There was a point last season that Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz looked around his team and saw two healthy linebackers with in-game experience.
Ty’Ron Hopper had gone down with an injury. Likewise, Chad Bailey. That threw Triston Newson into the picture and veteran Chuck Hicks into an expanded role.
The forced hand, looking back, has paid dividends. Hicks and Newson are this season’s listed starters at the position, and part of a near-set-in-stone rotation with Miami transfer Corey Flagg and South Alabama newcomer Khalil Jacobs.
But that forced hand has also been somewhat of a lesson on early season development. Especially, like Drinkwitz said, “if you want to play a long time” in a single season.
“As these games get going, Weeks 7 through 12, it’s about the competitive depth that you have in order to win,” Drinkwitz said. “And that competitive depth may show up on special teams units. It may show up on third-down packages. It may show up on first or second down.”
Mizzou’s reserves got reps in all of the above in Week 1. The newly top-10 Tigers cycled through 71 total players during their season-opening, 51-point win over Murray State last Thursday on Faurot Field.
The defensive players, in particular, appear to have caught the MU coach’s attention, as they closed the door on a shutout and helped the Tigers finish the first full week of the season as the national leader in total yards allowed (87); passing yards allowed (27); yards per play (1.7); and fewest first downs allowed (five).
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Linebackers Jermemiah Bealsey and Nicholas Rodriguez, both freshmen, got specific props from the head coach. Safety Trajen Greco, another rookie, earned a namedrop, too.
So much so that Drinkwitz said the Tigers have altered the special teams depth chart to make sure some players are seeing more opportunities for playing time. The updated unofficial depth chart was not made available to reporters during Tuesday’s media session, but likely will be included among the team’s Week 2 game notes, which will be released later in the week.
As of Tuesday, it looks like some newcomers are going to be seeing more of Faurot Field. That could pay dividends down the line.
“I saw where Coach (Lane) Kiffin talked about that he didn’t even consider reducing the quarters, and I’m with him 100%,” Drinkwitz said. “We’ve got to have our guys play, and we’ve got to get as many quality reps (as we can), because that’s how you develop.”
Aside from being a useful developmental tool, Drinkwitz also used the deep competitive depth as part of his two-fold reasoning for why there were so many lopsided Week 1 scores.
Nine SEC teams, Mizzou included, put up 50 or more points on their generally overmatched opponents. Ten teams pitched a shutout or limited their opponent to just a field goal.
The other reason: Being top of the transfer portal food chain.
“With the ability of the portal to take top-tier talent from lower divisions, I think you’re seeing some of that result,” Drinkwitz said. “I think some of the schools that in the past would have developed some of those players, (they) no longer have those guys. They’re playing up at different schools.”
Added Drinkwitz: “You know, there’s some games out west (where) games were in doubt in the fourth quarter. So, every game’s a little bit different. But I do think some of that in our conference is the ability for us to attract some of the top-end talent from the lower divisions.”
Of course, that doesn’t mean the Tigers are going to trot out players for the sake of playing them.
When Mizzou faces Buffalo on Saturday evening in Columbia for its Week 2 matchup, Drinkwitz said the pregame plan is for his starters to go the distance.
That also was the plan against Murray State, mind you. But the score allowed for some in-game alterations, like Drew Pyne’s debut at quarterback at quarterback midway through the third quarter.
And if it happens again, all depth reps are good reps.
“For us,” Drinkwitz said, “it’s about getting as many players ready that have the talent as possible.”
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Why Eli Drinkwitz said Game 1 depth reps will benefit Missouri football
