Who are the future stars of the Mizzou offensive line?

As the 2023 season approaches, we’re asking our football staff to answer a series of questions facing the Mizzou Tigers. Read along to get their takes on who should start, who will shine and who will leave their mark on the season.

It’s not enough to have one or two good offensive linemen. A 20-40 percent hit rate on starters will win you nothing in the SEC. No, you need four or five guys who are going to make an impact in the trenches... maybe even more if you aspire to the heights of the 2007 and 2013 Mizzou legacies.

We know Javon Foster is a future NFL’er. We know Cam’Ron Johnson is going to be an upgrade in 2023. But looking down the depth chart a little bit...

Eli Drinkwitz has prioritized recruiting in the trenches, and the Tigers have a lot of young depth up front. Who are the future stars of the Mizzou offensive line?

Quentin Corpuel, Staff Writer: Armand Membou is the underclassman who’s gotten the most collective hype from other Mizzou football players, but I feel like that’s too easy of an answer. Since Membou is the only underclassman who’s likely seeing significant playing time at OL this season, I’ll pick someone else: Logan Reichert.

For starters, Reichert is pretty difficult to ignore, in part because he has almost the same measurements as Evan freaking Neal. He might be the largest human being I’ve ever stood near other than Gheorge Muresan. Reichert was a magician in high school; oftentimes, he’d make contact with a defender, and BOOM! They’d disappear.

Like Brett Norfleet, we still have to see if Reichert’s comical blocking potential translates against bigger and faster defenders at the SEC level. For now, however, we can dream about Reichert serving up pancakes like a master chef every fall Saturday.

Jaden Lewis, Beat Writer: Looking into the future, how about freshman Logan Reichert? His size alone on paper is eye-opening, standing at 6-foot-6, 369 pounds! Xavier Delgado went on to say on the record that Reichert is one of the biggest humans he’s seen, along with...Jordan Davis. Of course it's going to take time for him to develop, but the ceiling is high for the offensive tackle from Raytown.

If we’re going more short-term, then the answer is Armand Membou. The now sophomore appeared as a true freshman last season and will again be the youngest guy to start on the offensive line if he wins the opportunity. With Connor Tollison likely locking down the center position, Cam’Ron Johnson will be more than likely shifting to one of the guard positions. But, with Membou being one of the highly recruited players in the state and him quickly finding playing time, there’s no reason to think that he’s going to take any steps back meaning he’ll be a pillar upfront for years to come.

Josh Matejka, Deputy Site Manager: Picking Membou and Reichert is old hat at this point. We know Membou is quickly turning into one of the young stars of the SEC and Reichert’s pedigree speaks for itself. So why not look to a guy a little further down the depth chart... Valen Erickson, anyone?

Erickson took a redshirt last season, so he maintains all four years of eligibility. He was a high three-star recruit coming out of college and, while he’s not quite as big as Reichert, he’s still got more height and weight than a lot of guys in his unit. Mizzou wanted him badly enough to flip him from Nebraska, which suggests he may have a part to play in the near future. Will he be a star in 2023? Probably not. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see him as a guy we’re talking about in the next two years.