Mammoth offensive lineman Bobby Lawrence signs with Missouri

Bobby Lawrence was a late bloomer of sorts. A 2018 offensive line prospect from Saint Joseph, Mo., he was committed to Illinois State until receiving a mid-December offer from Iowa State. He committed to that ISU a couple of weeks ago but received offers from Nebraska and his home-state Mizzou within two days early last week.

• This past weekend, he visited Columbia.
• On Monday, he flipped his commitment once again.

• On Wednesday, he officially signed.

The main reason for the late interest in the St. Joe’s Central prospect? Size. He’s listed at 6’8, 300, and rumor has it he’s probably closer to 6’9 now. He is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a low- to mid-three-star recruit and the No. 19 prospect in Missouri, though thanks to the late trio of P5 offers, he would probably move up a few spots in another re-ranking.

Lawrence’s highlight video is full of the exact kind of cartoon hilarity you hope to see when a 6’9, 300-pounder goes up against other, normal-sized high schoolers.

He gets low enough to get leverage, he pushes you forward, he falls on you. Rinse, repeat. There are some mean clips in there. And perhaps the best part is that he looks like he could carry a lot more weight — just because you weigh 300 pounds as a high-school lineman doesn’t mean it’s a good 300.

Lawrence joins a signing class that already featured offensive linemen Mike Ruth and Javon Foster, each of whom signed in December. The Tigers were attempting to land at least one JUCO lineman as well, and we’re unsure if that’s going to come to pass, but in Lawrence, Mizzou has landed both another in-state kid and another player with monstrous potential. WELCOME (officially), BOBBY.