Less than six weeks till football season, and we've got ourselves a lengthy all-football Links post, baby!
It's time for Big 12 Media Day, and Mizzou is more than ready for its close-up.
Chase Daniel crouches a bit as Jeremy Maclin and Sean Weatherspoon take knees off Daniel’s shoulders.
It is a formation no one will ever see on a college football Saturday. Weatherspoon, after all, is an All-Big 12 linebacker for the Missouri Tigers. Daniel is a Heisman finalist quarterback and wide receiver Maclin is an All-America return man.
This is a setup. Someone with a water bottle hurries in, spritzing would-be beads of sweat on the players’ faces.
Welcome to the world of Sports Illustrated, the camera crew in town to record images that will grace the Midwest regional cover of SI’s college football preview issue.
Here now, No. 9, you stand here. Sean, move slightly to your right. Chase, look straight into the camera. OK. Now, profiles everyone.
Welcome to the Brave New World of Missouri football. The Tigers have arrived.
The Tigers are local celebrities, there's no doubting that. Dave Matter has that and the season's first edition of Cut to the Chase at his blog.
BTS: Who during 7-on-7 practices impressed you most?
CD: You know, of course he’s going to be good, but I’ll tell you who had a really good 7-on-7 week in and week out: J-Mac. (Blogger’s note: That’s Jeremy Maclin for the uninitiated to the Tigers’ nickname lexicon.) He’s getting better as a receiver. He’s getting smarter. Last year he was running around with his head cut off, and he still had 1,000 yards receiving and 80 catches. You look at Wes Kemp as a freshman, he’s got a really good chance of playing. He’s got to go in and compete, and that’s the main thing with summer camp: going in and competing and getting better at each position and trying to win a starting spot.
The Post-Dispatch takes a look at the upcoming Heisman Chase (get it? Heisman? Chase?) and notes previous Mizzou Heisman hopeful campaigns that never left the ground. Hopefully Chase doesn't get turf toe.
They also take a look at previous failed Heisman campaigns from around the country. It's rather amusing, but...stop talking about failed Heisman campaigns already!
Dave Matter continues with his Big 12 player rankings by taking a stab at the QB position. The #1 guy is pretty predictable.
Tired of talking about Chase? Here's a Q&A with the best safety in the country, Willy Mo.
CS: Over the last two years there were two safeties I enjoyed watching in the country, former Arizona State star Josh Barrett (now with the Denver Broncos) and you. The two of you have a lot of qualities similar to the late, great Sean Taylor. I’m not sure if you were a fan of his, but did you watch him at some point and try to emulate some of the things he did on the field?
Moore: Anyone who has followed my career knows that I wore No. 21 before I switched to No. 1. The reason why I wore No. 21 was because of Sean Taylor. He was always my favorite player, besides Barry Sanders. I always looked up to Sean Taylor, and when he passed away, I wrote his number on my arm for one of our games. I always watched highlights of him; he was a great player.
After the outcry and exultation following the revelation that JUCO DE/god Brian Coulter had indeed enrolled at Mizzou, Big Head has found the first picture of Mr. Coulter and chosen to reveal some Brian Coulter Facts. He puts the laughter in manslaughter, you know.
Gabe at PowerMizzou takes a stab at his own Big 12 North predictions.
Quick recruiting links: Mizzou can take a couple kids off the big board...Waco DE Andrew Weaver (who, I believe, was never seriously considering Mizzou) has committed to Texas A&M, Texas LB Tanner Brock (who, I believe, was never seriously considering Mizzou) has committed to TCU, and EStL WR Terry Hawthorne (who...well, you know) has committed to Illinois. Now that THAT's out of the way, it looks like two players are giving Mizzou a bit more time and thought than I previously assumed: 4-star NC WR Jheranie Boyd (Mizzou was on his radar early, and he'll most likely stay on the east coast, but he wants to visit Columbia if at all possible) and 4-star TX LB Chris Williams (a BIG hitter who was considered a heavy LSU lean).
Here's a nice Q&A with Mike "10 Years at Mizzou" Alden.
Finally...via Gabe...look. I realize that he's a perfect physical specimen, and I realize he's got the "coach's son" mentality, and I realize that he's beaten Texas twice...but if Josh Freeman is the #1 pick in the NFL draft next year...I dunno. Ever since the whole "Beat KU" chant by KSU fans after last year's MU-KSU game, I've had trouble saying as many bad things about KSU as a whole (which has felt very odd), but I mean...come on...don't you have to have some semblance of accuracy and touch to be the #1 pick in the draft. Won't scouts catch onto that once they, you know, watch him? And this isn't a jealousy thing--I know that, whenever Freeman comes out, he'll be drafted higher than Chase Daniel. As crazy as I think that is, I've long since accepted it. But...#1?