Even with departure of Damarea Crockett, Mizzou sees run game as a strength this year
When Kelly Bryant committed to Mizzou in December, the addition of the dual-threat quarterback gave the Tigers one of the deepest running games in the Southeastern Conference.
Bryant became the program’s first dual-threat quarterback since Brad Smith in 2005, joining a backfield of Damarea Crockett, Larry Rountree and Tyler Badie.
Until Crockett abruptly left for the NFL Draft instead of finishing his MU career.
Mizzou football coach Barry Odom said he was surprised when Crockett told him of his plans to leave, but his departure doesn’t mean the run game won’t be strong this fall.
“You hate to lose Crock’s experience but we have a lot of depth and we’re lucky that our guys have been able to play,” said Cornell Ford, Mizzou’s running backs coach. “It didn’t leave us in a bad position, we would have loved to have the experience but we’ve been able to play a lot of guys.”
Even without Crockett, Missouri’s run game should be one the SEC’s best next season. Rountree rushed for over 1,000 yards last season while sophomore Tyler Badie was a member of the SEC all-freshman team and was one of the team’s best receivers.
Sophomore Simi Bakare saw his redshirt burned late last season, but had a breakout game at Tennessee, where he scored his first career touchdown. Ford was nervous about playing Bakare, but Crockett’s departure made his decision age well.
“Simi is a very good downhill runner,” Rountree said. “Last year just seeing from scout team, Simi was getting north and south.”
Rountree said he had no heads up about Crockett’s departure, but thought something was up after MU’s loss in the Liberty Bowl. Crockett addressed the team and told players he loved all of them.
Crockett expressed regret over his career, which was injury-riddled, including a shoulder injury at Georgia in 2017 that caused him to miss the second half of the season and an ankle injury that made him miss the last two games of the 2018 season.
“He just wishes he could go back to his sophomore year and redo everything,” Rountree said.
Crockett’s departure from the running backs room has made Rountree and senior Dawson Downing, a Bishop Miege graduate, the new leaders. Given the amount of tailbacks MU played last year, with as many as five getting a carry in games, Crockett was more of the team’s vocal leader, while Rountree liked to be the visual demonstrator.
“We have to be the speakers now,” Rountree said of him and Downing.
Given MU’s depth in the backfield, it’s natural to think that offensive coordinator Derek Dooley will tweak the offense to favor the run. Dooley’s been mum on his plans for the offense since the start of spring football, but Ford said it’s natural to expect more plays tailored toward the run.
Ford was MU’s defensive backs coach for years and said he hated preparing for teams with dual-threat quarterbacks. Now that MU has the depth, he expects Dooley to take advantage of it.
“He’s extremely athletic,” Ford said of Bryant. “That always adds to your arsenal. The one thing you hate seeing is an athletic quarterback that can extend plays. It puts a lot of stress on the defense. We’ve got a pretty good arsenal.”