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Bill C.
A lot has been made about the poor job Missouri has done this year in landing in-state targets in the recruiting class of 2014. And it's a pretty reliable trend, really: Lose on the field, then lose elsewhere. Mizzou struggled to win in-state hearts and minds after the rough 2004 season, and a water-treading 2005 year didn't really improve things that much. The Tigers overcame that spell and could certainly do so again, but let's take a look at what exactly they have missed out on thus far, and which players are still on the table.
BillSelfsToupee
Rivals and ESPN recruiting services rarely agree on much, and it's no different with prospects in the state of Missouri. Here are the top 26 in-state recruits according to these two services.
| State Ranking | Player | Pos. | City (School) |
Star
Rating
|
Ht | Wt | School/Offers |
| #1 - Rivals & ESPN | Andy Bauer | OL | St. Louis, MO (DeSmet) | 4 stars | 6'6" | 304 | Ole Miss |
| #2 - Rivals | Rafe Peavey | QB | Bolivar, MO | 4 stars | 6'2" | 205 | Arkansas |
| #5 - Espn | |||||||
| #3 - Rivals | Roderick Johnson | OL | Florissant, MO (Hazelwood Central) | 4 stars | 6'7" | 310 | 17 FBS Offers including: Mizzou, Bama & others. |
| #2 - Espn | |||||||
| #5 - Rivals | Raymond Wingo | DB | St. Louis, MO (University) | 3 stars | 6'0" | 165 | Down to 6 contenders incl: Arky, Iowa, Nubs & Tenn. |
| #12 - Espn | |||||||
| #6 - Rivals | Markel Smith | RB | St. Louis, MO (Vianney) | 3 stars | 5'10" | 210 | Illini, Iowa, Ole Miss and & Mizzou in the mix. |
| #22 - Espn | |||||||
| #7 - Rivals | Brian Wallace | OL | St. Louis, MO (CBC High) | 3 stars | 6'6" | 304 | Down to 5 incl: Bama, Arky, Nubs & tOSU. |
| #3 - Espn | |||||||
| #8 - Rivals | Elijah Lee | DE | Blue Springs, MO | 3 stars | 6'3" | 203 | Kansas St. |
| #21 - Espn | |||||||
| #9 - Rivals | Dalvin Warmack | RB | Blue Springs, MO | 3 stars | 5'8" | 183 | Kansas St. |
| #25 - Espn | |||||||
| #10 - Rivals | Freedom Akinmoladun | TE | Grandview, MO | 3 stars | 6'4" | 240 | Nebraska |
| #7 - Espn | |||||||
| #11 - Rivals | Logan Cheadle | DB | Lee's Summit, MO (Lee's Summit West) | 3 stars | 5'10" | 165 | Missouri |
| #18 - Espn | |||||||
| #12 - Rivals | Armon Watts | DT | St. Louis, MO (CBC High) | 3 stars | 6'5" | 274 | Arkansas |
| #10 -Espn | |||||||
| #13 - Rivals | Zach Muniz | DB | St. Louis, MO (CBC High) | 3 stars | 5'11" | 160 | Duke |
| #19 - Espn | |||||||
| #14 - Rivals | Kevin Pendleton | OL | Lee's Summit, MO (Lee's Summit West) | 3 stars | 6'4" | 329 | Missouri |
| #24 - Espn | |||||||
| #15 - Rivals | Kaleb Prewett | DB | Blue Springs, MO | 3 stars | 6'2" | 197 | Kansas St |
| #11 - Espn | |||||||
| 4 - Espn | Monte Harrison | WR | Lee's Summit, MO (Lee's Summit West) | 4 stars | 6'2" | 190 | Nebraska |
| UR - Rivals | |||||||
| #6 - Espn | Jonathan Bonner | DE | Chesterfield, MO (Parkway Central) | 3 stars | 6'3" | 253 | Notre Dame |
| UR - Rivals | |||||||
| #8 - Espn UR - Rivals |
Kendall Blanton | TE | Blue Springs, MO (Blue Springs South) | 2.5 stars | 6'5" | 225 | Mizzou |
| #9 - Espn UR - Rivals |
Grant Jones | ATH | Columbia, MO (Hickman) | 3 stars | 63" | 219 | Mizzou |
| #13 - Espn UR - Rivals |
Aaron Mends | ILB | Kansas City, MO (Winnetonka) | 3 stars | 6'1" | 204 | Iowa |
| #14 - Espn UR - Rivals |
Renell Wren | DE | St. Louis, MO (Lutheran North) | 3 stars | 6'5" | 247 | 11 FBS offers incl: Mizzou, Nubs & ASU |
| #15 - Espn UR - Rivals |
Scott Schaffner | TE | Raymore, MO (Ray-Pec) | 1.5 stars | 6'4" | 215 | Iowa St. |
| #16 - Espn UR - Rivals |
Apa Visinia | OL | Grandview, MO | 2.5 stars | 6'5" | 380 | Kansas |
| #17 - Espn UR - Rivals |
Sam Bailey | OL | Lamar, MO | 2.5 stars | 6'5" | 245 | Mizzou |
| #19 - Espn UR - Rivals |
Matt Quarells | WR | Florrisant, MO (Hazelwood Central) | 1.5 stars | 6'2" | 180 | 10 FBS offers incl: Mizzou, Purdue & Indy |
Those players listed with a half star are the combined star ratings of ESPN & Rivals. Mizzou has one more commit in the 2014 class from an in-state player listed in the top 25 by ESPN: Darnell Green-Beckham from Springfield Hillcrest is a 3* WR.
Bill C.
Wins cure ills, and there's nothing saying that Mizzou might not get another look from those committed elsewhere if the Tigers rip off an eight-win season or something. Signing Day is still four and a half months away, after all. You don't have to try very hard to find people optimistic about Mizzou's chances both with Markel Smith and even Andy Bauer, so we'll have to wait and see. (Of course, the Tigers don't have that many spots remaining either, so we'll see.)
Still, while there's never a good time to lose games, it's frustrating to see Mizzou feeling ill recruiting effects now, when the state of Missouri has produced a few high-caliber offensive linemen. The Tigers have scored interesting commits from outside of the state, and maybe they like those guys more anyway, but considering the recent misses in terms of OL recruiting, it certainly isn't fun seeing Andy Bauer with "Ole Miss" next to his name, or Brian Wallace not really taking Mizzou seriously, or Roderick Johnson looking in plenty of directions.
It is what it is, though. Wins improve recruiting, and the Tigers could certainly help themselves out by winning quite a few more games in the coming 2.5 months. And again, they've filled a good percentage of their class already, anyway. But let's try the "win games" thing anyway, just in case.