We'll have a more comprehensive rundown of the veritable boatload of links in a monstrous Monday links post tomorrow, but right now I wanted to highlight a few themes from yesterday.
1. Harneet Gill is no longer on the team
Post-Dispatch: Gill is latest loss for Mizzou
The Trib (Behind the Stripes): Frosh OL Harneet Gill no longer with team
KC Star: Freshman offensive tackle leaves Mizzou’s football team
Harneet Gill was not going to play this year, and he was a risk from the beginning because of a particularly annoying Lisfranc injury to his foot. It was swelling up and preventing him from practicing, and I assume we'll learn today that it had something to do with the fact that he quit the team this weekend.
On one hand, this isn't an enormous loss. We knew he was a risk, and again, while his absence could cost Mizzou in the future, he wasn't going to play this year. On the other hand, Mizzou's struggles with line depth are well-documented. It opens up another scholarship for use this season, and that's not a bad thing, but it seems like a disproportionate number of recruiting misses have come on the line; Mizzou can't afford many more.
(And the fact that the 2013 recruiting class has lost about 20% of its original roster is something to watch as well.)
2. The defensive line has swagger
The Trib (Behind the Stripes): Camp Notes: Kony Ealy don't need no stinking 'average'
The Trib: MU's Ealy predicts big SEC turnaround
KC Star: Mizzou's Kony Ealy says he’s related to former Tiger Sheldon Richardson
KC Star: MU defensive line looks to team up in post-Sheldon Richardson era
Post-Dispatch: No shortage of confidence along Mizzou's restocked D-line
Post-Dispatch: Vincent wants attention outside of social media
When Kony Ealy is on, he's almost as good as his apparent relative Sheldon Richardson. And if he's on more in 2013 than he was in 2012, that could be a very, very good thing. If everybody on the line has improved a bit, from Ealy to Michael Sam to Lucas Vincent to Matt Hoch to Harold Brantley to Shane Ray, et cetera, they can offset the loss of Richardson. Swagger along doesn't mean improvement, but ... well, it's better than no swagger, I guess.
3. Max Copeland is still Max Copeland
The Trib: MU's Copeland embracing the moment
The Missourian: Missouri football's Copeland has substance beneath his looks
I'm going to miss that dude next year.