Five Missouri football newcomers to watch in spring practice for 2024
After taking down Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl and securing its first 11-win season since 2014, Missouri football parlayed its on-field success into even more success on the recruiting trail. According to 247Sports, Missouri signed the No. 13 transfer portal class and No. 20 high school class in the 2024 cycle.
So while MU returns stars like Luther Burden and Brady Cook, newcomers should feature heavily on the much-anticipated 2024 team. Spring practice gives Missouri fans their first exposure to some new Tigers.
Five of those fresh faces stand out among their peers as names to keep an eye on during spring practice.
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OL Cayden Green
In 2023, Cayden Green committed to Oklahoma over Missouri out of high school, but just one season later, the 6-foot-5, 315-pound lineman decided he had buyer's remorse and traded his crimson and cream for black and gold.
Green was ranked the No. 10 overall player and No. 2 offensive tackle by 247Sports and is considered to be the jewel of the Tigers’ transfer class. In his freshman season with the Sooners, Green played 11 games, starting five at left guard, and was named freshman All-American by multiple outlets.
Many feel that Green is a lock to start on Missouri’s line either at the left tackle or left guard. Javon Foster’s and Xavier Delgado’s departures leave both of these positions vacant, and which spot Green fills could depend on other personnel or just what coach Eli Drinkwitz feels maximizes Green’s immense potential.
Spring practice should shed some initial light on this decision, but no matter which position Green plays, it’s almost a guarantee that he will be a crucial member of the Missouri offensive line in 2024.
CB Toriano Pride
Losing Kris Abrams-Draine and Ennis Rakestraw to the NFL draft left two big holes at cornerback for Missouri. Clemson transfer Toriano Pride is expected to fill one of them.
Over the past two seasons, the St. Louis native played 26 games for Clemson, including three starts, registering nine passes defended and one interception. He was ranked the No. 39 overall transfer and No. 6 cornerback by 247Sports. Pride was also high school teammates with Burden at East St. Louis.
Pride’s play in spring practice could change things, but expectations seem to indicate that he and Drey Norwood are the most likely cornerback duo to replace Rakestraw and Abrams-Draine.
RB Nate Noel
The story of who’s going to replace Cody Schrader will be one of the main storylines of spring practice for Missouri, and many fans are assuming Georgia State transfer and Doak Walker Award semifinalist Marcus Carroll is the guy. However, Appalachian State transfer Nate Noel could throw a wrench in that assumption.
Noel was first-team All-Sun Belt in 2021 and has 3,074 career rushing yards, but the injury bug has gotten him on occasion the past two seasons. Before sustaining an ankle injury in October, Noel began his 2023 season with five straight games rushing for more than 100 yards.
Just two years ago, Schrader was a less-heralded transfer than Nathaniel Peat, but he turned heads in spring practice and eventually became Missouri’s feature back at the end of the 2022 season. Don’t rule out Noel following in his footsteps.
DT Chris McClellan
One of the less flashy positions of need for Missouri in the transfer portal was defensive tackle. Last season, Missouri rotated Jay Jernigan, Josh Landry, Realus George and Kristian Williams, but Jernigan, Landry and George all declared for the NFL draft. Following the departures, Tigers added some reinforcements in the portal in the form of Florida transfer Chris McClellan.
The 6-foot-3, 320-pound defensive tackle played 25 games for Florida in his first two collegiate seasons and tallied 46 tackles, two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss. He was ranked the No. 21 defensive lineman in the portal by 247Sports.
If Missouri wants to replicate the havoc it created at the line of scrimmage in 2023, McClellan’s insertion into the 2024 tackle rotation will need to be a seamless one.
LB Brian Huff
Brian Huff is one seven early enrollees from Missouri’s high school class. With linebacker depth somewhat thin for the Tigers heading into spring practice, Huff has the opportunity to make his case to be in Missouri’s rotation at the position come fall.
He was a four-star prospect by 247Sports Composite and the No. 30 linebacker in his class.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Missouri football: Five newcomers to watch in spring practice
