ChiefsPlanet - MU ****Official 2014 Missouri Tigers Football Thread****

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****Official 2014 Missouri Tigers Football Thread**** (https://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showthread.php?t=280230)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_Tomahawk (Post 10353061)

Congrats on finishing top 5 this season.

Impressive season.

:thumb:

Quote:

Originally Posted by siberian khatru (Post 10353426)

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Missouri announces Henry Josey has declared for NFL draft.</p>— Joe Walljasper (@JoeWalljasper) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeWalljasper/statuses/420639401526722560">January 7, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Bittersweet, but good for him. There has never been a Mizzou athlete for whom I will root harder as a pro.

Josey will be the steal of the draft if he can stay healthy. Guy's got a pretty good 2nd gear.

UPDATED

Quote:

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho (Post 10352947)

QB Maty Mauk/Eddie Printz
RB Russell Hansbrough/Marcus Murphy
WR Dorial Green-Beckham/Darius White
WR Bud Sasser/Nate Brown (incoming freshman)
WR Jimmy Hunt/J'Mon Moore (redshirt freshman, forgot him 1st time around)
TE Sean Culkin/Brandon Merrifield
LT Clay Rhodes/Taylor Chappell
LG Anthony Gatti/Brad McNulty
C Evan Boehm/Alec Abeln
RG Connor McGovern/Mitch Hall
RT Mitch Morse/Jordan Williams

Offense returns 3/5 OL, good, experienced talent at WR (though it will go 6-6/6-4/6-2 rather than 6-6/6-5/6-4), a very effective RB group and a potentially dynamic QB. Big question will be who plays LT. They could slide the experienced Mitch Morse over there, but redshirt freshman Clay Rhodes has drawn rave reviews from practice and might have the highest upside on this OL.

Keep an eye on rs. freshman J'Mon Moore, who could be a breakout star. He likely would not have redshirted if this years group wasn't so deep.

RDE Shane Ray/Ricky Hatley or Marcus Loud
LDE Markus Golden/Ricky Hatley or Charles Harris
DT Matt Hoch/Josh Augusta
DT Harold Brantley/Lucas Vincent

OLB Donavin Newsome/Darvin Ruise
MLB Michael Scherer/Eric Biesel
OLB Kentrell Brothers/Clarence Green

CB Aarion Penton/Logan Cheadle or Anthony Sherrils
CB John Gibson/Earnest Payton

S Braylon Webb/Greg Taylor (freshman)
S Ian Simon/Duron Singleton

The defense has a pair of strong DEs in Ray and Golden - who were nearly as effective as Sam/Ealy this year - but depth behind them is a real question. The middle of the line should be ascending, with standout young guys like Brantley and Augusta joining quality vets like Hoch and Vincent.

At LB, they need to replace the man in the middle but should remain strong in the nickel set, which is the primary set. I think they're a little more athletic at the OLB spot. Secondary is a big question. Both Penton and Gibson played a lot and played well this year, but Gaines is still a big loss. They lose Matt White at S, which is addition by subtraction.

I'd expect a step back defensively, though not a complete drop-off. Offense will need to rev up to compensate.

Seriously...would you trade our (yet to be determined) draft for Ealy, Sam, Gaines, Britt, Josey, and Washington?

Honestly, I think I would...and I'd grab Maclin in FA just for good measure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saul Good (Post 10353481)

Seriously...would you trade our (yet to be determined) draft for Ealy, Sam, Gaines, Britt, Josey, and Washington?

Honestly, I think I would...and I'd grab Maclin in FA just for good measure.

Take it a step farther...

Which rounds are they each projected for...?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saul Good (Post 10353481)

Seriously...would you trade our (yet to be determined) draft for Ealy, Sam, Gaines, Britt, Josey, and Washington?

Honestly, I think I would...and I'd grab Maclin in FA just for good measure.

Eh... no.

I would like to see Gaines become a Chief, especially if we could add him in a middle round. He might be a good fit for what we do here defensively.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_Tomahawk (Post 10353499)

Take it a step farther...

Which rounds are they each projected for...?

Prett much right there...

Getting Ealy and Gaines that late would be fortunate but not out of the question.

Britt had a very good season and a nearly-perfect Cotton Bowl. Assuming his knee checks out, I wouldn't be surprised to see him move up the draft board a bit. His punch and lateral quickness are outstanding.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saul Good (Post 10353481)

Seriously...would you trade our (yet to be determined) draft for Ealy, Sam, Gaines, Britt, Josey, and Washington?

Honestly, I think I would...and I'd grab Maclin in FA just for good measure.

Given that Ealy is a top 10 pick and Gaines should go no later than the 3rd, I'd certainly consider it. Josey would be perfect in our offense.

Quote:

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho (Post 10352947)

Losses:

OFFENSE

QB James Franklin
LT Justin Britt. Likely a middle-round NFL pick, from what I've seen (4th/5th)
LG Max Copeland. Former walk-on was the weak link on the OL but brought an attitude to the group that was crucial.
WR Marcus Lucas: Steady senior was a weapon in the slot.
WR LaDamian Washington. Led the team in receiving yards and feasted off of single coverage due to teams
TE Eric Waters. Was not used as a receiving target very often but had a good year as an in-line blocker.

DEFENSE
DE Michael Sam
DE Kony Ealy. Rs. JR has already declared for the draft. Has come a long way from the raw basketball player who barely qualified for college out of HS. Lock to be a first-round pick, may go as high as Top 10.
MLB Andrew Wilson. Steady, hard-hitting defensive captain. Didn't have great sideline-to-sideline range, but generally made the right calls, got the team in position, and delivered a blow when he arrived.
OLB Donavan Bonner. Didn't play much - he was the odd LB out in the nickel package.
CB EJ Gaines. Missouri's best corner since the 60s. 2nd-4th round pick in the draft, depending on the scout.
CB Randy Ponder. Former walk-on who was a steady starter opposite Gaines. Undersized and not that fast, but solid in run support and had good instincts.

So quite a few losses. Josey is the only other potential early entry loss, probably depends on his draft grade. I'm not sure if he declares or not. Here's a guess at what next year's two deep looks like (returning starters in BOLD, players with experience in BOLD/ITAL)

QB Maty Mauk/Eddie Printz
RB Josey/Russell Hansbrough/Marcus Murphy
WR Dorial Green-Beckham/Darius White
WR Bud Sasser/Nate Brown (incoming freshman)
WR Jimmy Hunt/Levi Copelin
TE Sean Culkin/Brandon Merrifield
LT Clay Rhodes/Taylor Chappell
LG Anthony Gatti/Brad McNulty
C Evan Boehm/Alec Abeln
RG Connor McGovern/Mitch Hall
RT Mitch Morse/Jordan Williams

Offense returns 3/5 OL, good, experienced talent at WR (though it will go 6-6/6-4/6-2 rather than 6-6/6-5/6-4), a very effective RB group and a potentially dynamic QB. Big question will be who plays LT. They could slide the experienced Mitch Morse over there, but redshirt freshman Clay Rhodes has drawn rave reviews from practice and might have the highest upside on this OL.

RDE Shane Ray/Ricky Hatley or Marcus Loud
LDE Markus Golden/Ricky Hatley or Charles Harris
DT Matt Hoch/Josh Augusta
DT Harold Brantley/Lucas Vincent

OLB Donavin Newsome/Darvin Ruise
MLB Michael Scherer/Eric Biesel
OLB Kentrell Brothers/Clarence Green

CB Aarion Penton/Logan Cheadle or Anthony Sherrils
CB John Gibson/Earnest Payton

S Braylon Webb/Greg Taylor (freshman)
S Ian Simon/Duron Singleton

The defense has a pair of strong DEs in Ray and Golden - who were nearly as effective as Sam/Ealy this year - but depth behind them is a real question. The middle of the line should be ascending, with standout young guys like Brantley and Augusta joining quality vets like Hoch and Vincent.

At LB, they need to replace the man in the middle but should remain strong in the nickel set, which is the primary set. I think they're a little more athletic at the OLB spot. Secondary is a big question. Both Penton and Gibson played a lot and played well this year, but Gaines is still a big loss. They lose Matt White at S, which is addition by subtraction.

I'd expect a step back defensively, though not a complete drop-off. Offense will need to rev up to compensate.

There is no Brandon Merrifield at TE..we have a Brandon Holifield but I think he smoked himself out of school already. Jason Reese is the likely backup at TE

Quote:

Originally Posted by OmahaChief (Post 10353740)

There is no Brandon Merrifield at TE..we have a Brandon Holifield but I think he smoked himself out of school already. Jason Reese is the likely backup at TE

That's right. Holifield is who I was thinking of, but I forgot he was gone. Did that on the fly.

Guess it's Reese, then. Unless they manage to land Frank Iheanacho and he plays right away.

Looking at the depth chart a little bit more, I really think it would be smart to be creative in the way Harold Brantley is used.

Missouri has two quality, proven DEs in Shane Ray and Markus Golden, each of whom is capable of being a star.

But beyond that, unless Dante Sawyer flips on his visit in a few weeks or Rocel McWilliams is much better than anticipated, you're looking at projects like rs. freshman Charles Harris or rs. sophomore Ricky Hatley and a guy like Marcus Loud, who did have some quality offers - Michigan State and Mississippi State among them.

They probably get at least ONE good player out of that group next year, but hitting on 2/3 as underclassmen seems like a stretch to me.

Mizzou has four quality, proven DTs in Matt Hoch, Lucas Vincent, Josh Augusta and Harold Brantley.

And it has several redshirt freshmen who hold promise: AJ Logan, Nate Crawford, DeQuinton Osborne and Evan Winston.

All that considered (and I know it's a wall of text), I think it makes sense to think about playing Brantley at LDE/SDE. You could still rotate him inside on passing downs, just like they do now, and it would mean either Ray or Golden isn't "officially" a starter, but I think that's Missouri's best chance to get to a reliable, 8-deep rotation next year.

Brantley, Ray, Golden, and Loud are all going to be very good players next year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Saul Good (Post 10353481)

Seriously...would you trade our (yet to be determined) draft for Ealy, Sam, Gaines, Britt, Josey, and Washington?

Honestly, I think I would...and I'd grab Maclin in FA just for good measure.

KU fans would burn Arrowhead down.