Five questions about Mizzou football’s offense as training camp approaches

The Missouri football team begins training camp on Friday with a Heisman hopeful at quarterback, a record-setting tight end entering just his sophomore year and two starter-level running backs.

So there is plenty for the Tigers to be excited about.

But they also have a new offensive coordinator in Derek Dooley, and they must replace their leading receiver from the past two seasons, J’Mon Moore. So there are questions, too.

Here are five questions about the Missouri offense that will be answered during training camp and the opening weeks of the season.

How will a veteran offensive line adjust to a new offense?

Former MU offensive coordinator Josh Heupel’s offense distorted the statistics of everyone who played in it, including offensive linemen. While quarterback Drew Lock threw 44 touchdowns, a number he knows he likely won’t reach this season, his blockers posted deflated stats.

The Tigers allowed the fewest tackles for loss in the country (37) and gave up the fewest sacks of any SEC team (13), but they often had to hold their blocks for just a second or two before Lock rifled the ball to a receiver. In Dooley’s offense, the Missouri linemen will sometimes be expected to block for longer than that.

Senior right tackle Paul Adams said during spring practices that he had found “so many flaws” in his game, bad habits that he could get away with in Heupel’s system. He believed he and other MU linemen needed to focus on fixing poor hand placement and playing with their pads at the proper level. They also must have more pre-snap communication at the line of scrimmage than they did in their old offense.

So even though Missouri returns its entire starting line from a season ago, will there be growing pains?

How will Crockett and Rountree share the workload at running back?

Damarea Crockett rushed for more than 1,000 yards as a true freshman in 2016, and when he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in Mizzou’s sixth game of last season, the Tigers discovered they had another first-year gem in Larry Rountree, who ran for 703 yards in 2017. Now both are healthy, and they’re each listed as “or” on MU’s depth chart, which means neither has supplanted the other as the clear starter.

It won’t really matter who starts, as both will play, but it will be interesting to see how the coaching staff divides their carries. Crockett (5-11, 225) is a bit bigger than Rountree (5-10, 210), but Rountree embraces contact, while Crockett is the shiftier of the two.

Neither caught many passes in the Tigers’ old offense, but if Mizzou’s new scheme utilizes running backs in the passing game more often, perhaps that serves as another way to differentiate the tailbacks.

Which newcomers will make an impact at WR?

During spring practices, Dooley openly called the Tigers’ lack of depth at receiver a concern. Now that lack of depth translates to opportunities for newcomers who arrived this summer.

At SEC Media Days, Lock said freshman receivers Kam Scott, Khmari Thompson and Jalen Knox had all impressed him during summer workouts. Then there’s Dominic Gicinto, a receiver from Raytown who is the only true freshman currently listed on the depth chart. Odom said Gicinto, an early enrollee, benefitted from the extra reps he got during spring practices while the receiving corps was thin.

Maybe the most interesting addition at wideout, though, is not a freshman. Alex Ofodile, a once highly coveted recruit out of Columbia’s Rock Bridge High School who transferred from Oregon, is currently listed behind preseason All-SEC selection Emanuel Hall, but Odom said Ofodile’s “got a chance to help us a lot and help us early on.”

“He’s really long, has a lot of ability when the ball’s not in his frame to reach out and get it, which is huge,” Lock said of the 6-2, 205-pound Ofodile, whose father AJ is the Tigers’ wide receivers coach. “I think he’s a deer when he runs. He’s got really long strides. He doesn’t look freaky fast, but he’s gaining ground on defenders. I think he’ll help us out a lot.”

What more can Albert O do at tight end?

The Tigers have said that Dooley, who was most recently the Dallas Cowboys’ receivers coach, often references the play of recently retired tight end Jason Witten, one of the NFL’s greatest ever at the position. So MU’s offensive coordinator must be excited about working with Albert Okwuegbunam, the sophomore tight end who led the SEC in touchdown receptions (11) a season ago.

During the spring, the 6-foot-5 Okwuegbunam said that he will affect games in “a different way,” but he didn’t elaborate. A season ago, nine of his 29 receptions came inside the red zone. But outside of Lock, he is arguably the Tigers’ greatest offensive weapon, so they likely will find new ways to get the ball to him and 6-foot-6 Kendall Blanton, a senior tight end from Blue Springs who has plenty of physical potential but made just six catches last season.

Who wins the No. 2 QB job?

The Tigers hope Drew Lock plays every meaningful offensive snap this season, but they still need to decide who his backup is. Right now, sophomore Lindsey Scott Jr. and junior Jack Lowary are listed as “or” backup options to Lock. Micah Wilson — who backed up Lock last season and is the only other quarterback on the roster to throw a collegiate pass — is not listed on the depth chart.

The competition for No. 2 QB matters less this season and more moving forward. Whoever becomes Lock’s backup could be on an inside track to becoming the senior’s successor.