the current group of redshirt seniors. He took a detour through junior college and will sign with Missouri as a 23-year-old with three years of eligibility remaining. Thompson is 6 feet 5 and 325 pounds and provides depth for Beckner and Elliott, and Parker adds depth to a defensive end slot that saw a lot of contributions out of redshirt and true freshmen in 2017.

Big haul at wide receiver

Missouri failed to add any scholarship receivers in 2017 after Da’Ron Davis, a Hogan Prep graduate, failed to qualify academically out of high school and O’Shae Clark left the program. The Tigers are expected to sign five wide receivers this week, which gives Missouri depth it could have used this year. St. Louis’ Harry Ballard III was a highly touted prospect coming out of high school but had to make a stop in junior college before heading to Columbia. He is expected to see the field next year. Danny Gray, Kam Scott, Khmari Thompson and Dominic Gicinto, a Raytown product, round out the class. Missouri could still add here as well in February.

Diamonds in the rough

Since he’s been on the job, Odom has taken one out of former coach Gary Pinkel’s book by signing under-recruited players and turning them into stars. Odom has already done that in freshman running back Larry Rountree, who chose Mizzou over FCS schools and kept the trend going in 2018. Missouri flipped Javon Foster, a 6-foot-6 offensive lineman, from Central Michigan and running back Simi Bakare from Tulane. Gicinto is a player that had a breakout senior year and was on the radar of a few top schools, but Odom got his commitment before those programs could turn into threats. Vincent Gray was another find for the program but was offered on Monday by Michigan, his in-state school. He’s now waiting until February to sign.

This story was originally published December 20, 2017 at 10:59 AM with the headline "Takeaways from Mizzou football’s early signing class."