COLUMBIA, Mo. — Two spots in the trenches are up for grabs.
Most positions in Missouri’s offensive depth chart are solidified — nobody is doubting Brady Cook’s status as the starting quarterback, for example. But the left side of the offensive line has yet to be so clearly determined.
“It’s wide open,” coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “Our No. 1 core value is ‘always compete,’ and that’s whether you’re a returning starter or whether you’re a transfer. Whoever’s coming in to give me the best five and the most consistent is going to be the starters.”
The race for who will start at left guard and left tackle was an expected one heading into preseason camp. The Tigers have been navigating a change in personnel after stalwarts Xavier Delgado and Javon Foster wrapped up their careers following the 2023 season.
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Reshuffling along the offensive line was a focus of spring ball, too. But after those practices wrapped up, a transfer portal arrival shook things up again.
That Connor Tollison will start at center, Cam’Ron Johnson at right guard and Armand Membou at right tackle seems relatively concrete at this stage of the preseason. Johnson, who’s versatile enough to play center, took a significant amount of spring reps at left guard with Logan Reichert in the mix for right guard spots, but it seems Johnson will stay on the right side.
Cayden Green, who transferred to Mizzou from Oklahoma, can play either guard or tackle on the left side. During the portions of preseason practices that have been open to the media, Green has seemed to work exclusively at left guard.
He will “probably work a little bit more guard” than tackle during camp, offensive line coach Brandon Jones told the Post-Dispatch, which Green also said he expects — though he’s not picky.
“(I’m) trying to add value to this offensive line,” Green said. “We’ve got a really talented group.”
The spot to solve, then, is left tackle. Jayven Richardson, a junior college transfer, was in the running for that role during spring practice and remains in contention. But now, there’s Marcus Bryant, a 6-8 fifth-year player transferring in from Southern Methodist, at that position.
Bryant committed to MU after spring practices, so his work during this week’s camp practices is his first in an official practice setting. Those drills have seen him splitting first-team reps with Richardson, suggesting the two are on level footing at this stage.
Whoever winds up left out of the starting lineup could become the swing tackle, or “sixth man” of the offensive line, brought in for the occasional heavy personnel grouping.
Coaches consider a handful of other linemen, including Reichert, Mitch Walters and Tristan Wilson, to be vying for starting spots as well.
“All these guys have put in the right amount of work and the right amount of time to give themselves the ability to compete for the job,” Drinkwitz said.
Determining which players can create the best offensive line groupings, as Jones explains it, will be driven by results.
“It’s really just who moves the ball well,” he said.
“We’re not coming in with preconceived ideas,” Drinkwitz said. “Whatever the results of the competition are are the results of the competition.”
It could also evolve over the course of the preseason, too. As Jones pointed out, shaping the right side of the offensive line last year went in a direction that the coaching staff didn’t necessarily expect. Johnson, who had transferred from Houston, was supposed to push Tollison at center. But when Tollison took the leap that Missouri hoped the competition would solicit, Johnson moved to guard, creating a tandem with Membou.
“Last season ... that wasn’t a projected lineup, but they played well together,” Jones said. “We were having success offensively, and you just get a feel for it. That’s kind of what we’re looking for this upcoming fall with the left side.”
It won’t apply as much to preseason camp, but the depth element of Mizzou’s offensive line could come into play over the course of the season. The Tigers were able to deploy all five of their starters in every game last season, a notable run of health for a position group embedded in football’s most physical part of the game.
“I’ve never had that in my career, and this will be my 15th season,” Jones said.
So it was rare?
“Very rare,” he continued. “It’s really just a testament to (athletic performance executive director Ryan Russell), what he does, what he puts the players through in the offseason just prepares for us. ... We practice very physical, so just had a little bit of luck and some good fortune.”
If that isn’t the case in 2024, linemen like Reichert, Walters and Wilson likely will step into more prominent roles than their current expected bench work. But when it comes to starters, and the transfers of Green and Bryant in particular, Mizzou’s changing offensive line has one key trait valued by the coaches:
“Just the experience, right?” Jones said. “Being in the battle, they’ve all played some really big-time ball. That’s all SEC play really is — not getting too caught up in the moment — so that’s important.”