Missouri spring football 2015: Day 1 practice reports

First, I added David Morrison's injury notes to yesterday's depth chart piece. The biggest news was that Tavon Ross tore his ACL recently and is out for spring at the least. That's a damn shame, though it does allow me to Brian Coulterize him and continue billing him as William Moore 2.0. It will now be a few more months before anybody can prove me wrong.

To the practice reports!

The Trib (Behind the Stripes): Six for Spring: Keys to the Defense
The Trib (Behind the Stripes): Missouri kicks off spring practice
The Trib (Behind the Stripes): MU Notes: The "Build Me a Better South End Zone" edition

Pinkel said there hasn't been any talk of moving Marvin Zanders from quarterback: "Not at all. He actually threw the ball really well today. For any player, those are things we discuss at any position. If it's not working out for them, they can play another spot. He's no different for anybody else. Right now he's playing quarterback. He wants to play quarterback. He's worked hard. This will be a big spring and a chance to see where he is. We all know he's a great athlete. It's pretty exciting to see where he can come from." [...]

Brothers said Odom's scratched the surface on his 3-4 wrinkles: "His 3-4 is different from the 3-4 we ran with" Dave Steckel. "Instead of four linebackers, we have a 'Dawg' position, and that's probably going to be a defensive end. He hasn't told us too much about it yet. We went over some of the plays during winter conditioning. When he starts putting it in, I'm sure we'll be able to get a good grasp on it and be able to run it."

The Missourian: Missouri football opens spring practice in sun-soaked Memorial Stadium

Pinkel said he expects ends Charles Harris and Marcus Loud to be successful pass rushers. Terry Beckner Jr., the No. 2 overall recruit in the nation, could also contribute on the defensive line.

"We’ve got a little more experience in the middle," Pinkel said, "but I expect those other guys too — Harris and Loud and couple of the other guys — to play at a different level just because they’re stronger, they’re faster, quicker and they’re more mature. It’s exciting to see that, too."

PowerMizzou: First Look: Spring Practice
PowerMizzou (PMTV): Spring camp opens
PowerMizzou: Spring Notebook: 3/10

Cornerback Kenya Dennis had the most interesting to response.

"Today was really the first day you could really tell how everything was put together," Dennis said, "and today it really seemed like it was a more aggressive-type defense, and we had a lot more break-ups and a lot more interceptions than we would usually have."

I asked senior receiver Wesley Leftwich if he could tell any truth to Dennis' assertion that the defense seems to be more aggressive. Leftwich gave a pseudo-non-answer before adding an intriguing caveat.

"I mean, right now, today since it's just one practice, I'm sure they haven't put everything in," Leftwich said. "But I know KD's an aggressive guy. Every play with him is always a tough fight.

And just for fun...

CFB Matrix: Recruiting at the Conference Level