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2012 Mizzou Fall Football Practice: Day 1 Links And Analysis.

By Bill Connelly
That's CAPTAIN Zaviar Gooden, thank you very much.
That's CAPTAIN Zaviar Gooden, thank you very much.

I assume not every day will be this detailed, but wow, did the local media outlets go nuts with coverage of Day One of Mizzou fall camp. Hell, Dave Matter posted five times yesterday! Anyway, it very much makes sense to break out practice report links into their own posts and look at what was said. "Other" Mizzou links will come later in the morning.

Let's go position-by-position with what we learned. And yes, while there are some quotes below, not everything from the above links are included (nor should they be). Take the time to go through them all! We are so incredibly spoiled by the depth and quality of the coverage Mizzou beat writers provide. Reward them with clicks!

Quarterback

"During the summer last year, I was throwing and one of the players hit my arm, and I kind of tweaked it. And ever since then, it wasn't the same. I don't know what the injury was exactly. It still bothered me some," Franklin said. "But now, being able to come back, I'm going to be excited because it has probably been almost over a year since my shoulder has been fully healthy."

-- The Missourian

"There were times last year when he couldn’t walk until Wednesday," Moe said.

-- KC Star

"No, he's not probable," Pinkel said. "He could play tomorrow."

-- PowerMizzou

So um, I would say we all heard everything we wanted to hear about James Franklin yesterday. I had no idea he'd be throwing and going full-strength from Day One of camp. But he did, and until we hear otherwise, any sort of concerns about James Franklin are off the table.

Running Back

Russell Hansbrough practiced with a red injury bib on after suffering a sprained ankle in workouts last week.

-- MUtigers.com

Obviously we're mainly watching this position to see which of the two true freshmen -- Morgan Steward and Russell Hansbrough -- might break into the rotation. Sounds like Hansbrough will be a step behind, at least at first.

Meanwhile, Pinkel still wouldn't officially rule out Henry Josey from playing in 2012 (he was apparently participating lightly in some drills), but we should probably continue to assume it won't (and won't need to) happen.

Receiving Corps

During the brief 7-on-7 drills, I only noticed one pass thrown in Green-Beckham’s direction, a 45-yard heave to the end zone from Mauk. The ball slipped through Green-Beckham’s hands after he pushed Gibson to the turf. Green-Beckham seemed to almost exclusively line up as an outside receiver, isolated on a single defender along the sideline. The 19-year-old really is a manchild, with a wingspan that’s absolutely Phelpsian. I’m convinced he can scratch his kneecaps without bending over. I’m interested to see how the staff utilizes him in the passing game, whether he stays outside or shifts inside to exploit some mismatches with slower defenders.

-- Dave Matter

"I glanced at him a little bit. He did some good things," Pinkel said. "Some little habit things like all the freshmen. You've got to start, you've got to finish, you've got to play hard all the time. That's true of almost any freshman."

-- PowerMizzou

"His first couple days here in the summer, he was a little bit overwhelmed so to speak," Franklin said. "And after, he kinda adjusted really well. It was almost like he was a veteran. He made some really good plays."

-- The Missourian

So DGB apparently already has the Michael Irvin Push-Off™ down pat, which is nice to see.

Also nice to see: contributions from freshmen might not stop at DGB. In multiple practice reports, we saw the names of Levi Copelin and tight ends Sean Culkin and Brandon Holifield dropped numerous times. Meanwhile, T.J. Moe has apparently tweaked his hamstring, but ... I think he'll probably be alright, no?

Offensive Line

I've got to say, I just love how Gary Pinkel handles his kids. Like Kyle Riggs a few years ago, Mark Hill will remain on scholarship despite his "retirement" from football. Such a nice little touch there. Meanwhile, Justin Britt is out with a Jones fracture (and expected to be fine by September), so Taylor Chappell and an apparently healthy-at-this-moment Anthony Gatti got some first-team reps. Nothing wrong with that.

On the other half of Franklin’s field, Elvis Fisher was making his return. He was back to the basics. He was in the left tackle position along the first-team line with his back straight, legs bent like Z’s, arms out in front of him, hands positioned on the teammate’s chest in front of him.

He was exploding upward, driving the mock defender backward.

"S---, Jack," offensive line coach Bruce Walker remarked after guard Jack Meiners did the same to the pseudo-defender in front of him. "That’s the key to life right there."

-- The Maneater

Fisher, a sixth-year senior, was present at practice after some uncertainty. The left tackle who missed all of last season to injury released a video on Twitter earlier this week threatening to hold out if several demands, including new soap for the locker room and a personal Segway, were not met.

How many of his demands were met?

"Zero. The coaches just told me to get back on the practice field and shut up," Fisher laughed.

-- The Missourian

I like Elvis Fisher.

Defensive Line

A handful of players have seen their weight increase by 5 pounds or more. The biggest gainers: Britt from 300 to 315, Thomas from 225 to 240, Hoch from 290 to 300 and Burnett from 240 to 250.

-- Dave Matter

Defensive tackle George White has left the team and word was that he will play at a Division II school this year.

-- PowerMizzou

[Pinkel on Sheldon Richardson]: "He has a chance to be an impact player. He's very talented. It's nice, for the first time since he's been here, he's got to do the things that our team does to get better and become a better player, and that's all summer long. He missed all last summer because he wasn't enrolled in school, he missed most of two-a-days, he made it to the bowl game, but he missed winter conditioning, he missed winter lifting, he missed spring football. So all the things that help develop a young player - and it's no fault of his at all - but all the things how we made Ziggy Hood a great player, finally all summer he got to work all summer long and now he's doing it in two-a-days. I think he has high expectations for himself. He has the potential to be really, really good. The good news is, he's been working real hard at it."

-- MUtigers.com

Matt Hoch is already 300 pounds? Seriously? About eight months ago, I thought he was destined to become a 255-pound tight end/H-Back. And now he's potentially the starting defensive tackle, with position-relevant size to match.

Linebacking Corps

Zaviar Gooden, a fellow linebacker and captain, has noticed a change in Ebner as he approaches his final season in Columbia. He's seen Ebner's voice grow loader -- "Everyone's behind him, and I'm following him myself," Gooden says. Gooden thinks himself a leader by example, and acknowledges that Ebner's voice has helped strengthen a defense preparing for its first season in The Defensive Conferece.

-- PowerMizzou

Stay healthy, Will.

Secondary

There's a bit of a shakeup at backup safety. Redshirt freshman Ian Simon, who was previously listed at third-string free safety, is now listed as the backup strong safety behind Kenronte Walker. The previous backup at the position, sophomore Daniel Easterly, is now listed at third string. Redshirt freshman Cortland Browning, previously listed as the third-team strong safety, now assumes Simon's old spot as the third-team free safety.

-- KC Star

There was also a large black sign near the players' entrance to the practice field that read: S.W.AG. - Sacrifice Will Achieve Greatness. Senior cornerback Kip Edwards indicated in the spring that the current senior class gathered together after last season and helped choose the motto.

-- KC Star

S.W.A.G. That's what I told myself all those mornings when I got up to blog before work. SACRIFICE WILL ACHIEVE GREATNESS. Kip Edwards and I are like soulmates.

Miscellany

Your captains: T.J. Moe, Elvis Fisher, Will Ebner and Zaviar Gooden. Really, no surprises there.

In the annual Camp Pinkel tradition, coaches were wearing matching T-shirts on Thursday, each emblazoned with the SEC logo on top of one word in all caps: RESPECT

-- Dave Matter

This, of course, requires me to once again share this picture:

It's football season, boys and girls.

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