Mizzou Links, 4-28-11

By Bill Connelly@SBN_BillC Apr 28, 2011, 5:21am CDT

Jimmie Hunt hasn't broken free from veterans on the depth chart just yet. (Photo via Bill Carter.)

Draft Links

SB Nation: 2011 NFL Draft Choose Your Own Adventure: You're The Team Owner, Pick Wisely
New York Times: NFL Draft Boards Take on Lives of Their Own
Fox Sports MW: Transcript: Blaine Gabbert on Dan Patrick Show
Post-Dispatch: MU's Gabbert, Smith at dinner with president on eve of draft
STL Sports Minute: Aldon Smith Has His Suite, Waits To Get Drafted
The Sporting News: 2011 NFL Draft: Quarterbacks
NFL.com: Latest rumblings unfold in unpredictable quasi-mock draft
Bengals.com: Mock It: QB run lurks
Tennessee 247 Sports: Titans may be choosing between Locker, Dalton as QB of future
ESPN.com (Insider): Ranking 10 college football standouts who are sleepers for the 2012 NFL Draft

Mizzou Football Links

The Trib (Dave Matter): Answering the BTS Mailbox

Q: Kudos to veterans Gerau and McGaffie (and young vet Washington) for holding off their much-touted competition at WR so far. What did they do to hold their positions on the second team, and is time running out for Clark, Stricker, and especially Woodland? — arnezzi

A: Fans are concerned with the post-spring depth chart as to why the Class of 2010 receivers (Jimmie Hunt, Marcus Lucas, Bud Sasser) are still buried behind older players. After watching spring practices and talking with the coaches I'm not all that surprised. It's about consistency and doing your job on every snap. I remind those fans of this comment receivers coach Andy Hill made to me a few weeks ago regarding his receivers, young and old: "We really think our front-line guys are playing where it looks like it should look. They’re playing at a high level consistently every single day. They’re not making every single play, but for the most part they are. For the young guys it’s still kind of a jostle. There is a lot ability. And you see flashes of good things. And then you wonder what they’re thinking the next play. … The bottom line is we want guys who know what they’re doing and play hard every play. We’re working on their habits, their skills and just every single play making sure it counts." ...

This staff really likes the young receivers — but they're in a position where they have to earn playing time. And before they can catch starters like Wes Kemp and Jerrell Jackson, they have to outplay second-teamers like Brandon Gerau, Gahn McGaffie and L'Damian Washington. That didn't happen consistently in March and April. As for Rolandis Woodland, an ankle injury cost him two weeks of spring practice. I thought he was making some headway as far as catching the ball last season but not so much this spring. There's a lot of talent and depth at receiver on this team, maybe too much for him to earn anything more than a part-time role. Same goes for Stricker and Clark. They do have some hope in that MU wants to play at a faster tempo this season and sub in more receivers, like it did in the Insight Bowl.
PowerMizzou: 2011 Tiger Mailbag
We Are Mizzou: Mizzou Spring Team Bonding

Mizzou Links, 4-28-11

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