Mizzou in the Pros

Mizzou Links: #MizzouMade rookies thrive in 2014

E.J. Gaines, Kony Ealy, and Justin Britt make NFL all-rookie teams, Mizzou Gymnastics might have the best freshman in the SEC, and Basketball signee Cullen Van Leer is putting up some hellacious stats.

By Bill Connelly@SBN_BillC Jan 14, 2015, 5:14am CST

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What's On

Later today, we'll get to the basketball game ("game") that happened last night. Here's everything else that's going on in the Mizzou universe, including Markus Golden getting some first-rounder hype.

MarkusGolden's ready 4 the seniorbowl. HeadFake Cross Chop like PassRush Legend @OsiUmenyiora . He should be a 1st Eound Draft Pick. He's @rmathis_the1st kinda player Explosive, Nasty & Smart with passion on the field with great effort. He Can play down as 4-3 End or Up as a 3-4 OLB.

A video posted by Chuck Smith (@chucksmithatl) on Jan 13, 2015 at 12:36pm PST

#MizzouMade

PFWA: All-Rookie Team

2014 PFWA ALL-ROOKIE TEAM

Offense

QB – Teddy Bridgewater, Minnesota Vikings
RB – Jeremy Hill, Cincinnati Bengals; Tre Mason, St. Louis Rams
WR – Odell Beckham Jr., New York Giants; Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
TE – Jace Amaro, New York Jets
C – Corey Linsley, Green Bay Packers
G – Joel Bitonio, Cleveland Browns; Zack Martin, Dallas Cowboys
T – Taylor Lewan, Tennessee Titans; Ja’Wuan James, Miami Dolphins

Defense

DL – Aaron Donald, St. Louis Rams; Timmy Jernigan, Baltimore Ravens; Kony Ealy, Carolina Panthers; Justin Ellis, Oakland Raiders
LB – Chris Borland, San Francisco 49ers; Khalil Mack, Oakland Raiders; C.J. Mosley, Baltimore Ravens
CB – Kyle Fuller, Chicago Bears; E.J. Gaines, St. Louis Rams
S – Deone Bucannon, Arizona Cardinals; Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Green Bay Packers

Special Teams

PK – Cody Parkey, Philadelphia Eagles
P – Pat O’Donnell, Chicago Bears
KR – Jarvis Landry, Miami Dolphins
PR – De’Anthony Thomas, Kansas City Chiefs
ST – Trey Burton, Philadelphia Eagles

I lost track of Ealy a bit this season, first because there were a lot of rookies to track (not to mention Jacquies Smith's surge), second because our Carolina SBN blog didn't mention him a ton. But he did end up with four sacks and a forced fumble, and he did have a couple of stuffs in the postseason.

Meanwhile, while I'm always a little shaky about the idea of Pro Football Focus grading every player -- at some point, you have to make too many assumptions to pull that off appropriately -- hooray, more representation! Justin Britt made the offensive All Rookie Team (as the "least bad" option, apparently), and Gaines made the defensive team.

If you're looking toward Mizzou's basketball future right about now...

PowerMizzou: Following the Future

Cullen VanLeer - SG 6'4", 195 - Pacific (Mo.), 3*

This week: VanLeer and Pacific have started the season at 8-3. Among the wins were three in a row at the Owensville Tournament which earned them the tournament championship. VanLeer averaged 17.7 PPG during the tournament.

Season stats: 26.3 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 4.7 APG, 2.3 SPG, 54.7 FG%, 32.1 3FG%, 79.7 FT%

Good gracious, that's some solid box score fillin'....