HOOVER, Ala. — Eli Drinkwitz brought some sizzle to Missouri’s appearance at SEC Media Days on Thursday. The second-year head coach rocked Air Jordan sneakers and dished several (mostly) good-natured jabs aimed at everyone from Arkansas to SEC associate commissioner Mark Womack.
But when it came to player representatives, Missouri’s two selections weren’t the most flashy. Drinkwitz opted to bring offensive guard Case Cook and defensive tackle Akial Byers to Hoover. Both fifth-year seniors have plenty of starting experience, but neither plays particularly glamorous positions. Quarterback Connor Bazelak, running back Tyler Badie and safety Martez Manuel all might have drawn more media attention.
That, however, was by design. By bringing two linemen to media days, Drinkwitz hoped to send his team a message: Success in 2021 will start in the trenches.
“The number one question I get is what did I learn in the SEC the last year, and for me it was you’ve got to win at the line of scrimmage,” Drinkwitz said. “… So when you talk about representing our state and the blue-collar mentality, I think it always is going to start at the line of scrimmage, and I think Case is a guy that does all the right things for us, represents our program the right way, is a captain. Akial Byers is a guy who has played a lot of football for us and has put in all the work and really leads in his own way, so I think he’s a great representative for Mizzou football.”
Missouri faced a long list of challenges during Drinkwitz’s debut season. Not only did the team have to overcome canceled spring practices, a delayed season, an all-SEC schedule and COVID-19-induced roster fluctuation, Drinkwitz learned the hard way that the Tigers couldn’t quite compete with the perennial powers in the league at the lines of scrimmage. The defensive line got pushed around by the likes of Tennessee, Arkansas and Georgia. The offensive line, while generally better than expected, didn’t have enough depth to sustain its production when a rash of injuries sidelined starters.
Since last season has ended, Drinkwitz has talked frequently about “closing the gap” between Missouri and the schools at the top of the SEC East. He thinks Missouri is poised to take a step toward doing so along the line of scrimmage this season.
Drinkwitz is particularly bullish about the defensive line. Missouri brings back six of its top eight defensive linemen from a season ago in terms of snaps played. Defensive end Trajan Jeffcoat is the headliner after he earned first-team all-league honors with six sacks a season ago. Byers and Kobie Whiteside, both fifth-year seniors, lead the list of players returning on the interior.
“I think the defensive line should be the strength of our football team,” Drinkwitz said. “It needs to be.”
Byers believes the defensive line will benefit from its combination of experience and depth. Not only do the aforementioned players bring starting experience, the coaching staff bolstered the position group by adding two junior college transfers and a host of freshmen during the offseason. Drinkwitz specifically praised all three of the players mentioned above on Thursday, as well as Chris Turner, Isaiah McGuire, Darius Robinson, Realus George, Daniel Robledo, Johnny Walker, Jatorian Hansford and Mekhi Wingo.
Byers also noted that the defensive front has been energized by the addition of new position coach Jethro Franklin, who took over for Brick Haley following last season.
“He pushes us to get better every day, no matter where it’s at, on the field or in the weight room,” Byers said of Franklin. “He wants us out there working together, working on either our footwork, hand-placement, anything, or even just learning the playbook. And I think that’s a big thing. He teaches us something new every day, so any time we go in the meeting room, it’s like we’re in the meeting room learning new things. So I take every day we’re in the meeting seriously.”
Jeffcoat will carry the highest expectations of the group into next season. The league’s media voted him to the preseason all-SEC first team this week. But Byers said another defensive end has caught his eye during the offseason: McGuire.
“He comes to work every day and he’s being more vocal,” Byers said. “I’ve seen tremendous improvement.”
On the offensive side of the line of scrimmage, there’s a bit more depth chart uncertainty. Cook and center Michael Maietti will almost certainly start after doing so every game a season ago, but the left guard and both tackle spots should be up for grabs. Replacing the production of right tackle Larry Borom, who declared early for the NFL Draft and got selected in the fifth round by the Chicago Bears, could prove challenging.
But Cook believes the group will benefit from already having played a season in Drinkwitz’s offense and under the tutelage of offensive line coach Marcus Johnson.
“I think we’re a lot more comfortable in the scheme,” Cook said. “We’ve had a year with coach Johnson, I think we know what he expects of us and what we expect from him, so I think moving forward, I don’t think anything could hold us back besides ourselves.”
Cook also feels better about the main issue that plagued the offensive line a season ago: a lack of depth. Nine different Missouri players started at least one game along the offensive line last season, and the unit generally struggled when Borom and left guard Xavier Delgado weren’t available. Cook believes the baptism by fire that several members of the line underwent in 2020, combined with the additions of transfers EJ Ndoma-Ogar and Connor Wood, will make for a deeper group this season.
“The fact that we have competitive depth and more guys in that room that have played ball and that are able to play and gonna be good players gives us an advantage that our room is competing, actively competing, everybody is trying to get better,” Cook explained. “So the group of five that we put out there is going to be the best five in the room, regardless of what position, where they come from, how much they’ve played.”
If Missouri’s performance along the lines of scrimmage can live up to the expectations of Byers and Cook this season, the Tigers could make some waves in the SEC. But Drinkwitz did note, on a couple occasions, that the team still has some work to do, even along the lines of scrimmage, to completely close the gap on Georgia and Florida.
That, too, is why he brought Byers and Cook to Hoover. Drinkwitz rarely does or says anything without recruiting on his mind, and this was no exception. Perhaps with class of 2022 defensive tackle Jadon Scarlett or the loaded in-state crop of offensive linemen in the 2023 class in mind, he made a point to highlight his willingness to shine a spotlight on the oft-overlooked linemen.
“Mizzou is not always the flashiest, but we’re hard workers, the people of Missouri, the state of Missouri are hard workers, and they’re in the trenches and they’re the unsung heroes, and that’s really what our team with Akial and Case is,” Drinkwitz said. “And hopefully it sends a message to recruits, too, that, hey, man, if you want to come win in the trenches, we’ll put you on TV.”