How 5 key Missouri football position battles stand after spring practice

Missouri football lost 14 key contributors from its 2023 team that went 11-2, and spring practice offered the first glimpse at how the Tigers are going about replacing those losses.

Before spring practice started, the Columbia Daily Tribune identified five crucial position battles that stood out above the rest, and with Missouri’s Black & Gold game wrapping up the Tigers’ spring schedule Saturday, here’s how they’re shaping up:

Missouri football has ongoing position battle at running back

With star tailback Cody Schrader off to the NFL, transfers Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll seem to have cemented their position ahead of in-house talents Tavorus Jones and Jamal Roberts.

Both were on separate teams for the Tigers’ game, but Noel and Carroll took the respective “first-team” reps with their teams.

For either Noel or Carroll to grab the role of feature back by the horns, it may take until Missouri’s season begins on August 31, but MU coaches aren’t ruling out a by-committee option either.

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“We could be running back by committee,” running backs coach Curtis Luper said about what he’s seen from his room during the spring. “It could be whatever our players determine it to be because they're the ones that are going to really dictate to us who plays and how much they play.

“So we have an open mind about it. We had an open mind last fall. If you would have asked me this time last year, I had no idea that the year would turn out the way it did.”

Luper also added that the dynamic of Noel’s speed and pass-catching ability combined with Carroll’s strength between the tackles reminds him of the thunder-and-lightning dynamic Larry Rountree and Tyler Badie had in 2020.

Linebackers

Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz wasted no time announcing Missouri was sticking with the 4-2-5 defense in his opening press conference of spring practice. That means it’s likely that Chuck Hicks and Triston Newson assume the roles they played in Missouri’s 14-3 Cotton Bowl win over Ohio State.

But Miami transfer Corey Flagg also made a strong impression in his introduction to Columbia.

“(Flagg’s) a stud man,” MU linebackers coach DJ Smith said. “High football intelligence, really good guy, really good motor. He’s a man’s man, (and) a great leader for the (linebacker) room.”

After Missouri’s first scrimmage of the spring on March 8, wide receiver Theo Wease identified Flagg as someone that stood out to him for always being around the ball.

Soon-to-be redshirt sophomore Brayshawn Littlejohn started alongside Hicks for the Black team in Missouri’s spring game and appears to be the next man up after Flagg.

Defensive end

Perhaps the most interesting positional development of Missouri’s spring practice was the introduction of the “joker”.

Missouri envisions this role to play opposite a traditional defensive end, lining up on the side closest to the sideline, and it seems Cotton Bowl defensive MVP Johnny Walker Jr. is slated to slide into that role. First-year defensive ends coach Brian Early said that Joe Moore III and Georgia transfer Darris Smith are joining Walker in playing Joker.

More: How Brian Early became Mizzou football's defensive ends coach, and what he envisions for position

Michigan State transfer Zion Young was quarterback Brady Cook’s first defensive pick of the intrasquad spring game draft and is making noise at the traditional defensive end spot.

“Every play feels like (Young’s) first rep,” Cook said. “And you can feel that pre snap — you can feel obviously post snap. So you know he's a dude for sure. (He’s) high-motor. He's disrupting plays. He's in the backfield.”

Cornerback

Dreyden Norwood was expected to be the player to beat in Missouri’s cornerback room, and everything coming out of spring practice has confirmed that.

“Norwood’s a dog. He’s been a dog since last year when I would go against him,” Wease said. “I think he's definitely emerged as the top guy in the room.”

But the question entering spring practice was who would join Norwood to replace the strong, NFL-bound duo of Kris Abrams-Draine and Ennis Rakestraw Jr.

Marcus Clarke and Clemson transfer Toriano Pride are the top two candidates, and Pride stood out at the spring game with an interception on a Cook jump ball to Joshua Manning.

Backup quarterback

Brett Brown emerged this spring as the top internal option to back up Cook, and he started for the gold team in Missouri’s spring game.

“I do think Brett Brown is a guy who's made the most of his opportunities,” Missouri offensive coordinator Kirby Moore said March 9. “He has to continue to do that, but he's made some big throws the last couple practices.”

But Brown will have competition for the backup spot after the Tigers landed Arizona State transfer Drew Pyne in the transfer portal during spring practice.

Pyne played 11 games for Notre Dame in 2022 and threw for 2,021 yards, 22 touchdowns and six interceptions.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: How 5 key Missouri football position battles stand after spring camp