This Mizzou newcomer found his way back to D-line after stint as blue-chip fullback

The setting is familiar for Realus George Jr.

The position isn’t.

The 6-foot-1, 278-pound junior-college transfer is a bowling ball of a man, heralded by coaches and teammates in Missouri football’s training camp as a powerful and dynamic presence on the Tigers’ defensive line. But two years ago, he was on the other side of the line, starting his freshman year at Miami as one of the best fullback recruits in the country.

So here George is, a redshirt sophomore, in his second Power Five camp after a year spent honing skills on the D-line at Independence (Kan.) Community College. Beyond the obvious differences in objectives between playing fullback (trying to score) and defensive tackle (stopping others from scoring), those two positions have at least one thing in common.

“The same mentality is just crush whatever’s in front of me,” George said. “It don’t really matter for me. It’s always gonna be physical regardless.”

Despite playing defensive line most of his life, it was George’s performance as a fullback at Atlanta’s Pace Academy that made him a three-star recruit and the nation’s top-rated fullback prospect in 2018. The Hurricanes won the signature of the then-255-pounder and proceeded to give him not so much as a single carry during his redshirt and freshman years,

So George decided to move to the junior-college level.

The pandemic spoiled his chance to show what he could do as a defensive lineman at Independence — the Pirates didn’t play last fall — but he nonetheless garnered interest from Division I programs after adding 32 pounds to his frame.

He committed to Old Dominion, but then he got an offer from MU coach Eliah Drinkwitz and his staff to play for the Tigers. That was October 2020. So he switched schools and enrolled at Mizzou in the spring, and since then he has been working with new defensive coordinator Steve Wilks and defensive line coach Jethro Franklin.

“For me personally, I believe it was a good advantage,” George said of enrolling at MU in the spring. “This is my first time playing D-line at this level. Having Coach Wilks and Coach Jethro being able to teach me the technique in the position through the spring (and) kind of get familiar with it, it was easy to adjust through the summer and straight into fall camp.”

Junior defensive lineman Darius Robinson said George is “really aggressive, really physical, and (he) moves pretty well.” Robinson also said George will have no problem taking a fumble recovery to the end zone should he find himself in open space.

George said defensive line is his natural position. So he’s happy to get back to playing it, especially in a league as rich in D-linemen as the Southeastern Conference.

It also means more food in his stomach.

“When I was a true freshman … I was having to lose a lot of weight and get slim, lose about 30 pounds,” George said. “But now, I’m having to gain weight, mostly stay heavy, pick up my strength and stay in shape. As far as freshman (year) to now, it’s all about eating … I’m just glad to be back on this side of the ball.”

Now, George is battling for playing time in the trenches. Missouri’s roster is packed with experienced defensive linemen, with redshirt junior Trajan Jeffcoat a returning AP First-Team All-SEC selection and grad student Kobie Whiteside — a preseason all-SEC pick in the past — fully healthy after undergoing MCL surgery in January.

When asked about new junior-college defensive linemen George and Daniel Robledo, Drinkwitz said their recruitment was carried out with the expectation that each would be ready to play when called upon.

And Drinkwitz has plans for them.

“They’ve got to continue to focus one day at a time,” Drinkwitz said. “Everybody wants it right now ... just be 1-0 today, 1-0 this period, 1-0 this rep, and those guys are gonna get there. They play with really good effort and they’re going to help us this year, there’s no doubt.”