Dave Matter brings you the latest updates from the Mizzou sports scene.
Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz watches players go through drills on the first day of summer camp, Monday, Aug. 1, 2022, in Columbia.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — For the first time since the start of preseason camp, Missouri strapped on the full pads and tackled to the ground on Sunday. With added depth along the line of scrimmage, Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz plans to have more live tackling drives in camp. Sunday was the start.
“Overall, I was pleased with the effort,” defensive coordinator Blake Baker said after the 90-minute practice. “First day, tackling was a little bit hit or miss, which is what you expect from them when they haven’t tackled in a long time. But overall, man, we’ve stayed healthy, we’re having a good camp so far ... and got a long way to go. We’re still a work in progress, without a doubt, nowhere near ready to play a game tomorrow.”
A few more notes and quotes from Sunday’s open periods and post-practice interviews:
• A handful of newcomers earned their jersey numbers before Sunday’s practice. Let’s start with two on offense:
Running back Tavorus Jones, No. 22
Defensive end D.J. Coleman, No. 7
Safety Ja’Marion Wayne, No. 19
Cornerback L.J. Hewitt, No. 20
Defensive tackle Josh Landry, No. 90
Defensive tackle Jalen Marshall, No. 95
Who does that leave without a number? The following scholarship players: offensive linemen Valen Erickson, MaKyi Lee, Curtis Peagler and Tristan Wilson; receiver Demariyon Houston; defensive linemen Marquis Gracial and DJ Wesolak; and safety Isaac Thompson.
• Members of the media were able to watch full-contact goal-line drills on Sunday. Of note ...
Brady Cook took the first snaps at quarterback with the No. 1 offensive unit. Tyler Macon was the first QB off the bench to take snaps with the first-team offense. Also getting work with the first unit: running backs Elijah Young and Michael Cox, receivers Luther Burden, Tauskie Dove and Barrett Banister, and tight ends Ryan Hoerstkamp and Kibet Chepyator. Also getting work with the backup units: QB Sam Horn, B.J. Harris and Jones at running back, and tight ends Tyler Stephens and Shawn Hendershot.
Abraham was the only QB wearing a green “no-contact” jersey on Sunday. Also, running back Nate Peat was back in uniform — he sat out Thursday’s open practice — but was not active during the open periods.
• The offense had trouble getting much penetration against the first and second units along the defensive front. One newcomer who looks to have earned a sizable role at D-tackle is Kristian Williams, the transfer from Oregon. For the first time under Drinkwitz, the Tigers appear to have the depth to go two deep across all four positions on the line.
The competition for backup snaps at defensive end is especially intriguing: Coleman has four years of Division I experience, all at the FCS level; Arden Walker showed glimpses last year of being an effective edge rusher; Johnny Walker Jr. was one of the first ends off the bench most of last season; Tyrone Hopper has played a lot of Power Five football at North Carolina and was brought in to help immediately; Travion Ford, the four-star prospect from Lutheran North High, spent last year recovering from an Achilles injury but remains an option off the bench.
• Expect to see a lot of Jayden Jernigan at D-tackle this fall. Yes, he’s undersized at his listed 6 feet, 277 pounds, but he knows how to use his body to win matchups on the line.
“I think he plays to his strengths,” Baker said. “He is quick-twitch. Even though he’s 280 (pounds), 285, he’s very strong, he’s very physically strong at the point of attack. ... And then understanding he’s played a lot ball, he understands how to use his leverage but also how to use his skill set within the scheme, how to play different blocks.
“He’s a feisty little dude, man. And he leaves it all on the field.”
“I just feel like I already have leverage,” the transfer from Oklahoma State said Sunday. “God-given leverage. So I feel like that helps me a lot. I’m able to stay low, stay under somebody. I know when somebody has to come and strike me, they’ve got to get lower than me to my height. So it’s a little bit easier for me. I’m able to read the blocks a little bit easier just because they have to fully change their stance to come to go against me.”
• Through the first week of camp, the defensive staff has installed about three times as much material from the playbook as it did in the spring, Baker said. He’s been most impressed by how well the returning players and newcomers have learned his system.
“We really were very, very slow with our install in the spring and wanted to really make sure they knew what we were doing from a base standpoint,” he said. “And then from a fundamental standpoint, as well. ... The work that they put in in the summer is really, really paying off.”
• Two players have emerged as the favorites to play the star position in Baker’s 4-2-5 base package that uses three safeties: Martez Manuel and Daylan Carnell. If Manuel wins that job, expect a three-safety look of Manuel at star and J.C. Carlies and Joseph Charleston as the favorites in the traditional deep safety positions.
• At the linebacker position, Baker uses two inside backers in the base package — same as last year’s system under Steve Wilks — and the top contenders are Chad Bailey, Ty’Ron Hopper and Devin Nicholson. Baker said he’d like to have five backers ready for every game. Expect Chuck Hicks to be in that group and possibly redshirt freshman Dameon Wilson.
• Baker clearly knows how much this defense struggled last season, but he’s made two points clear since taking over as coordinator: One, he’s not talking about last year. Two, everyone has to earn their role, no matter how much they played in the past.
“One thing that we preach to this defense with as much quality depth that we have, there’s no sacred cows,” he said. “There’s no safe spots. Everybody that we brought in, you’ve been brought in for a reason. Doesn’t matter if you were a starter last year. Last year is gone. ... The cool thing about this unit right now is, man, they’re striving together and even though they might be competing for the same spot, they’re still in it together. You see them still encouraging and helping each other out. So that’s been a very big positive for us so far.”
As for the 2021 season, “You know what, we don’t talk about last year. That’s something that I came in (and said) on the first day: Last year is dead. What you did on tape doesn’t matter to me because I don’t want to come in with a preconceived opinion or notion that you’re not going to be a good football player or you’re going to be a really good football player. I think anytime you can come in and give the whole entire room a breath of fresh air I think it makes everybody better. I’ve always done that every job I’ve ever taken, is made sure that what happened in the past has no bearing on moving forward. So we don’t talk about last year.”
Receiver Luther Burden (3) pivots during a drill as preseason football camp opened for Missouri on Aug. 1, 2022, in Columbia.
Missouri wide receiver Dominic Lovett dives on a loose ball during a recovery drill on the first day of Mizzou football practice on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022, at the Mizzou Athletic Training Complex in Columbia, Mo.
Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz watches players go through drills on the first day of summer camp, Monday, Aug. 1, 2022, in Columbia.
Missouri players, including offensive linesman Bence Polgar (62), participate in balance drills on the first day of summer camp — Aug. 1, 2022 — at the Mizzou Athletic Training Complex in Columbia. Polgar will be ineligible this season.
Quarterback Jack Abraham runs on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022, in Columbia on the first day of Mizzou’s summer football camp.
Missouri offensive lineman Connor Tollison (55) performs push-ups on the first day of Mizzou football practice on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022, at the Mizzou Athletic Training Complex in Columbia, MO. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Missouri football head coach Eli Drinkwitz shouts during drills on the first day of Mizzou football practice on on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022 , at the Mizzou Athletic Training Complex in Columbia, MO. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Missouri defensive linemen Arden Walker (55) and Jayden Jernigan (0) run drills on the first day of Mizzou football practice on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022, at the Mizzou Athletic Training Complex in Columbia, MO. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden (3) runs the ball during a drill on the first day of Mizzou football practice on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022, at the Mizzou Athletic Training Complex in Columbia, MO. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Missouri defensive coordinator Blake Baker oversees drills on Aug. 1 2022, as the Tigers opened preseason camp in Columbia. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Missouri running back Nate Peat (8) runs the ball during a drill on the first day of Mizzou football practice on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022, at the Mizzou Athletic Training Complex in Columbia, MO. Photo by Laurie Skrivan, lskrivan@post-dispatch.com
Dave Matter brings you the latest updates from the Mizzou sports scene.
Dave Matter is the Mizzou beat writer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
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