Spring performances only mean so much, but man, if Nate Brown were to have a nice senior season for Mizzou, that would mean a lot.

“I think Nate Brown is probably having one of the best camps that I’ve seen in a while,” [right tackle Paul] Adams said. “Coming off everything he’s had the last two years. The man just does not stop. He’s overcome so much. He’s going to be a huge wide receiver for us.” [...]

Lock said Brown is capable of making some very competitive catches and has already seen some this spring. Adams said Brown’s ball security is arguably the best on the team.

“I try not to limit myself as possession (receiver),” Brown said. “I just try to make plays whenever the ball is in the air.”

Whatever he considers himself, if Mizzou had a strong blocker and possession man in the Z-receiver spot, that would give Drew Lock an incredible number of security-blanket options, between a strong run game, tight end Albert Okwuegbunam, and Brown. That, in turn, would make Emanuel Hall and slots Johnathan Johnson/Richaud Floyd doubly dangerous, especially if Hall is able to take the next step in his development, too.

The bigger playbook could benefit senior Emanuel Hall more than any returning player. Last season, Hall emerged as one of the country’s best deep threats, averaging 24.8 yards on his 33 receptions. That average ranked second nationally. Eight of his receptions ended in the end zone. But the 6-3 speedster was mostly a one-hit wonder whose production usually came on go routes down the right sideline. In Dooley’s offense, the Tigers can move Hall to other parts of the field, and he’ll run a more diverse set of patterns.

“He takes that challenge of being a proficient route-runner and intermediate and short-gain pass-catcher very seriously,” Ofodile said. “That’s what we need out of him, to be the total package.”

As I wrote this weekend, I’m concerned about making things too complicated for this personnel, but at some point you just have too many weapons for it to matter. Mizzou’s not there yet, but the Tigers could be reasonably close.

This Weekend at Rock M

More Links:

• Bonding over food is pretty effective.
• 4-star receiver commit Shamar Nash is visiting lots of other SEC schools but remains committed to Mizzou at the moment. Meanwhile, St. Louis Trinity Catholic lineman Ira Henry visited Columbia recently.
• A 6’8 point guard!

• The Missourian has a feature on Addison Potts, the highly sought-after eighth-grader who recently committed to Mizzou Women’s Hoops.
• Mizzou Gymnastics put up a solid 196.100 score at the NCAA Regionals in Tuscaloosa but needed another 0.4 points to reach nationals. The Tigers ended up fifth behind Alabama (197.225), Georgia (196.500), Illinois (196.425), and Michigan (196.350).
• There are encouraging series losses and discouraging ones. For Mizzou Baseball, it was the latter. With weather making start times funky, the Tigers lost two of three at home to unranked Alabama, losing 2-1 on Friday afternoon (despite a 13-7 hits advantage), then splitting a Saturday doubleheader — a 1-0 shutout win from Michael Plassmeyer and a 5-1 loss. Three games, three runs. Even in unfriendly weather, that’s disappointing.

• Mizzou Softball’s series loss at No. 5 Georgia, though? Pretty encouraging. Mizzou led 6-5 in the bottom of the sixth of Game 1 before falling, 8-6, won 5-1 behind great pitching from Lauren Rose on Saturday, and was tied 2-2 in the sixth before collapsing late in the Sunday rubber match. The Tigers remain competitive but need a couple more weapons than they currently have.

• Mizzou Tennis was pretty competitive this weekend but still fell to 0-11 in conference play following a 4-2 loss to No. 17 Auburn and a 4-2 loss to an Alabama team that was previously also winless in conference play.