WE'RE BACK! Mizzou Football depth chart breakdown, season expectations AND Murray State PREVIEW!

what is up missou fans welcome back to the show me football podcast show I don't even remember what we called it Braden it's just been like so long since we've done anything it's the show me football maou show but we are back for the 2024 season took a break over the off season but we are back folks and I guess we can say since it's Sunday it is officially game week uh actually so the Missouri Tigers take on the Murray State Racers this Thursday night at fero field for the opener and I am pumped for the season to start I know you're a little bit indifferent you're a little terrified for the season to start because then you have to stress about this team and you know hope they don't drop that unexpected game but look man it is here and Bren first thing I have to ask this is the most important question everyone is wondering about uh they want to hear your answer in particular they all told me um they're wondering what your thoughts are on the season opener being on a Thursday night I person personally like the games on a Thursday night and that's specifically like this is a 100% only me reason it is an easy way because we've done it against an FCS or just we've done it against cupcake schools every single time FCS schools for the last two years because we did it against South Dakota State last year I like it being on a Thursday because then the first true Saturday of college football I don't have to worry about missou and I can just sit back I can relax and watch and enjoy the chaos that college football is I cannot wait I had so much fun just watching week zero games yesterday Georgia Tech beating Florida State and week one is going to be so fun I like it so much because missou I don't have to worry about them it's fun because I know that I can go to all those Thursday games I have season tickets this year so I'll will be at every single home game I think minus the Vandy one and I'm just super excited for this season and I also am very terrified but overall I like it being on Thursdays simply because I can go there enjoy the missou game and then enjoy the rest of college football and I know there's a few other games on that Thursday but you're not missing too much by going and seeing your Tigers so that's something that I think most missou fans should go and try and get out to be at yeah I can also appreciate that the four or the first four weeks of the schedule I mean they should win they should I mean you don't want to you don't want to 100% guarantee anything because it is college football but it should be a relatively trust free first four weeks and so you can really focus on those other games and just see because my favorite part of this all is that um most likely someone that is ahead of missou in the top 10 is also gonna lose I should mentioned Florida State lost already to Georgia Tech so mou is probably going to be in the top 10 the next time they lose to Murray State we are top team yes and um uh what I was going to say is there's probably someone else that's going to lose I would think somewhere I just feel like there's another upset coming so as long as missou just wins we have the Texas and Michigan game both of them are ahead of us so there's potential that we could climb even higher before we really get into conference play uh but anyway let's get to the important stuff so we're going to do a little bit of a preview now there's not too much to dive into because this is Marie State uh kind of similar to our uh I think I don't know if we did a preview for South Dakota but I know we did a preview for one of those early games it's like hey uh not too much to say but there's things that we want to look for so I'll start with this Braden what are you looking for missou to do or what are you looking at any position groups anything that missou can improve on like what are you looking for versus Missouri State or Murray State sorry I'm really just looking for signs of what this defense can be and seeing them get their footing seeing really what they can do you're still not going to see that much against Murray State because the talent is going to outweigh so much and drinkwitz last year in the South Dakota Game and in the Middle Tennessee State game you got to remember that the South Dakota State game or the South Dakota game we were still in a QB competition like Sam Horn played the majority of that second half people really seem to forget that part and we didn't see that much of the off offense we didn't see that much of the offense against Middle Tennessee State and it almost bit Us in the ass then we let the Playbook open up against Kansas State I don't think that we're going to see too much of the Playbook open for the first four weeks until Texas A&M Boston College because they're power five school as well could give us a little bit of a scare but at the same time I don't think we're going to see too much of the Playbook but I'm just looking for what that defense can do in any way whatsoever any signs of positivity on the defensive side of the football when we've lost in his rank straw Chris Abrams drain Tyron Hopper uh Chad Bailey uh who do we l uh Darius Robinson on the defensive line our first round pick you have so many players that are new to the system you have a new defensive coordinator because snake Baker left and I'm just looking and seeing what we have in in this game against Murray State I don't know what we're going to see I don't think that we're going to see too much and you can't really Judge Too Much off of it but any sort of sign whatsoever is going to be what I take away from it yeah I wanted to attach a quick note to like the offense too because you mentioned how they kind of struggled to start the year they kept the Playbook closed or whatever part of that I also feel like was because they didn't even really know what they were like they I I feel like a lot of that a lot of heading into last season was okay we have a lot of talent but we have no idea what this is going to look like and I felt like a lot of players a lot of coaches within um that football program were kind of thinking like we think we're good but we don't know and so they just had to see it for themselves to believe it and then once they saw it and once they kind of broke out against Casa it's like okay like we're we're a good football team and they just needed that confidence and this year they already have that knowing that hey this is pretty comfortably a top 10 offense in the nation this year so I have no no concern concerns whatsoever about the offense versus Murray State and I think you're going to see a lot more points scored because I remember like uh halfway through the third quarter against South Dakota last year there was a moment I believe where South Dakota scored and made it like 2810 or 2813 or something like that and it's like hold on a second is this over and you were like wandering just a little bit and then there was also MTSU that was almost a disaster um but I think those days are over with when it comes to this offense I think the wide receiv receivers are much better I think the running backs are much better I think the offensive line is even better than last year but we'll get into the offense a little bit later that's just kind of my expectations for this Murray State game but uh the thing that I'm looking for as I asked you I'm also going to go with the defense I want to see with how they settle in there's a lot of new names and a lot of new faces on this defense and I just don't know what it's all going to look like yeah uh you mentioned losing Kad and R sh that's going to be big who's replacing them we have Toriano Pride the transfer but then uh there's dren nor wood who was really good as a number three quarterback last year but how is he going to look as a starter and then Nicholas Doos is probably going to play a lot and he was only a freshman last year how is he going to look with all this increased playing time and then you know just a lot of new names in the secondary linebacker I'm the most confident in just because we added so much and we're also returning a lot on top of it and then the defensive line I should really just start going into to the expectations for the offense and the defense because that's really what this is but that's mostly what I'm going to be looking for during uh the Miss or the Mur State I muray State I'll say this about the offense against Murray State I just want them to not be predictable in the S like I don't want them to come out lazy because we we talk about the expectation for the offense we're expecting a top 10 offense one of the best offenses in college football again because that's what they were last year they were so good and we have literally like almost everybody returning besides Cody Sher and a few offensive linemen and you have Brett Norfleet in his sophomore season you have all of these guys returning and I just hope that they didn't get too lazy and too full of themselves over the offseason like oh we got this we know what we are like they need to still come out with that fire under their ass that they came out with in that case State game and for the rest of the season last year because we're going to need that if you want to win in the SEC if we want want to make the playoffs if we want to make any sort of run in the playoffs um like that offense has to have have a fire under their ass all year long and you know that's one of the areas of Coach dritz his coaching that I actually really like and I think he does a really good job is not letting the Trap game happen um and the way he even talked because he had a press conference earlier today he talked about how Murray State he thinks is the toughest team they've had to play to open a season since he's been here which obviously is not true they played 2020 Bama in his first year um but drinkwitz is not effing around he respects the opponent I also saw a clip that the missou football social media team put out and drink wits basically gave a speech after like the last uh kind of official practice uh before game week and he was talking about how you know if you lose this game your season's already over basically like if you have college football aspirations you have to go one and0 each week yep um and I just I really trust both team playoffs like if that's his mentality that's exactly where you want to be that's exactly what I think his mentality should be I'm glad that he's still treating it as a you have to go one and0 every single week because the expectation should be Perfection if you want to eventually get to that National Championship yeah and I think drinkwitz understands that and most coaches I mean that feels like a low bar for your coach to um get over uh is to to have his team share the same mentality of going one and0 but I mean I just think sometimes especially with college kids you have to drill that into their heads um but yeah I mean Murray State I I expect this to be a blowout win anything less would be uh slightly disappointing but it's okay because the next week you're you're not you know this is going to be a true ramp up and another thing that I like about this period of the Season or you know these first four games of the schedule is that a lot of the underclassmen are get to play are going to get to play and that gives them valuable snaps that maybe allows them to contribute in conference play guys that you didn't think would be able to because the games would have been too important for them to play earlier on so a guy like Williams Wier who now becomes a little more important with the darus Smith injury which we'll get into here in a minute uh he becomes more important maybe you throw him out there against muray State and buffalo and you're like hold on this kid's like ready to play right now and he's a piece that we didn't think we'd have at least not that big of a piece heading into the season so I'm also going to be looking for a lot of the underclassman against Murray State hopefully we get to see them play that was another annoying thing about last year those games were never they were never far enough apart on the scoreboard to even get to see those guys because we we only beat South Dakota 35 to1 I think the final score was Middle Tennessee was a dog fight until the end of the game and then every other game after that was like SEC opponent Memphis was close but Memphis is a good football team they're really good five team like those were games you had to have your best players in the entire time yeah so I'm really excited to see some of the underclassmen but all that being said Braden if you're ready we'll we'll kind of get into the expectations for the offense and so we have the depth chart pulled up guys we're going to discuss the depth chart because uh the football team released their first official depth chart earlier today so we could kind of combine these two we'll go over the depth chart real quick for the offense and then we'll get into our expectations for them this year how does that sound Braden sounds good with me all right so quarterback of course your starters Brady cook with the backup being Drew Pine there's really no argument there running back is really interesting because they have Nate Noel or Marcus Carroll as the starter and then Jamal Roberts as the backup now drinkwitz did say press conference earlier today that Nate Noel will go out there first and Marcus Caroll will mix in uh I remember talking to you in the group chat and I mentioned that drinkwitz or it was actually Gabe who said on his show on YouTube that uh Nate Noel is the number one which kind of surprised me a little bit I figured that would be Marcus Carroll but I'm not complaining at all because Nate Noel was also very good and it's definitely going to be a two back rotation at the very least with those two guys um but I love hearing that about Nate noell I'm really excited about him I think he's got potential as like an NFL scatback he has blazing speed uh just watching his highlights from Ab state after learning of his commitment I was really excited about him uh what are your thoughts there I'm excited for either of them again both of them were great in the Sun Belt Conference was Carol was from Georgia State right yep yep and Nate noell was from appalachin state drink W say yeah drink coached at App State while back but was only for a season there before he came to missou um so there's some there's probably some sort of connection there that got Noel to maou um outside of the fact that he is just a really good football player um that was a sneaky good ad I think like you said just the surprise that Nate noell is going to be the starter or like he's trending to be the starter because it seemed like the expectational offseason was that Marcus Carroll was going to be the starter um no if Noel's coming out of camp and he's running well behind this absolutely loaded offensive line which I know we'll get into if he's coming out and he has the ability to be that NFL type scatback uh that you were saying where he's able to just be a massive part of this passing game and then Marcus Carroll can be a little bit more of your Bruiser run in between the tackles and because we know that Cody shider was like the guy to just run in between the tackles on inside zones or outside zones he had the he had the speed to be able to get outside and do that I think that both Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll have the ability to do exactly what Cody shider did but a little bit better in this Kirby Smart scheme because they are both a little bit F I should say Kirby Moore Kirby Smart's the Georgia coach um Kirby Moore um they have the ability to do that in this Kirby Moore scheme because they're a little bit faster than shraer and both of them in the highlight reels that I've watched of them because there's not really that much film available uh you can see them like breaking off tackles yeah I think they're both a bit more athletic than shraer was and then wide receiver of course you got Luther Burton uh with the backup being McKai Miller this is for like each um theoretical receiver spot Theo whis the starter the backup Maris Johnson mookie Cooper the starter back up Joshua Manning we've heard really good things about Joshua Manning in Camp he's seemingly taking a step forward represent yeah and then uh Maris Johnson I think he's going to absolutely go off this year and then you bring back everyone else from last year with Luther Theo maai Muk you know it's just we knew this receiver room was loaded not too much more to say than that I mean I don't even think that they added anybody in the transfer portal at wide receiver like I think that that might be the only position where they did not add somebody in the transfer portal because we've added literally everywhere else I think the expectation and I know we've talked about this at least a little bit is that mooki Cooper is going to be the starter but you expect Joshua Manning or McKai Miller or just somebody to step up and really take over that mookie Cooper role yeah because he's been a little bit of a bust um up until last year yeah yeah like last year mukie Cooper was great he had a massive catch against Florida and he was a really productive player had a few nice catches against Ohio State as well he like the go-to third down guy last year got he's a sh he was kind of like this year he was a lot like Barrett Bannister was the year like he's just open on third down most of the time and he'll get you the first down when you really need it outside of that he doesn't really do too much um but Luther Burton and Theo whis are one of the best Duos if not the best duo wide receiver duo in the SEC if not all of college football like they're both going to get drafted Luther Burton's probably going to be the number one uh overall drafted wide receiver this year it's either going to be him or McMillan that goes to Arizona um and then Theo whis was a projected like third or fourth round pick last year you could easily see him go uh in the third or maybe even in the second round I don't know how good this wide receiver class is but when you have those uh expectations from Theo whis from Luther Burton you know like and again we did not add a single transfer to this wide receiver room and you have a stacked freshman red shirt freshman and sophomore class behind them with Makai Miller with Joshua Manning with uh Maris Johnson you have all of these guys that you know can step up because burden Cooper and whis are probably all going to be gone next year yeah it's absolutely loaded then that's not even mentioning guys like uh James Madison and Courtney Crutchfield The Freshman who seemingly have a highlight catch every single day in practice so yeah wide receivers stacked their set there tight end Brett Norfleet uh and then backups Tyler Stevens or Jordan Harris offensive tack not Tyler Stevens yeah I know I was thinking that in the back my head he cannot catch yeah uh I'm just going to run through the offensive line uh Marcus Bryant or left tackle Javin Richardson behind him Kaden green left guard Logan rker behind him Center Conor toison Drake Heiser Tristan Wilson behind him offensive guard or Right Guard Cameron Johnson Curtis pegler behind him right tackle Armen membo Mitchell Walters behind him and then I'll just go ahead and say the Special Teams real quick or place kicker and kickoff returner that's the kicker is GNA be Blake Craig oh I should say also for the Mur State game going to be watching special teams to see if have see what Blake Craig does if he messes up really at all yeah uh and then Maris Johnson is the kickoff return with Joshua Manning being the backup so offensive line is another position group that just looks absolutely loaded on paper this year I think they're going to be even better than they were last year you got Cameron Johnson with a year of experience in this program under his belt Armen membo who looks to be NFL bound after this year Conor tson hopefully he can snap the ball this year that's really the only negative thing I was going to say about the offensive line hopefully Conor toison can just snap the ball and then once Marcus Bryant transferred in from SMU that was a really good late grab in the spring once he came in here he figured he was going to be the left tackle with Kaden green going into his natural position at left guard and yeah I I think Oklahoma fans were making fun of us for uh giving or for getting Kaden green and trying to put him at left tackle and then moving him to Garden anyways it's like okay we have a better left tackle and we can put him at his natural position and our offensive line is just stacked they made fun of us for paying him more money to come and play left guard and it's like sorry your poverty yeah how is that a dis on us um I don't have too much to add about this offensive line outside of the fact that I think it's going to be fantastic like you said it could be a little bit better than last year because we have so much returning Talent membo OR Meo and Johnson and tolison all returning guys and then kayen green and Marcus bran Kaden green was a starting freshman for I think six games at Oklahoma last year yeah six or seven I think yeah and then Marcus uh Bryant was a all AAC yeah all AC or AAC well I guess AC now but yeah yeah um tackle at SMU you those two guys to again a line that was fantastic last year three returning guys I think they'll fit into the fold pretty well I think worst case scenario the right side of your offensive line is fantastic and the left side of your line is above average to good yeah and that's a really good spot to be in bearing any injuries but even then um the fact that I know and can recognize a few names that are backups is a really good sign when you know the backups on your offensive line and you know what they can do and you know that they're good you know that you have so much depth there that even if somebody does go down you have potential Replacements um this offensive Line's in a great spot with the running backs we have with Kirby Moore with his scheme uh I'm really excited for what this offensive line can do and how to to to see how we can just dominate The Trenches is something that I'm really looking forward to on this offense which is really underrated because of how good this wide receiver room is that's something that's not going to get noticed and picked up is how damn good we are in the trenches and yeah are at running the ball because everybody talked about the passing game last year where and then it was Cody Shader going off for the final five to six weeks of the year because everybody was so focused on the passing game for the first half of the year and completely forgot how to defend us against the run because they were so worried about getting beat on the pass yeah and so well combining all of that and you know kind of putting a little bit of a bow on it and then talking about the expectations for the offense this being the second year of Kirby Moore also makes me pretty excited because usually when you're able to retain your coordinator and bring them back for another year you know that's unlike snake Baker yeah unlike snake Baker Kirby Moore chose to stick around just by some positions being offered to him elsewhere and having some head coaching interest at a couple places I really I think this offense is going to take another step under Kirby Moore I think they're going to show more maturity this year um sometimes the offense did hit luls last year and I think you're going to see less of that with you know this being car more second year you know keeping your coordinator that's kind of becoming a rarity these days in college football especially when you have a really good one Kirby Moore was really good last year so expectations for the offense I'm kicking it off by talking about this being Kirby Moore second year I just think that you're GNA see this the maturity of this offense is going to be a big thing for me to watch yeah I think that like you said the maturity of this offense and like I was saying earlier just hoping and knowing that they're not going to be lazy and be too full of themselves and it's just that next step did we take it that's really the biggest question with the offense I don't have that much doubt that they didn't but it's really the only thing left that they really have to prove and I think that we'll really get a sense of that in that A&M game uh because that's our first really big test don't sleep on Boston College though they beat us in 2021 that is a very personal game um but also they hired Bill O'Brien to be their new head coach after forgot about that after yeah that was after Jeff Halley left for the Green Bay Packers but Bill o Brian is kind of a good coaching hire for the program that Boston College is at this point so they'll be interesting I mean that should still be a win obviously it should still be an easy win but yeah we'll see for sure I don't really have anything else left to add on the offense yeah I will say one more thing I also think having Kirby Moore is going to be big especially for Brady cook um I'm also looking for Brady cook to take just one more small step um I think you know he's always been a guy with a lower ceiling a lot of us were shocked last year by his play and he's a good college starter at this point obviously and you know we're actually going into this year excited that he's the starter I mean he should like last last year it was begging for it was me begging for Sam Horn to start instead and I'd like to formally apologize to Brady cook because I'm now at the point where I think and this is not a popular concept whatsoever but just watching Brady cook and this might be a little bit biased but I genuinely think like he could be a backup NFL quarterback there's nothing that he does that a lot of quarterbacks that get drafted in the later rounds don't do and he has the threat of running the ball yeah the running thing is pretty big I just if there's one thing that keeps him back from the NFL to me it's going to be the arm strength I just think even then it was pretty solid last year yeah no like I'm not I I don't say that is like a true or complete knock it's just that he's doesn't have the arm strength that most NFL quarterbacks are going to have but that said I think he plays pretty smart you mentioned the running ability already uh I was impressed with his completion percentage last year I wasn't sure if he would be able to get that up or not um I think a lot of credit goes to Kirby more though for his development and I just I'm looking for Brady cook to take one more small step this year obviously very good last year but as we got deeper in conference play and no one really talked about it because it was never really an issue that caused us to lose games or anything he started to become a little bit more pedestrian in conference played you know especially during that kind of Tennessee Florida stretch um late in the year and then but he showed up when he had to and he also started to throw some bad inter receptions then too so if I just looking for Brady cook to eliminate more of those really really bad interceptions that he threw last year uh because he was always good for a back was the worst yeah they still you know in the Georgia game the throw of the defensive tackle in his stack house still haunts me I don't know what the hell he was looking at there some and those games made me a question if Brady cook was a good enough quarterback to truly beat one of these Blue Blood programs um obviously we went out there and beat Ohio State but even in that game Brady was pretty pedestrian in the first half so I'm just looking for Brady to be more consistent uh against better competition this year that's a step that I'm looking for him to take yeah 100% and again I think A&M that's going to be a massive test going on the road in College Station we don't really know what A&M's going to look like but week five and we're coming off of a buy luckily into that game but 11:00 a.m at College Station October 5th that's going to be the first really big game of the year because you expect these first four weeks against Murray State Buffalo Boston College and vanderbelt to just go out there and wipe the floor yeah that's all I got for the offensive expectations so if you're ready Brad we'll jump into the defense sounds good to me so defensive end Johnny Walker back up Joe Moore defensive tackle Christian Williams backup Sterling web or Maris gracial uh also at defensive tackle we got Chris mclen being the starter on the other side with his backup being Jaylen Marshall or Sam Williams defensive end on the other side Zion young or Eddie Kelly I also think Eddie Kelly could figure into playing defensive tackle as well he's a bit of a tweener and then we have the backups being Jaylen brown or Williams Wier uh to kind of talk about the defensive line as a whole obviously darus Smith was a huge loss for this defense he tours ACL and practice um just a few weeks before the season I especially bummed about that one CU he just felt like a guy that was going to pop off this year freak athlete super long arms really disruptive player at Georgia and you know not a ton of playing time and he came over here Drew rave reviews from the coaches during spring had a really good spring game uh he was gonna start at that um position that all of a sudden I'm blanking on that is Joker yes that is unique to Cory between defense and defensive end that is a pure pass rusher that can also cover a little bit and I think that role was going to be perfect for him I felt like he was going to cost some turnovers next year So that obviously hurts a lot and I'll get your take on that in a second but as a whole this defensive line I still feel pretty good about I don't know if it'll be good as last year just because of that hole of Darius Robinson being left behind I think Johnny Walker will take a step forward though he was named a captain this year he'll be a leader I like the defensive tackles little bit concerned about the depth there I'm not sure how the depth will look um and then I'm also really excited about Zion Young on the other side he also feels like a guy that will pop off this year and get a bunch of sacks I I really like Johnny Walker he pissed me off a few times last year with some just boneheaded penalties really in that LSU game where he got kicked out of um and then I think he had one in the Ohio State game which uh negated some or I I forget but he did something in that Ohio State game that was just super boneheaded um if he can clean he said something apparently I think it was or oh maybe he push I think he pushed somebody he pushed somebody and it was right after we uh I think we're gonna get the ball back like that um but he's done stuff like like just those few incidents really put a damper on my opinion of him but at the same time he was just a monster at times last year and really just took over games and I really think yeah he was the defensive MVP of the cotton B too on people like I really think that he can just show up and absolutely just wreck games at points whenever we need him to on the defensive line he can just take over because he showed that ability against Ohio State last year and uh some other teams he was really good in the Georgia game if I remember against teams that uh or like Georgia had a Marius mems who's going into the like think I if I if I remember he first round pick yeah he was a first round pick yeah he like top 10 like Johnny Walker going up against them like he was going up against first round picks and doing a fine job and he has another year where some of those first round picks are gone and he's the big guy he's the big dog like I think that he could be a very high draft pick this year not I don't know if he'll go in the first round just because of his size and the stature and everything but he is a guy that I'm really looking forward to and I really think that he can become that Darius Robinson um just that leader of the defensive line he's definitely not the same player as Darius Robinson very different play Styles but I think that he can just take over games really control the pace of play of the defensive line and control the trenes for the Tigers like you said the uh defensive line or the defensive tackle and nose tackle are depth behind Christian Williams and Chris mclen is a little bit worrisome uh I don't know that much about Sterling and the rest of the names that you mention I'm kind of wishy-washy there Maris gracial it sounded like he took a lot of reps with the ones during practice as of recently the staff seems high on him like he's taking a step forward Sterling web was the transfer from New Mexico State we'll see how he factors in and then um Jaylen Marshall is uh the same classes Maris graciel will see if he takes a step and then Sam Williams was a freshman a year ago so like Chris mlen going to be great for run defense he's going to be just a very traditional zero space eater like yeah he's just going to be a big guy that's going to eat space he's gonna line up on the center in a zero technique or a one technique like he'll just line up there and then Chris uh will or Christian Williams he'll line up at the three and he'll be your standard defensive tackle pass rusher and then you have Zion young and um Eddie Kelly no uh John Walker on the edges Johnny Walker like you said um in that tra in that joker role and then Zion young more of your just traditional defensive end um I'm really excited about him he was on a really bad Michigan State team last year in a really bad situation with Mel Tucker I'm excited to see what he can do because he was he's a sophomore right uh I think a red shirt sophomore um I know he played a lot he's a junior transfer okay yeah like you're a junior transfer from a mess of a team where you produce and now you're in a fantastic situation on a defensive line with a bunch of other people who can contribute as well and you're kind of left alone I think that he can uh really show up in some key moments so I'm excited for him and to see what kind of development that Zion young young can have here um I know you mentioned the linebackers but I'm really excited about the linebackers so I want to get into this Tristan Nome is a dog I loved him in the game against Ohio State him and um uh new yes Chuck Hicks him and Chuck Hicks just stepped up so much in that Ohio State game where we didn't have bayy and Tyron Hopper um I'm really excited about both of them khil Jacobs is a transfer from South Alabama Alabama wanted him we were able to steal him because of Cory baton uh Corey flag he stuck around I know that we talked about that whenever we did the snake Baker video that Corey that Corey flag might leave because he was a more Blake Baker guy and had a history with Blake Baker and that's why he came to the university uh he stuck around haven't heard too much about him in Camp if you know anything I just I mean I'll say this he was a multi-year starter at Miami and he probably might not even start it might be Chuck Hicks ahead of him and then you have KH Jacobs as well Tristan new probably be the starter like we could seriously have two linebackers go down with season ending injuries and I'd be like okay we're F be fine especially when you look at the backups because you got Jeremiah Beasley who is a highly Sid after recruit that transferred after or from Michigan after practice yeah um as a freshman I think it's because the coaching changed there uh we nabbed him out of the portal that was a very underrated grab and then you have Brian Huff who's a fourstar recruit a year ago bran Little John who is a red shirt freshman I believe and is pushing for playing time then you have Nicholas Rodriguez um true freshman this year Big Time recruit Ohio State wanted him so if there's one position group on defense that I have zero concern about it is linebacker yeah like all of them like out of that entire group like everybody else that you mentioned along with the four guys that I was talking about all like out out of all of those guys two of them 100% will show up and be good starters week in and week out like there's almost no doubt in my mind we will have minimum two uh middle linebackers that will show up and be really good players and I'm excited for that also khil Jacobs um he's a guy that I kind of wonder if he'll if he'll play some of that joker role that Cory baton wanted out of darus Smith a lot of people after darus Smith got hurt they just looked immediately to defensive ends but who's to say it couldn't be a linebacker Someone Like A Jacobs who was really good familiar withon system that and he blitzed off the edge a lot at South Alabama um he's got looks like probably cover a little bit I mean if you're if you're expecting a defensive end to cover then I don't know why you couldn't ask the same of KH Jacobs who I think has pretty decent athleticism so yeah I'm I'm really excited about this linebacker group I I don't have too much else to say other than that I think uh I know I put on our notes that we were going to name one breakout player on offense and defense I'm just going to go ahead and reveal mine now mine on defense is Tristan new I think he has the potential to be in all was that yours I think he has the potential to be an all SEC you know how much I love him like just because of that Ohio State game and how much I saw him just flying around the field and his ability in that Florida game last year whenever our guys went down like he's so good I'll come up with somebody else because I did have somebody else in mind but continue yeah I mean that's pretty much it I just think he'll he'll be an all SEC guy this year I think he's going to be even better than Hopper I think he has better speed than Hopper as well I think also an issue that Hopper had is he wouldn't break down enough before the tackle and uh even like I the LSU game always sticks in my mind for Hopper where he had multiple chances to get Jaden Daniels and just he was like over pursuing and then Jaden Daniels just put one move on him and Hopper would be like running out of the play and it's like slow down a little bit dude I think Tristan news is a little more nuanced in his game I think you're gonna see that this year yeah um we haven't gotten to the secondary yet either but for like my breakout player and he was really good last year as a true freshman Marvin Burks like he was so good like he was good last year um I like you said you think that Tristan Nome can be all SEC player I think that Marvin Burks could end up being one of the best safeties in the League this year he is he was fantastic last year you give him another year in this system he's one of like he's one of the very few returning players in the secondary that started for the majority of the season last year um him and Charleston uh are really the two big guys there drayen Norwood got a little bit of playing time uh but now you're expecting him to be your outside cornerback uh and then carile they have him listed in the star Ro that's the role that Blake Baker had as well um and then Toran o Pride you're expecting him to like be your really big number one corner he was the first big commit that drink got in this year's transfer portal out of Clemson you expect him to go out there week in and week out and lock down team's number one receivers and the rest of this defense they can do it or the rest of the secondary excuse me can do a really good job locking down everybody else Marvin Burks I think is going to be flying around the field he is fantastic in coverage and you never really see him and I that's usually a good thing with your secondaries is you don't want to see them because nobody ever throws the ball towards his side of the field yeah the secondary so I'll just run through who they have listed as starter and backup real quick so starter at Star you already mentioned dalen Carnell backup Sydney Williams quarterback Tano Pride or Nick Delo with the backup being shmar mcneel other side jayen Norwood the starter with the backup being Marcus Clark or jary on Wayne Uh who we should mention transitioned once again from being a wide receiver back to defensive back but the staff thinks he'll contribute this year I'm excited to see what he looks like uh safety we have Joseph Charleston or travez Johnson with the backup being true freshman Tran Greco and then Marvin Burks with his backup being Caleb flag which surprised me a little bit but in a good way uh I've heard really good things out of him in Spring and and Camp he's the walk-on younger brother of Corey flag the linebacker and a lot of people thought oh we're just bringing him in to you know try to secure flag whatever no Caleb flag has been like really good in practice he like might actually be a legit player and he's being named the backup behind Marvin Burks um probably I would figure that's the free safety spot even though that's not what they listed him as on there uh because I figured Joseph Charleston will probably be that strong safety um a lot of guys are going to rotate in though so I I wouldn't put too much stock into who's being named the backup or the starter here I think we're going to see a ton of guys play in the secondary sorry to say that again I'm I just I don't really think the depth chart matters here I think a lot of these guys are going to rotate in in the secondary I mean just you're gonna see a lot of guys play Sydney I think that um we have a lot of depth across the entire defense uh especially in our secondary like you mentioned um I'm really excited to see a bunch of these guys um it's it's a largely unproven group I should say yeah but I just think there's too much talent here not for a couple guys to really emerge um I think that pride is really just going to be like the heart and soul of this second like he's going to be the guy that people look towards uh Marvin Burks is um like I said I think that he's going to step up and be that sort of leader as well yeah and dalen Carell also I mean he's becoming a veteran here and I think he's I remember there was a list that I think it was big game Boomer he put out another list and it was or actually no uh it wasn't him it was someone else though it was a list of like best uh safety although it does get a little confusing with dalen Carell being left off best corner list or best safety list because not everyone considers him a safety not everyone considers him a corner he's the star which is a unique position in this defense but yeah he's going to be a leader in the secondary for sure you have a good foundation of veterans in this group uh but we definitely need to see one or two guys whether it's Nick Delo or Marvin Burks or if it's Tran Greco and jaryan Wayne we need to see a couple guys really aemerge in this secondary for me to feel really good about it I I don't feel bad about it it's just a largely unproven group but overall for this defense um I should have mentioned two real quick before I say this uh they have Luke bowos the starting punter with oron Phillips behind him and then punt return they have Luther buron with Daniel blood or Theo behind him I know some people are a little upset seeing Luther Bon being named as the punt returner because it's the stage of his career where like you shouldn't really need him back there it should be someone else taking those hits but I'm sure that'll get changed probably after the first once they get into conference play that'll probably get changed yeah I I know that Luther Burton was listed as the P returner I I don't want to see him out there at all outside of wide receiver yeah and I totally understand that but back to what I was saying about this defense man if they can just have an above average year I feel really good about the team as a whole because I think the offense is obviously going to be the reason that you win games this year I mean the offense is what this team is built on so just give this offense an above average defense it's all we're asking from Corey batun and staff like make this and above average defense uh but what do you what do you want to see and what are your expectations from the defense I just be League average honestly like if you have a League average to above like and I'm talking about the SC like if you have a League average defense in the SEC with a top 10 offense in college football I think that you're going to be fantastic well and something that is musing to my ears especially if this is going to be just a League average defense is Cory Bon's style of Defense wants to create more turnovers so if you're an average defense but creating turnovers that's a really good thing because we didn't create a ton of turnovers last year with Blake Baker Blake Baker was more of a risk taker he blitzed a lot he left Guys open on defense Cory not doing that he wants to drop guys back and say hey beat us like come and get it and he wants to create turnovers so if we can be that and create turnovers I'm completely fine with that yeah like if they can just create some turnovers and limit the amount of points like just create turnovers that's really what you have to ask this defense to do um and just put this offense in POS really good positions because you know how efficient that they are yeah I agree with that 100% but Bren I think that wraps up the offense or the defense sorry um I know we never actually got to our breakout player on offense uh and we are revealed it for the defense Joshua Manning that was in my notes okay that's your breakout guy interesting okay I think I'm going to go with Maris Johnson and I know he kind of technically already broke at his a freshman but I just think he's going to be even better this year and teams know who he is and now he's he's goingon to take that next step to where he becomes a five to 600 yard guy in this offense he's gonna have to overtake somebody and that's why I kind of whenever we were talking yesterday I'm like I feel like someone's probably gonna overtake mookie Cooper this year I feel like that's Maris Johnson just because and I like mukie Cooper and he improved a lot last year but there's just there's guys that have higher ceilings that are pushing behind him and they they need that playing time and it's going to get to a point where these guys are going to leave the coaches no other choice but to put them in over mooki and Maris Johnson feels like that guy to me uh he's gonna take a huge step this year in my opinion yeah I mean he was fantastic last year I think that he can get more of mookie Cooper snaps when we go to those four wide receiver sets I think that mares Johnson's going to be a guy that we look towards a lot um but at the same time I think that Joshua Manning is going to sneak his way into some of those rules as well and make himself known kind of like Maris Johnson did last year yeah Brett norfleet's also a good one that neither of us picked but it's someone else was here that's a good one too Brett Norfleet could definitely be one of the best if not the best tight end in the SEC this year but yeah that pretty much wraps up what we think of the offense and the defense that was the first official depth chart from the program before uh the Murray State game later this week um before we wrap up the show today though I wanted to go over some of the notable games on the schedule or games that stand out um Braden I'll let you go first what what's a game or two that like really stand out to you on the schedule or that you think hold the most importance or not a lot of people are talking about um Oklahoma like plain and simple Oklahoma is the game this like November 9th is going to be um the most important day of the year for me PL like plain and simple Bama game as well I think that there's a chance that we can go in there and win it um I'm not expecting to but I think that there's a chance um I think that those are really the big two games this year and A&M is like our first big chest I was gonna say A&M because that's where we find out if this team is serious or not because you know that's your first true test of the year and they're probably I mean they're ranked 20th right now we'll see if they hold that rank but that's going to be your first you know ranked matchup of the season if you know both teams are still ranked and then Auburn right before B is a sneaky one I think you know those are two games that I think most missou fans will tell you hey mou's probably gonna win this or they should win this but I'm thinking more of a tossup game I mean Auburn's going to be one of those teams that's not going to win the league or anything but they could ruin someone season if you don't take them seriously yeah Auburn is going to be a very improved team I think that they I mean maybe it's just because of me watching that iron bow last year but if that's the kind of Auburn team that we get this year and Hugh fieza is really building a team there in a at Auburn then we might be in for a really interesting game that week and I think that we could very easily Overlook that team that is definitely a game that scares me as well yeah and they just brought in a five-star freshman receiver this year uh cam Coleman it was he was the number five recruit this year he's going to kind of be their Luther bird like an electric player gonna play a lot big strong wide receiver uh he's drawn comparisons to George Pickins like he's gonna be a guy that gives you headaches if you don't take that matchup seriously so yeah those are the notable games on the schedule now we're going to give our record predictions and then we're going to go ahead and end this episode it's been a good one but Braden I'm going to put you on the spot what is your record prediction for the Missouri Tigers in 2024 do they make the 12 team playoffs I think they make the I think the expectation should be the playoffs like that's what I am expecting with really how easy and well our schedule lines up with the way that I think some other team schedules and seasons are going to fall I think that we should make the playoffs like that is my expectation as a missou fan that is setting me up for failure that's why you mentioned and I mentioned before I am terrified of this season because I truly believe those should be the expectations for this Tigers team is that we should make the playoffs with what record I think you have to go 10- two I think this team is capable of going 11- one and call me crazy it's not out of the realm a possibility for them to be 12-0 I'm not I yeah I'm surprised that you didn't say the South Carolina game was an important game to you on the schedule it okay the South Carolina game worries me ask me the week that it like the week before if we beat Oklahoma because that's if we beat Oklahoma 1,000% I'm going to be worried about South Carolina oh my God 100% I'm going to be worried about South Carolina that is our Super Bowl though but again it depends on Beamer like what Beamer are we going to get are we going to get a Shane Beamer team of two years ago are we going to get South Carolina's team last year that had no offensive line which was just dog [ __ ] but going into Colombia after you beat Oak like as saying that we beat Oklahoma and then we go into South Carolina that's not going to be an easy environment it's still an SEC environment on the like on the road and if Beamer has that team playing ball that's not going to be an easy game yeah no I mean it definitely could be a trap game sort of scenario but I trust drinkwitz that that's not going to happen and to be honest I'm not too impressed with Shane Beamer and also they're starting Lenor sers at quarterback this year who they really like but I mean we have no idea what he's going to look like and he's gonna be starting for the first time you know they don't have Spencer rler anymore and he covered up a lot of blemishes on that team but what is your official record prediction I mean what I know you laid out a couple scenarios but I'll go 10 and two I'll take the over I'm definitely going to bet the under oh my god um I I I think that they'll go over I I really do I'm gonna say they do make the 12 team playoff and I'm gonna say they go 11 and one okay and I'm not I don't know which one it's going to be but either the Alabama or the Oklahoma game is going to be a loss um I I don't think they'll win both of them if we lose Oklahoma this season's a failure I mean you know Oklahoma fans will say that we could go on and win the national championship even after losing to them and they'd still say something about it but I get it it's a Bragg and rights game uh that's GNA be the new rivalry here in the SCC even though they say it's not I mean they've kind of officially taken the place of Arkansas Arkansas is now like now we don't even care about Arkansas anymore Arkansas cares more about us I Haven even thought of Arkansas this episode Arkansas is like you've been around here long enough we're okay with you you know it's just it's just whatever now but yeah I'll say 11 and one I'll say the absolute floor for this team is nine and three which I know what disappoint FL is eight and four okay I I don't know I just I struggle to find four losses on the schedule like I'm not of course it's not impossible I think a pretty big injury or something would have to happen I think the Florida with everyone healthy is nine and three which a lot of people might be disappointed by but I mean that's still a good season and yeah that's still still a shot that you can make the playoffs at nine and three not a good one but there's still a shot yeah and you know we're just trying to stack A Few Good Seasons together um going 10 and two last year was awesome beating Ohio State and the Contin bow last year was awesome uh but you know right now we're in the phase of the program where drink was is trying to stack a bunch of Good Seasons together before like we truly really take off you know he needs to build that good rapport with the fans still because look one Bad season and we could be back to square one we could be back to square one very easily everybody leaves in the transfer portal who knows what drinkwitz says what drinkwitz does I know that he's rub fans the wrong way because he's mad that we're not selling out Murray State this week and I somewhat agree with him like we really needed to be sh me even if we know like he said he's like don't worry about that game on November 9th worry about the game on August 29th like that's the game that we have in front of us that's the game we have to worry about I 100% agree we need to sell out every single week show drink that the fan base the entire state is committed in is supporting him and this program because we have Matt zers the number two quarterback commit in the country coming into this University next year that doesn't H that has never happened at missou that does not happen here we don't that's not something that's ever happen and that's a POS like that is the possibility is that we have the number two quarterback in all of high school recruiting coming into missou next year we need to show him we need to show drink and we need to show everybody else what this University is all about because there's a really good shot that if drinkwitz builds the team the right way and we have a really good year this year make the playoffs maybe not make the playoffs next year because we have even more guys leaving and like this core will really be gone after this year but he can reload next year and then really build around Matt zers and build this team into a consistent college football playoff team this year that's what we're still working towards and that's kind of the point that I'm trying to make like yeah right now we're a team that's like hoping to get in but we're not like a lock or anything like that drinkwitz can keep building this this thing to where every single year people are projecting Missouri in the college football playoff team playoff I I think that he can get them to that point and a lot of that really hinges on the fan support from this year drinks drink and this entire team's ability this year and then just every year after that like this this year is a very important year for the next decade of Missouri football absolutely so I agree with everything on all fronts I think that's a good stopping point for this episode our first episode of the 2024 season Braden it's been fun but before we leave um anything you want to plug do I even have to say it um show me movies I haven't uploaded there in a while I would really like to start getting into that again when terrifier 3 comes out though oh boy I will be out I know you'll be doing your hourlong breakdown um I haven't uploaded on show me movies in a bit uh going to try to here pretty soon we're getting into Oscar season so um there's been a lot of really good movies to come out that I would like to talk about um so if you want to see me talk about some films follow us over on there as well there you guys have it and that'll all be in the description down below as for me you're already here go ahead like share and subscribe so more missou fans can find this you can check my workout at show MEF foot.com for more and yeah with all that being said we'll see you all in the next one m zou