As the Tigers near completion of their 2010 football recruiting class, I thought I’d take a look at the current verbal commitments and remaining targets. Much of the following information and opinions comes from months of synthesis from Powermizzou, the Missouri Rivals site, as well as a few other sources (espn scouts and random internet trolling). The guys over at Powermizzou do an insanely good job getting first hand information from recruits and high school coaches, I heartily recommend the $10/month investment.

The current 2010 newcomers list looks like this: 

Most likely additional commitments:

A couple things to note.  Due to its unusually small senior class, speculation is that the Tigers won’t have more than 20 scholarships to give, and maybe fewer, so don’t expect too many more commits.  Second, there are a ton of multi-position players and we won’t have any idea where they will actually play until next August…but that won’t stop me from speculating.

 Before I get to the class, a note about the two ranking systems above.  ESPN Scouts and Rivals offer two distinct ways of evaluating prospects.  Both services review game film and rank recruits, both by position and overall.  ESPN actually provides a short evaluation, whereas Rivals only provides stars and numerical rankings.  ESPN’s evaluations seem much less influenced by whether a player is widely recruited, or offered, whereas Rivals will explicitly bump ratings based on offers from prestigious programs (which is one reason you won’t see Mizzou signing many 2 stars anymore…Rivals will almost always give a Mizzou recruit 3 stars, apparently out of deference for Gary Pinkel…those 2 stars for Danario and Weatherspoon don’t look good on a recruiting service’s resume).  ESPN, however, gets to far fewer players and their analysis is often horribly out of date…Aldon Smith was listed as a 6′ WR well after signing day, for example.

I think comparing the two services (along with Scouts, Inc., supplied by Phenom, I hope) as well as recent high school production gives you the most complete picture available.  I’ve found ESPN often really likes players that Rivals doesn’t think much of, and vice versa.  For example, ESPN raved about Kenji Jackson, Kevin Rutland and Dom Hamilton whereas they were not as highly touted by Rivals.  One other important piece of information to consider is offers from other schools.  Having lived through almost two decades of spotty recruiting, I am happy to report that New Mexico State, UTEP and Iowa State are no longer our chief competitors for recruits.

On to the class…a frequent lament of the recent Mizzou fan is “Yeah, we can match up with the OUs and UTs of the world at the skill positions, but we are dominated on the lines.”  This recruiting class should be a step in the right direction.  While Rivals is not as high on Morse (6’6”, 285) (he committed last April and has been solid, which often dampens his Rivals rating), ESPN has him on its espn150 list, and both Morse and Demien (6’5”, 295) as top 20 offensive tackles nationally.  Demien, the consensus number one recruit in Missouri, was recently selected to play in the prestigious U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, even though he missed most of his senior season with a torn MCL.  Throw in 2009 commit Chris Freeman (6’9”, 330), who is rumored to be enrolled for January, and Anthony Gatti (6’6”, 280) out of suburban STL and that’s a big pile of human meat.  Likewise, Lucas Vincent is well liked by both services, and is one of the top defensive tackle prospects in the Midwest.  Kony Ealy has been compared by many people to Aldon Smith…described as long and athletic and just growing into his body.  Also, 2009 commit Ty Phillips is rumored to return from prep school this January, which is a coup.  He would have been hugely recruited but for questions about his ability to qualify.  With the return of most of the top talent already, the Tigers should be making up ground in the trenches.

While there is only one quarterback (thus far) in the class, that one is a doozy…James Franklin.

 
James Franklin looking all smiley.

Rivals rates Franklin as the 7^th best dual threat QB in the country, and he has surpassed even that lofty rating his senior year.  Although his Lake Dallas team just lost in the Texas state playoffs, it sure wasn’t because of Franklin.  He’s 6’2”, 220 and compiled over 3000 total yards and 40 touchdowns this season.  Some Texas high school football observers rank Franklin as the best QB in the state.  ESPN is a bit more circumspect about Franklin, noting that his mechanics are not strong, but even they note that he is a formidable talent.  Personally, I think the spread offense is at its best with a strong runner at the QB position.  Franklin intends to enroll in January, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he is the number 2 next year and pushes Gabbert for the remainder of his career.

The Tigers picked up their obligatory two cornerbacks in the class in Xavier Smith (5’ 11” 180, Oklahoma) and EJ Gaines (5’ 10” 180, Missouri).  Gaines was lightly recruited…as in, only offered by Missouri, an offer he quickly jumped on this summer.  Since then, he has blown up, leading Fort Osage to the state finals as a RB and CB.  Xavier Smith is a well regarded corner out of Edmund, Oklahoma.  ESPN is high on his coverage skills and notes that he is excellent in run support as well.

If there is a concern in the class, it is at wide receiver and running back.  Jimmie Hunt was a good catch, although his lack of offers might belie his Rivals 4 star rating.  Getting Marcus Lucas (6’4” 200lbs) and Bud Sasser (6’3” 195 lbs) would rectify those concerns almost immediately.  Both are big, fast receivers that have the physical attributes to step in and contribute right away.  Mizzou is looking good for Sasser—doesn’t hurt to have your chief competition go all Big Fat Bad Lieutenant on the world.  Lucas has long been rumored a Mizzou lock, and he has cooled on OU, once thought to be the primary competition.  However, Stanford has jumped in, and even though his mother is a Mizzou alum, what parent can tell their child that a Stanford degree is a bad idea?  Doesn’t hurt that they are actually good at football and have a talented redshirt freshman at QB in Andrew Luck (who, incidentally, was also a Mizzou recruit).  Stupid billionaires and their technologies.  Lucas and Sasser look very similar; big, fast with a huge catching radius.  ESPN lauds both for superior route running and getting in/out of breaks cleanly.  They both appear physically ready to play as freshman.  Anyone who has watched the Danario Alexander Show this year knows that we could use some reinforcements at receiver.  If you can’t sell the Mizzou receiver situation to a recruit, you need to get out of sales.

Bud Sasser on the hoof

Running back is a little dicier.  Greg White is the more highly thought of recruit, but he is a big, downhill runner type, and many observers think his future is at linebacker or even DE.  Henry Josey has been overshadowed by his more highly recruited junior teammate at Angleton, Quandre Diggs (a 2011 Mizzou offer).  But Josey has come on this season and has the look of a classic Pinkel Texas sleeper.  He also seems to fit the spread better.  Still, this RB class seems to be a disappointment after the Tigers missed on the four star Wichita tandem of Joseph Randle (OSU), Demarcus Robinson (KSU) and Brandon Bourbon (Potosi, Stanford).  Lots of eggs in the K-Lawrence basket, it seems.  Although, after watching KU’s use of oversized Toben Opurum this year, I’m curious to see what a big back like White could do in the spread. 

While the Tigers are loaded with young linebackers (Gooden, Ebner, Bonner, Gachkar), I can’t help but be excited about Jared Parham.  He missed a good portion of his junior year to a knee injury, and thus was under the radar, but at 6’2” and 220, he’s already a load.  And, his neck appears to be bigger around than my waist, which is not meant as a compliment to me.  He looks like he was created to play middle linebacker and should be an immediate help on special teams.

Parham and the oak tree his head rests upon

Darvin Ruise (6’2”, 218, Florida) has an interesting tale.  Until a month ago, no Tiger fan (as far as I know) had ever heard of him.  In fact, he wasn’t even in Rivals database and was unreviewed by ESPN.  Someone finally figured out that the kid has 20 offers, including most of the SEC and ACC.  He plays QB and runs the triple option, and was offered by Georgia Tech as a QB.  Everyone else wanted him as a safety, the Tigers say they plan to convert him to the OLB/hybrid safety position that Gachkar and Gooden play.  I have no idea how the Tigers pulled him out of SEC/ACC land, but kudos to the staff. Ruise commented that he chose Missouri because he was overwhelmed by the coaching staff. Presumably not Mangino-style. 

Then you have the mysteries of the class—the Gilmer Guys—Braylon Webb and Tristan Holt.

The Gilmer Guys

Good luck finding out much.  Their Gilmer team is still alive in the Texas Class 3 playoffs.  Holt (6’ and 180) was an early commit to Baylor who switched to Mizzou over the summer.  He plays receiver (700+ yards receiving), CB and returns kicks.  Braylon Webb (6’2” 180, although he could well be a figment of Pinkel’s imagination) is a safety/OLB.  That’s about all anyone knows about him, it seems. 

Finally, a word on Daniel Easterly.  A 6’4”, 180 pound safety from Detroit, he is just an unusual specimen and story all around.  First, the Tigers don’t, as far as I know, recruit Detroit much.  Second, he was an early commit to the Illini, allegedly because of their computer programming school.  Third, Ford stayed on him, and the turmoil at Illinois led him to take an official to Mizzou last weekend.  Fourth, he loved his official visit to Mizzou, and indicated he was high on Mizzou because of its broadcast journalism program and that a commitment may be coming soon.  Finally, the guy is just a strange combination for an athlete.  He apparently will stay at safety, despite being 6’4”.  ESPN gushes over his speed and instincts, noting that he is already a game changing special teams player, noting he is always the first down the field on kickoff coverage..and anybody that has watched the Tigers’ abysmal coverage this year should be excited about that.

Daniel Easterly

GC, I can’t format it so it’s usable in the comments section, so I’ll just do it here.  Here are the Scout.com rankings.