Who will make the All-SEC team offense?
Who will make the All-SEC team offense?
Marcus Bryant towers over most of his teammates. He stands 6’0″ tall and weighs 300 pounds, and there’s hardly anyone who can challenge an inch or an ounce of that.
So what if two walk-on edge rushers for the Missouri football team were tasked with testing the left tackle’s ability to take off and land after the snap during a soaking wet practice at Faurot Field on Monday?
Yes, not a fair fight.
But who will win this one-on-one battle?
“Not much (can),” Bryant said last Friday. “You know, I had trouble just sitting on the rushes, but just running through me, I don’t think it’s going to work.”
Bryant comes to Missouri with a very clear mission: to fill the void – the final “piece of the puzzle,” as he called it – at the left tackle position. Mizzou lost third-team AP All-American Javon Foster to the Jacksonville Jaguars as a fifth-round NFL draft pick in April, a key building block on the Tigers’ path to an 11-2 record and Cotton Bowl victory.
Prior to Bryant’s arrival, Mizzou made some offseason restructuring, as Cam’Ron Johnson moved from the right guard position to the left guard position in the spring. They also did some efficient work in the winter transfer portal, luring versatile rookie Cayden Green to play left tackle, at least for a moment.
But when Bryant, who was selected to the All-AAC first team with Southern Methodist last year, entered his name in the portal this spring, an opportunity arose.
One that the Tigers didn’t want to miss.
“I wanted to be in a program – it was like a piece of the puzzle,” Bryant said. “You know, somewhere where I was really needed; not really in a rebuilding kind of deal. That’s when Mizzou approached me, and I came here and we visited, and they emphasized that I was the (final) piece of the puzzle.”
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Bryant, who arrived in the summer after signing on April 24, began his first training camp in Columbia competing with Hutchinson CC transfer Jayven Richardson at left tackle. By any measure, it looked like a tough competition for the first round of preseason workouts.
But shortly after the Tigers’ second scrimmage of training camp last Saturday, there was a clear favorite in the eyes of Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz.
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“Since (Aug. 3), Marcus has taken, I think, all the reps with the (first team) at the left tackle position, and that position is really starting to solidify,” Drinkwitz said. “You know, that by no means means the competition is over — we’d like to see some game reps with other guys — but those five right now are building some continuity and chemistry.”
Here is the rest of the starting eleven:
Armand Membou will be Missouri’s right tackle. Cam’Ron Johnson is back at right guard, where he was a consistent presence in his first year as a Tiger in 2023. Connor Tollison, recently named to the Dave Rimington Trophy preseason watch list for the best center in college football, will play snapper for quarterback Brady Cook. Green works at left guard.
Mizzou is currently getting used to its big new addition.
A reliable big man blocking Cook’s blindside, Foster developed into an outside zone aficionado and helped Cody Schrader set the Tigers’ single-season rushing record in their respective final seasons in Columbia.
That will be Bryant’s job.
On Monday, as the skies opened up during Mizzou’s 12th practice of fall camp, the new tackle worked with Green and Tollison on a drill that involved little more than the basics. Reacting to the snap; keeping hands up for the approaching walk-on edge rusher; making sure left tackle, guard and center are in sync. The bread and butter of preseason training camp.
There was a lot of life to do in camp as Bryant adjusted to his new home in the SEC – the defenders gave Bryant a hard time.
One is Darris Smith, the defensive end who transferred from Georgia, who Bryant said comes out immediately and tries to “beat the opponent down.” Another is Johnny Walker Jr., the returning Cotton Bowl defensive MVP, who Bryant said also frequently tries to surprise the opponent.
Everything went faster. Every day required a new adjustment, he said.
After not playing for much of the spring and getting used to the new level of competition and speed of his new stride, he said he was able to “tune in to my details” that got him moved to the power conference in the first place.
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If he keeps the starting left tackle position, Bryant will have a big task ahead of him.
But don’t forget… he’s a big guy.
“I just want to be the best left tackle in the country,” Bryant said. “That’s what I wanted to do and show it on a bigger level, so I felt like this was the right (place) for me.”
