SB Nation - Drew Temple

A 2009 Walkthrough: Special Teams

Bill C. — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 14:30:07 -0000

Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
Tight Ends
Offensive Line
Defensive Ends
Defensive Tackles
Linebackers
Cornerbacks
Safeties

After a long weekend, it's time to wrap up this 2009 walkthrough with the special teams unit. Rarely has a special teams unit lost as much as Mizzou will lose in 2009: they have to replace quite possibly their best ever kicker, punt returner, and kick returner. Yikes. All that considered, maybe I'm not nearly pessimistic enough about this unit. There is at least some potential in the handful of replacements.

Kicker

Tanner Mills (6'2, 195, Senior)

From rptgwb during the Alamo Bowl pregame: “This just in: Tanner Mills has Josh Hamilton’s bat for a leg. Kid is CRUSHING practice FGs. Maybe life after Wolfert will be OK.”

Like most former goalies, Tanner Mills, a Rock Bridge product and former Columbia College keeper, has a cannon for a leg. He should easily handle kickoffs and PATs and give Mizzou some realistic hope of making any FG under 50 yards or so...but he is replacing the most accurate kicker in Mizzou history. The first time he misses a PAT or a chip-shot field goal will be the first time Mizzou has missed one of those since 2005. Yikes. No pressure.

That said, there is one area on which Mills can improve from Wolfert's standards: pressure kicks. In Mizzou's four losses in 2008, Wolfert was 3-for-8 on FGs. In their ten wins, 17-for-20. He missed two (one blocked) against Oklahoma State in a six-point loss. He missed one at the buzzer (blocked) against Kansas. He missed the potential game-winner against Northwestern. Now...don't mistake this for some sort of "I'm glad he's gone" sentiment--if Wolfert discovered some secret NCAA bylaw that allowed him another twelve years of eligibility because he was a diver or something, I'd do backflips in my living room. (Okay, I can't do backflips. But I'd pump my first.) Just saying that there's one area where Mills can make his presence felt in a good way.

Either way, considering what Mizzou is replacing, Mills seems like a pretty solid candidate. This isn't a "replacing Scotty Knickman with Brian Long and Alexander St. Peter in 1998" situation.

Trey Barrow (6'3, 175, RSFr)

If Mills somehow isn't the starting place-kicker in 2009, chances are Trey Barrow is. A redshirt freshman from Moberly, Barrow's got himself a pretty strong leg and at the very least seems like the likely starting PK in 2010.

Punter

Jake Harry (6'1, 190, Senior)

If you asked a Missouri fan in August what their biggest concern was for 2008, a large portion of them would have said punting. Harry was an unproven quantity, and it was cause for concern. Well...worry not. With Harry and a little help from Jeff Wolfert's righty rugby kicks, Mizzou's net punting improved from 31.5 yards in 2007 (#113 in the country) to 37.7 in 2008 (#16). Harry booted his way to a 40.7-yard average with an outstanding 10 of his 26 punts downed inside the opponent's 20. Just an outstanding, consistent effort from Harry in 2008. With an offense that probably punts more in 2009, Harry will be counted on even more.

Grant Ressel (6'1, 180, Sophomore)

Ressel got to punt once in 2008--in the SEMO blowout--and uncorked a lovely 43-yarder. With the rugby punt catching on (seriously, it became a solid weapon for quite a few teams in '08), it is quite possible that the righty (I think) Ressel takes over for Wolfert in the righty-lefty platoon when that sort of kick is deemed necessary.

And I love that punting is a platoon like right field now.

Kick Returner

De'Vion Moore (5'9, 195, Sophomore)
Gahn McGaffie (5'11, 190, RSFr)
Robert Steeples (6'1, 190, RSFr)
Kip Edwards (6'1, 185, RSFr)
Munir Prince (5'10, 185, Junior)
Drew Temple (5'10, 190, RSFr)
La'Roderick Thomas (6'0, 195, Junior)

It's always possible that a true freshman like Kendial Lawrence or TJ Moe (or, you know, Sheldon Richardson, ahem) could enter the equation at one of the return positions here, but we'll just focus on the returnees and redshirts.

One thing Mizzou's got in the return game: options. There's simply no way anybody can replace a guy like Jeremy Maclin, not only for the threat that he represented, but also for the number of times opponents decided a chip-shot kick to an up man at the 35 was a better option. Opponents will not be handing Mizzou field position like that again, so whoever wins this job will be given plenty of opportunities to prove himself. And while I won't expect any KR TD's in 2009, I do expect competence among such a big group of candidates.

My early favorites: Moore and McGaffie. For all intents and purposes, Moore is basically a slightly faster Marcus Woods, while McGaffie is a bit of an unknown. I'm not sure how fast McGaffie is, but he is reportedly quite quick, which at the very least makes him a favorite of mine at punt returner.

Moore and McGaffie aside, look out for any one of the handful of super-fast defensive back redshirts--Steeples, Edwards, Prince. I don't know enough about any one of them to project who'd be best at this job, but again...it's nice to have options.

This may also be a case where it's nice having a new Temple in the backfield.

And I would pay money to see Sheldon Richardson as at least an up man.

Punt Returner

De'Vion Moore (5'9, 195, Sophomoe)
Gahn McGaffie (5'11, 190, RSFr)
Jared Perry (6'1, 180, Senior)

While I don't see Perry winning the KR job, he could be a reliable candidate at PR.

2008 vs 2009

I almost don't want to compare 2008 to 2009. Wolfert may not have been tremendously clutch, but he was still as good as a Mizzou kicker has ever been. Maclin may have been neutralized for most of 2008 by not getting any opportunities to return kicks, but he was still the most dangerous return man Mizzou has ever had. It's not fair to hold Tanner Mills and guys like Moore and McGaffie to the standard of their predecessors--instead, we should see what skills they do have and how they can be used to help this team. Mills has a cannon, though it's unclear how accurate that cannon is. Meanwhile, there are a lot of speedy, quick candidates at the KR/PR positions, and they could give Mizzou solid field position (as long as they hold onto the ball). Oh yeah, and Jake Harry rules. So we've got THAT going for us.

Poll

Who will be returning kickoffs for Mizzou in 2009?

De'Vion Moore

21 votes

Gahn McGaffie

24 votes

Robert Steeples

3 votes

Kip Edwards

0 votes

Munir Prince

9 votes

Drew Temple

8 votes

La'Roderick Thomas

2 votes

other

7 votes

74 votes | Poll has closed

A 2009 Walkthrough: Running Backs

Bill C. — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:00:07 -0000

It's going to be inevitable to talk about Missouri in 2009 without talking about losses--Daniel, Coffman, Maclin (probably), etc. However, there is a potentially strong identity for Missouri to carve out of what is returning...namely, threats in the running game.

Returnees

Derrick Washington (5'11, 215, junior)

Derrick Washington was, to say the least, feast-or-famine in 2008.

First five games: 67 carries, 500 rushing yards, 10 TDs (plus 9 catches, 92 yards, another 2 TDs) (7.8 yards per touch)
Next two: 15 carries, 28 rushing yards, 2 TDs (plus 8 catches, 70 yards) (4.3 yards per touch)
Next four games: 59 carries, 381 rushing yards, 4 TDs (plus 7 catches, 66 yards) (6.77 yards per touch)
Final three games: 36 carries, 127 yards, 1 TD (plus 5 catches, 49 yards) (4.3 yards per touch)

Thanks to his outstanding receiving ability, his per-touch averages were never really too terrible, but three things were clear regarding Washington: 1) his success took the Missouri offense to a stratospheric level, 2) he struggled mightily against the better rush defenses on the schedule (OU, Texas, Northwestern, OSU), and 3) he didn't look nearly as explosive at the end of the season. Now, (1) needs no explanation--matching the Daniel-Maclin-Coffman trifecta with an unstoppable running game is just about unfair. Really, (2) doesn't need an explanation either--better defenses stop good players better. That's, like, science or something. However, (3) needed a bit of an explanation...and it possibly just got one:

Why the drop-off in the second half of the season? Was Washington injured? Gary Pinkel never mentioned his tailback in his weekly injury reports, but, for what it’s worth, a relative of Washington’s recently posted on a MU message board that the tailback injured his knee in MU’s second game, which eventually required his knee to be drained to relieve swelling.

Now, this obviously wasn't a tremendously significant injury, as Washington's most productive stretch--Nevada, Buffalo and Nebraska--came after the second game. Plus, he went for 151 total yards and 2 TDs in frigid temps up in Ames late in the season. Regardless, it's as good an explanation as anything else to explain why Washington was struggling. When #24 is on, he exploits even tiny holes and runs through arm tackles. Against OU and Northwestern in particular, even when there were holes to be exploited, he was only getting 4-6 yards instead of 8-12.

Mizzou's chances for a surprise North title in 2009 rely on Washington being both healthy and productive, and while I'm 90% optimistic he will be both, his late-season struggles prevent me from being 100% optimistic.

De'Vion Moore (5'9, 195, sophomore)

Obviously after one season of mostly junk-time work, it's hard to get a read on De'Vion Moore's potential, but it's tempting to go in one of two extreme directions:

Barring one big carry against Colorado, here were his stats during conference play (junk time or no): 19 carries, 69 yards (3.6 per carry), 0 TDs. Not amazing stuff. It seems clear early on that he has the ceiling of Marcus Woods and the floor of Earl Goldsmith. He's shifty but not all that productive.
Did you see that one big carry against Colorado (4:03 of this video)? Holy crap! He got a whole and just exploded away from every defender! Kid's got some serious jets and could make a nice inside-outside combo with D-Wash in '09.

As always, reality probably lies halfway between the two extremes, but with three years of eligibility remaining, there's still plenty of potential in De'Vion to be exploited. And he certainly makes for an interesting change of pace with Washington running mostly between the tackles.

Redshirts

Drew Temple (5'10, 190ish, RSFr)

We obviously don't know a ton about Drew Temple at this point, but his Rivals video tells us that he runs a lot like his older brother Tony--stringing runs outside until a hole develops, then trying to explode through it--only, it appears, he maybe seeks out contact a bit more. How that translates to success at Mizzou, who the heck knows, but for as disappointing as Tony Temple was at times, I think we would all be pretty happy to have a TT proxy in the backfield for another few years, huh?

Incoming

Missouri has not yet gotten commitments from any running backs in this class.

Potential Incoming

Here's where the 2009 Mizzou running back stable becomes a huge wildcard. With a month to go before Signing Day, it is completely unknown what kind of impact freshmen might or might not be donning black and gold this summer.

Bryce Brown (6'0, 215, Wichita, KS)

Honestly, I probably shouldn't put him on this list. He visited Columbia a while back and said all sorts of complimentary things about the team and his desire to be a Jeremy Maclin-type of back...but a few weeks later he also said he was still a solid Miami commit. Mizzou's opportunity to nail this guy down likely came and went (if it truly came at all), but rumors are still flying around as to how solid he is in his Miami commitment, so I'll naively keep him on the list right up until Signing Day.

Ronnie Wingo (6'3, 210, St. Louis)

Ronnie Wingo's recruitment has been extremely interesting for two main reasons:

Nobody seems to have a freaking clue as to what position he should play. He was a RB in high school, but honestly with his size and speed he could turn into a pretty interesting RB, WR, TE, LB, or DB. I think I see him most naturally turning into a 6'3, 225-pound Sean Weatherspoon clone at LB, but since he still seems to hold a slight preference for playing offense (and returning kickoffs), I'm putting him on this list.
He still hasn't committed to Mizzou yet, and nobody has a good idea why. At first, it was thought that his parents might be influencing him to go elsewhere, but recently it seems they've given him the Mizzou go-ahead. Arkansas fans are all sorts of optimistic about his upcoming official visit to Fayetteville, and Gabe at PM has been saying for a while that Arkansas is a huge wildcard in the race. If he's not committed to Arkansas by next Monday morning, the odds of him becoming a Tiger are quite high. What Mizzou does with him if they get him in black and gold, nobody knows.

Stepfan Taylor (5'11, 205, Mansfield, TX)

A personal favorite of mine for quite a while now, Kenji Jackson's best bud from high school has been committed to Stanford since late summer. However, there's a buzz that he may still visit Mizzou if it looks like he may not qualify at Palo Alto. I don't want to root for the kid to not get great grades or a high test score, but I would be thrilled to see him in a Mizzou jersey next August. It's easy to be impressed with a kid's high school highlight film (see link above), but his has been more impressive than most. He's an oustanding combination of size, speed, and quickness. I guess I shouldn't get my hopes up too much here.

Kendial Lawrence (5'9, 180, Rockwall, TX)

Lawrence really came into his own his senior year at Rockwall-Heath, winning Texas District 10-4A Player of the Year honors and finding a ton of late offers coming his way. A lot of folks thought he was a strong Mizzou lean a few weeks ago, but he's played things so close to the vest that nobody knows for sure. Of the names on this list, I'd say he's the second most likely Tiger behind Wingo, but who knows? Lawrence fits the mold of a De'Vion Moore/Marcus Woods/Tony Temple/Jimmy Jackson type--short with strong legs and nice quickness. He was something of a late bloomer, but he would be a great pickup for Mizzou.

2008 vs 2009

The only departure from the Mizzou backfield is Jimmy Jackson, and while I loved #1 to death, it's not out of the realm of possibility that De'Vion Moore can match JJ's production. If that's the case, and if Derrick Washington is healthy and makes the typical improvement from his first year starting to his second, the Mizzou RB corps could be as strong as it's been under Gary Pinkel. And nothing settles down a young starting QB faster than a solid running game.

2009 Mizzou RBs on the YouTubes

Derrick Washington

De'Vion Moore

Drew Temple

Nothing on YouTube, but here's a Rivals highlight video if you're a subscriber.

Poll

What is De'Vion Moore's ceiling?

Darren Sproles

14 votes

Quentin Griffin

10 votes

Tony Temple

30 votes

Marcus Woods

15 votes

Earl Goldsmith

1 votes

70 votes | Poll has closed