clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

J'Mon Moore's half-demotion is the only Missouri depth chart change

Missouri has released its game notes and depth chart for Saturday's game against Vanderbilt (3:00 p.m. CT, SEC Network). There's been only one minor change.

Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Offense

QB
Drew Lock (6'4, 205, Fr.) -- 63-for-118 (53%), 655 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT, 11 sacks (4.5 yards/att.); 7 carries, 30 yards (4.3)
Eddie Printz (6'3, 205, So.) *OR*
Marvin Zanders (6'1, 185, RSFr.)

As expected, there's still no Maty Mauk here.

RB
Russell Hansbrough (5'9, 195, Sr.) -- 44 carries, 190 yards (4.3); 9 targets, 7 catches, 40 yards (4.4)
Ish Witter (5'10, 190, So.) -- 87 carries, 339 yards (3.9), 1 TD; 17 targets, 12 catches, 89 yards (5.2)
Tyler Hunt (5'11, 210, Sr.) -- 14 carries, 54 yards (3.9); 4 targets, 4 catches, 166 yards (41.5), 1 TD
Chase Abbington (6'2, 215, So.) -- 6 carries, 39 yards (6.5); 4 targets, 1 catch, 5 yards (1.3)

Per David Morrison's Snap Decisions piece, Hansbrough saw a majority of the snaps at RB for only the second time all year. One would assume that will be the case from here on out.

WR-X
J'Mon Moore (6'3, 190, So.) -- 37 targets, 16 catches, 205 yards (5.5), 2 TD *OR*
Emanuel Hall (6'3, 200, Fr.) -- 9 targets, 3 catches, 25 yards (2.8)
Eric Laurent (6'2, 215, Jr.) -- 1 target, 1 catch, 4 yards

WR-H
Nate Brown (6'3, 205, So.) -- 36 targets, 20 catches, 251 yards (7.0), 4 TD
Cam Hilton (6'0, 180, Fr.) -- 4 targets, 3 catches, 44 yards (11.0) *OR*
Ray Wingo (5'11, 180, RSFr.) -- 7 targets, 3 catches, 23 yards (3.3)

WR-Z
Wesley Leftwich (6'1, 205, Sr.) -- 26 targets, 12 catches, 148 yards (5.7), 1 TD
Keyon Dilosa (6'3, 200, RSFr.) -- 9 targets, 8 catches, 48 yards (5.3)
DeSean Blair (6'3, 190, RSFr.) -- 4 targets, 2 catches, 25 yards (6.3)

TE
Sean Culkin (6'6, 245, Jr.) -- 18 targets, 14 catches, 117 yards (6.5)
Clayton Echard (6'5, 260, Sr.) -- 2 targets, 1 catch, 6 yards (3.0) *OR*
Jason Reese (6'5, 250, So.) -- 19 targets, 11 catches, 101 yards (5.3)
Kendall Blanton (6'6, 250, RSFr.)

As expected, Sean Culkin is once again listed as Missouri's starting tight end. He missed the South Carolina and Florida games after getting hurt early in the Kentucky game, and he was listed as questionable last week but ended up playing most of the game against Georgia. And he didn't really look too hindered by injury either. That's a good thing.

Pretty much the only change you're going to find on the depth chart this week comes at X receiver, where J'Mon Moore has suffered a half-demotion of sorts. He's now listed as an *OR* starter with Emanuel Hall. Hall has caught only one of three passes for 13 yards over the last two games, but since catching that early-game bomb from Drew Lock against Florida, Moore has failed to reel in any of his last six passes. Plus, he was evidently benched for a couple of series in Athens after whiffing on a block. Missouri's receiver blocking has been dismal of late -- probably the reason we haven't seen as many of the sideline passes that we saw against South Carolina -- and Moore's semi-demotion is probably because of that, at least in part.

LT
Connor McGovern (6'4, 305, Sr.) -- 35 career starts
Malik Cuellar (6'5, 300, Jr.)

LG
Brad McNulty (6'4, 305, Sr.) -- 18 career starts
Alec Abeln (6'3, 290, So.) -- 2 career starts

C
Evan Boehm (6'3, 310, Sr.) -- 47 career starts
Sam Bailey (6'5, 280, RSFr.)

RG
Mitch Hall (6'5, 310, Sr.) -- 11 career starts
Kevin Pendleton (6'4, 315, RSFr.)

RT
Nate Crawford (6'5, 310, So.) -- 5 career starts
Taylor Chappell (6'5, 305, Sr.) -- 14 career starts
Paul Adams (6'6, 290, RSFr.)

No changes here.

I've seen quite a few calls for a youth movement of sorts up front, the logic being that Missouri is basically playing for 2016 now and that it's time to get some more non-seniors involved so they're ready next year. But that's basically asking the staff to play someone other than who they think the five best guys are. Or, to put that another way, it's basically asking the staff to tell Kentrell Brothers, Evan Boehm, Russell Hansbrough, and all the other seniors that they're punting on the rest of 2015 (play on words unintended), their collective final season, and playing for next year. They're not going to do that. They're going to keep playing the five guys they think are the best.

That said ... damn, I was hoping to see McGovern's name at left guard. Vandy has one hell of a pass defense, but the run defense, while solid, is less impressive. Lining Boehm and McGovern up next to each other, like the team (revealingly) does in short-yardage, gotta-make-it situations, offers Missouri the best chance at establishing something on the ground. And if you can do that, a slightly less effective less tackle (whoever that would be) makes less of a difference.

Defense

DE
Walter Brady (6'3, 255, RSFr.) -- 19.0 tackles, 9.5 TFL (6 sacks), 1 INT
Marcell Frazier (6'5, 265, So.) -- 8.0 tackles, 4.5 TFL (1 sack)

DT
Josh Augusta (6'4, 345, Jr.) -- 10.5 tackles, 5 TFL, 1 PBU
Terry Beckner Jr. (6'4, 300, Fr.) -- 11.0 tackles, 5 TFL (2 sacks), 1 PBU

NG
Rickey Hatley (6'4, 300, Jr.) -- 12.5 tackles, 2.5 TFL
A.J. Logan (6'2, 310, So.) -- 5.0 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 FF
Josh Moore (6'5, 280, Fr.) -- 2.0 tackles

DE
Charles Harris (6'3, 255, So.) -- 29.0 tackles, 12.5 TFL (5 sacks), 1 FF
Nate Howard (6'4, 240, Fr.) -- 5.5 tackles, 1.5 TFL
Spencer Williams (6'3, 245, RSFr.)

No changes here. Beckner was awesome in the backup role last week, so I was a little bit curious about how he would be listed, but Augusta and Hatley were awesome, too.

WLB
Kentrell Brothers (6'1, 235, Sr.) -- 66.5 tackles, 5.5 TFL (1.5 sacks), 2 INT, 1 PBU
Joey Burkett (6'2, 210, So.) -- 6.0 tackles

MLB
Michael Scherer (6'3, 230, Jr.) -- 40.5 tackles, 5 TFL, 2 PBU
Brandon Lee (6'2, 220, RSFr.) -- 1.5 tackles, 1 PBU

SLB
Donavin Newsom (6'2, 230, Jr.) -- 25.0 tackles, 6.5 TFL (2.5 sacks), 1 PBU
Clarence Green (6'0, 220, Sr.) -- 14.0 tackles, 0.5 TFL, 1 blocked kick
Terez Hall (6'2, 215, Fr.) -- 4.0 tackles

No changes. None expected.

CB
Kenya Dennis (5'11, 200, Sr.) -- 23.0 tackles, 2 TFL (1 sack), 1 INT,
2 PBU
John Gibson (6'0, 190, Jr.) -- 8.0 tackles, 1 INT, 2 PBU

CB
Aarion Penton (5'10, 190, Jr.) -- 25.5 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 6 PBU, 1 FF
Logan Cheadle (5'10, 180, So.) -- 4.0 tackles
Anthony Hines (6'1, 190, So.) -- 0.5 tackles

No changes. None expected.

SS
Anthony Sherrils (6'0, 190, So.) -- 29.5 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 INT, 4 PBU, 1 FF, 1 FR
Thomas Wilson (5'10, 190, So.) -- 5.0 tackles, 0.5 TFL

FS
Ian Simon (6'0, 195, Sr.) -- 22.0 tackles, 2 INT, 3 PBU, 1 FR
Cortland Browning (6'1, 205, Sr.) -- 6.0 tackles
Tavon Ross (6'0, 200, RSFr.) -- 1.5 tackles

No changes. None expected. One final interesting tidbit from Morrison's snap decisions: If you thought Thomas Wilson was on the field a lot more on Saturday, you were right. So was Logan Cheadle. Wilson became primary nickel back, with Penton staying at corner.

Special Teams

K
Andrew Baggett (6'1, 215, Sr.) -- 12-12 PAT, 10-13 FG

P
Corey Fatony (5'11, 185, Fr.) -- 45 punts, 44.0 average (18 fair caught, 17 inside 20)

KR
John Gibson (6'0, 190, Jr.) -- 7 KR, 12.6 average
Finis Stribling IV (5'11, 175, RSFr.)
Ray Wingo (5'11, 180, RSFr.)

PR
Cam HIlton (6'1, 180, Fr.) -- 4 PR, 3.0 average
Aarion Penton (5'10, 190, Jr.) -- 9 PR, 9.1 average, 1 TD, 7 fair catches

No changes here. I was curious about the kick return spot, but keeping Gibson atop the list is probably an acknowledgement that the first problem to solve in kick returns is actually blocking a little bit. Marcus Murphy wouldn't be finding much room to run either.