Lets talk about a little bit of ‘Crootin, shall we?

Eli Drinkwitz and company just put the finishing touches on what was one of the best recruiting classes in Missouri history, finishing at #21 in the country. It’s a really impressive feat for a staff in their first year that did basically no in-person recruiting. If they can keep this level of recruiting up, there’s a reasonable expectation that Missouri will be competing for titles in no time. In the meantime, there’s still work to be done.

That work was wrapping up this 2021 class. If you remember, at the end of the early signing period, Missouri was waiting on both Shemar Pearl and BJ Harris to send in their respective letters of intent.

If you hadn’t heard though, Pearl unfortunately won’t be a Tiger:

On the bright side though, we finally got BJ Harris.. Home. Congratulations to him, and welcome aboard!

Looking towards the future, the 2022 class figures to be a pivotal one for Drinkwitz as he and his staff try and continue the hot streak on the recruiting trail. After doing a little bit of digging into the list of reported offers, there are a few things in particular the staff might be looking for.

1. According to Rivals, Missouri has 20 offers out to Wide Receivers in the 2022 class. A close look at the profile of some of the guys offered shows that most are 6’2+ and close to 200 pounds. This shouldn’t be overly surprising, as they’ve loaded up on slot receivers in the past few cycles. Bigger, stronger receivers that can play on the outside seem to be the preferred body type.
2. It’s a very similar situation on the defensive side of the ball when you look at the defensive backs they’re recruiting. They’re looking for the big bodied guys. Maybe someone like this?
3. Missouri is also really trying to upgrade their trenches. They have 22 offers out to offensive linemen and 16 to guys along the defensive line, with 10 coming from the defensive tackle spot. There are going to be a number of departures at the defensive tackle at the end of the 2021 season, and it seems like they’re trying to find a few guys to come fill those spots.

Which brings me to my next point...

This week, the 4-Star DT out of St. Charles, Marquis Gracial cut his long list of offers down to eight, and guess who made the list?

Mizzou, that’s who!

Gracial, (#6 player in Missouri, and #218 in the country) is a really nice player that has a solid list of offers including Oklahoma and Alabama. This is one recruiting battle in particular I’m interested in seeing play out. Oklahoma already has one of the best recruits in the metro area in Luther Burden and adding another top guy in the state would definitely hurt. Should they find a way to keep Gracial home though, it’s a big step in the quest to lock down the state.

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