Five questions as Missouri opens spring football practice this weekend
Missouri opens spring football practice Sunday, and for the first time in a while the Tigers have a lot of buzz for this time of year. Former Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant begins his lone year under center, while the NCAA penalties from the academic fraud scandal linger over the program. Here are five questions that could get answered over the course of spring football:
Do any of the seniors transfer? Because of MU’s bowl ban for the upcoming season, the NCAA said it will let any senior transfer and play immediately at a new school. Some Southeastern Conference schools like Texas A&M and Tennessee have already reached out to Mizzou players, while Georgia has said it will leave MU’s players alone. Tigers coach Barry Odom said a few weeks ago that he doesn’t expect any seniors to leave, while also complaining about the schools that continue to try and poach his players. Do some of them have a change of heart? And if so, is it a key player like linebacker Cale Garrett, or a reserve who likely wasn’t going to play much?
Who emerges as a leader? Paul Adams, Drew Lock, Terry Beckner Jr. and Terez Hall have graduated. That leaves a lot of leadership to be replaced. Garrett was already a big leader on defense in 2018 and is a natural fit to replace Hall, while Bryant, tight end Albert Okwuegbunam and running back Larry Rountree are candidates to replace the leadership lost on offense.
What else happens at quarterback? Bryant is already considered the starter, but as a graduate transfer, only has one year left. Mizzou added TCU transfer Shawn Robinson in December and will still have Jack Lowary, Taylor Powell and incoming freshman Connor Bazelak on the roster barring no attrition. Does Robinson do enough in the spring to establish himself as Bryant’s heir? Micah Wilson already switched from quarterback to wide receiver, do others follow?
Does Derek Dooley tweak the offense? In his first year as offensive coordinator, Dooley kept a lot in place from predecessor Josh Heupel’s air-raid spread offense, but added more pro-style concepts to help prepare Lock for the NFL. Now Dooley has a true dual-threat quarterback in Bryant and a strong group of tailbacks, led by Rountree and sophomore Tyler Badie. Does Dooley cater the offense more to the run? Or keep things in place?
What happens in the secondary? In fall camp before the 2018 season, Odom praised then-Texas Tech defensive coordinator David Gibbs, who specialized in takeaways. Now Gibbs is on Odom’s staff as cornerbacks coach and inherits a secondary that improved in 2018 but is still far from elite. DeMarkus Acy and Christian Holmes are back at cornerback and four-star safety signee Jalani Williams is on campus for spring practices. Can Gibbs make MU’s secondary more of a threat to opposing quarterbacks?