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No drama here: Missouri’s early signing period already a resounding success

Here are today’s Mizzou Links.

1. Missouri won its early signing period before it even began.

That’s what happens when you land not one but two former four-star All-American quarterbacks with Power 5 starting experience.

With Kelly Bryant and now TCU transfer Shawn Robinson now on board, Missouri’s quarterback plan looks mighty set for the next three years.

This is just wild. It’s wild for a multitude of reasons, but especially for the fact that Missouri went head-to-head with Auburn and landed Bryant — and then landed Robinson immediately, despite LSU and Auburn rumored to be attempting to get involved.

Before the Robinson news broke on Tuesday night, I was getting ready to write a column about how it’s very rare that one recruit makes or breaks a class. But you know what? Two recruits can — and when you land two quarterbacks with Power 5 starting experience in the same class, when you lay a clear line of succession from one All-Conference quarterback to two more with that same potential — well, THAT makes a class.

Missouri has its two headliners in the 2019 class, even if they really aren’t technically in the 2019 class. Neither Bryant nor Robinson has posted stats that are out of this world, but again, these are still high-profile quarterbacks with starting experience.

Remember, if Missouri fans could talk themselves into Maty Mauk being a star quarterback, then Bryan and Robinson should be Hall of Famers.

(Speaking of Bryant: Gabe DeAarmond of PowerMizzou.com spoke with Bryant at the basketball game on Tuesday night and there are some fantastic quotes in this article — and it’s free.)

I’m rambling. The most important thing to remember is that, no matter what happens over the next three days — no matter what happens the first Wednesday in February — Missouri’s 2019 recruiting class is a resounding, astounding success. Ignore the rankings in this one.

Missouri has a depth of talent and experience at quarterback now, and that affords Barry Odom the luxury of finding complimentary pieces to place. Odom has his centerpieces, and how convenient they’re there right before Christmas.

And, if you’re wondering what Robinson’s commitment means for the other quarterbacks currently on the roster, well...

2. Missouri did WHAT to Xavier?

Led by Jeremiah Tilmon’s 23-10 line, Missouri throttled Xavier 71-56 on Tuesday night.

Excuse me now?

I know Xavier isn’t the same Xavier as recent years, but — man. Missouri is going to continue to have its struggles this year, but a game like this shows what this team can be when Jeremiah Tilmon is engaged and aggressive on the offensive end, without being reckless.

And with that, I’ll stop acting like I know what I’m talking about with basketball.

3. Robinson wasn’t the only commitment on Wednesday

Isaiah McGuire, a three-star defensive end from Tulsa, Okla., committed to Missouri in the most efficient commitment video ever.

McGuire picked Missouri over Tulsa and Missouri State — but it’s important to remember how the early signing period has changed things. McGuire, with his size (6-4, 260), seems like the type of recruit that would blow up (figuratively, not literally) in January as Power 5 teams miss out on some other recruits on their board. Normally, that results in what I call the “Hierarchy of Stealing”, where Alabama steals from, say, Missouri who in turn then steals from, say, Memphis, so on and so forth.

Instead, the early signing period gives more security to the class and locks-in most of the commitments before bigger programs come in late. So, yeah, the rankings might be lower — but there are still players that Missouri will sign that have the talent that belies their rankings.


Yesterday at Rock M


More Links:

  • Personally, I think Illinois fans will be respectful and polite to former Illini guard Mark Smith.
  • Speaking of transfers to hated rivals...
  • Remember to stay tuned all day to Rock M Nation during the start of the early signing period.