After committing to Nebraska on July 30th, St. Rita (Ill.) offensive lineman Valen Erickson has flipped his commitment from the Cornhuskers to the Missouri Tigers on Monday.
Missouri’s staff started expressing interest in the three-star prospect at the beginning of the summer and extended an offer to Erickson during an unofficial visit on June 18th.
Erickson was also scheduled to return to Missouri in late July, but committed to Nebraska on a return visit to Lincoln and cancelled his trip to Columbia.
Regardless, offensive line coach Marcus Johnson and the rest of the Tigers’ staff continued their pursuit of the 6-foot-6, 315-pound prospect, who did make it to Columbia this past weekend for Missouri’s season-opening 34-24 win over Central Michigan.
Now, the Tigers have added another talented piece to their offensive line class.
Erickson becomes Missouri’s 14th overall commitment in the 2022 class and the fourth offensive lineman, joining Tristan Wilson of Lebanon (Mo.), Armand Membou of Lee’s Summit North (Mo.), and Deshawn Woods of Omaha (Neb.) Central.
Missouri is recruiting Erickson as an offensive tackle.
Tim O’Halloran of EdgyTim.com has covered Illinois high school football for over 25 years and had this after St. Rita’s week one matchup versus Mt. Carmel.
“Erickson I believe has started his campaign to become a four- star ranked linemen on Friday. Erickson was impressive in this huge rivalry game against Mount Carmel. Erickson’s first step, overall quickness and motor was much improved from the spring season. His pass-pro has also developed and he’s a big quicker and able to better cut off the outside pass rush, especially compared to his 2019 sophomore season. Erickson has also shed some weight and converted that weight into more muscle. I was also impressed with Erickson’s punch along with just showing better overall feet and balance. I feel Erickson is a four-star recruit in my opinion and I’ve felt that way for nearly a year.”
Erickson is the 14th commitment in Mizzou’s 2022 class. The Tigers now have the No. 23 class in the country according to Rivals.com.
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