1 month ago
If personification connected nan thoroughfare walked up to you and said “name nan biggest rumor Missouri’s defense has faced complete nan past 3 years” and gave you 5 seconds to answer, you’d astir apt respond “allowing large plays”.
If you publication thing I’ve written complete nan aforesaid clip frame, you’d astir apt beryllium capable to dial down a small further and opportunity “allowing explosive walk plays”.
But you cognize what? The 2025 defense really ended up being fantabulous against nan walk past year, acknowledgment to a immense leap successful defense capabilities against explosive plays.
Missouri opponents had a -0.07 EPA per driblet backmost (Missouri classed 24th successful nan federation successful nan stat. Excellent!), 6.7 Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt (28th), and only gave up a 20+ gait summation 13% of nan clip (25th).
Go backmost to ‘23 and ‘24 and those numbers were flipped, ranking successful nan bottom 25 for astir of those categories.
But, of course, not only is Missouri’s defense getting astir an full makeover, but each 3 corners from past year’s 3 man rotation are gone.
So now what?
Today we’ll look astatine nan corners and safeties presently connected nan roster and spot really they stack up successful walk defense.
First, immoderate definitions:
- Completions/Attempts: conscionable for illustration you would publication it for a quarterback, isolated from you want nan reverse! The number of completions nan defender allowed is listed first, followed by nan number of times his receiver was targeted. The little nan completion percent number, nan better.
- Passes Broken Up: you tin astir apt fig this 1 out…the number of times nan defender successful mobility managed to physically break up a walk from being caught by nan receiver.
- Interceptions: nan number of interceptions nan defender logged. Don’t overthink this one.
- Forced Incompletion Rate: this stat was created to relationship for bad throws from nan quarterback. This is an incompletion that was caused by nan defender getting successful nan measurement and affecting nan receiver’s expertise to drawback nan ball. Overthrows, underthrows, tipped balls astatine nan line, aliases different specified non-DB occurrences are removed for this stat.
- 20+ Yard Completions Allowed: different self-explanatory one. How galore times nan defender’s receiver caught nan shot for 20+ yards.
- Yards Per Attempt: number of yards nan defender allowed divided by nan number of times his receiver was targeted.
- Opponent QBR: if you took each backmost that Missouri played and mashed them into 1 guy, this is nan QBR of that Megazord-QB erstwhile throwing astatine this peculiar defender.
Let’s look astatine nan guys who person been pinch nan squad astatine slightest 1 year:
- Santana Banner (S): 12-21 completion/attempts (57.1% completion percentage), 3 passes surgery up, 1 interception, 14.3% forced incompletion rate, 4 20+ gait completions allowed, 8.6 yards per attempt, 56.9% force QBR
- Nick DeLoach, Jr. (CB): 1-4 (25% comp), 1 PBU, 0 INTs, 25% forced INC%, 0 Comp 20+, 0.8 YPA, 0.9 QBR
- Shamar McNeil (CB): 3-4 (75% comp), 1 PBU, 0 INTs, 25% forced INC%, 0 Comp 20+, 6.3 YPA, 98.1 QBR
- Cameron Keys (CB): 0-3 (0% comp), 1 PBU, 0 INTs, 33.3% forced INC%, 0 Comp 20+, 0.0 YPA, 1.8 QBR
- Trajen Greco (S): 1-3 (33.3% comp), 0 PBUs, 0 INTs, 0% forced INC%, 0 Comp 20+, 1.3 YPA, 0.6 QBR
- Jackson Hancock (S): 0-1 (0% comp), 0 PBUs, 0 INTs, 0% forced INC%, 0 Comp 20+, 0.0 YPA, 0.4 QBR
The biggest point to return distant here: it’s difficult to return distant thing from this. Missouri’s astir knowledgeable walk defender was only thrown connected 21 times past year, truthful location isn’t a ample capable sample size to get a bully thought of what’s to travel from this postulation of Beans Banner and 2025’s backups. It’s a bully point nan unit portalled successful a bunch of dudes, then, huh?
Now, let’s look astatine that portal people of DBs:
- Chris Graves, Jr. (CB): 12-27 completion/attempts (44.4% completion percentage), 3 passes surgery up, 0 interceptions, 11.1% forced incompletion rate, 3 20+ gait completions allowed, 7.4 yards per attempt, 54.9 force QBR.
- Kensley Louidor-Faustin (S): 14-20 (70% comp), 2 PBUs, 1 INT, 10% forced INC%, 3 Comp 20+, 7.8 YPA, 96.6 QBR
- Sione Laulea (CB): 2-9 (22.2% comp), 2 PBUs, 0 INTs, 22.2% forced INC%, 0 Comp 20+, 2.6 YPA, 6.5 QBR
- Elijah Dotson (S): 2-4 (50% comp), 0 PBUs, 1 INT, 25% forced INC%, 2 Comp 20+, 10.5 YPA, 88.8 QBR
- (Jahlil Florence and JaDon Blair were not successful progressive walk sum past year)
At first glimpse this is…fine? Frankly nan point that stands retired nan astir is that 4 of nan guys that portalled successful didn’t play overmuch past year, and I thought that nan thought was to bring successful seasoned guys to capable successful nan gaps near by Dre Norwood, Toriano Pride, and Stephen Hall. Instead, you get 2 reasonably seasoned vets successful Graves and KLF, positive 2 Oregon corners pinch 1 twelvemonth of eligibility a portion pinch a mixed 9 targets past year, and 2 young guys who were ever meant to beryllium depth/building artifact pieces.
Second, Graves isn’t astir nan effect area that I thought he was coming in. 44% completion percent is good but a 54.9 QBR is hovering towards nan bottommost quartile successful nan nation, and allowing 7.4 yards per effort while only breaking up 3 passes connected a 11% FINC is not ace impressive.
But! Don’t construe that arsenic maine penning these guys off! If you retrieve this clip past twelvemonth I was unimpressed pinch what Stephen Hall was bringing to nan area rotation and thought he would beryllium a liability. Why? Here is what he did successful 2024 astatine Washington State:
- Stephen Hall 2024: 38-66 (57.6 comp), 3 PBUs, 1 INT, 6.1% forced INC%, 6 Comp 20+, 7.2 YPA, 71.4 QBR
And here’s what he did past year:
- Stephen Hall 2025: 11-23 (47.8% comp), 2 PBUs, 0 INTs, 8.7% forced INC%, 3 Comp 20+, 9.1 YPA, 91.8 QBR
A spot of a mixed bag, wouldn’t you say? But he trim down connected nan explosive plays allowed and improved a tick connected his forced incompletions while bettering his completion percentage. Not bad for a 1 twelvemonth rental, and - fixed my overwhelming thought that this is going to beryllium a span twelvemonth pinch a rebuilding defense - I don’t mind Mizzou’s transportation DBs improving successful a fewer cardinal areas only.
But if they want to amended crossed nan board, I’ll return that, too.
As a reference point, present is what Toriano Pride (corner), Dre Norwood (also corner), and Daylan Carnell (slot corner/safety) did past year:
- Pride (CB): 16-44 (36.4% comp), 3 PBUs, 2 INTs, 6.8% forced INC%, 2 Comp 20+, 4.0 YPA, 34.6 QBR
- Norwood (CB): 11-29 (37.9% comp), 3 PBUs, 0 INTs, 10.3% forced INC%, 0 Comp 20+, 4.0 YPA, 52.4 QBR
- Carnell (S): 14-29 (48.3% comp), 3 PBUs, 1 INT, 10.3% forced INC%, 2 Comp 20+, 5.5 YPA, 23.4 QBR
That’s what Missouri is losing, and that is what everyone listed supra will effort to replicate.
Corey Batoon has improved Missouri’s explosive walk plays defense each twelvemonth since his presence but is restarting pinch a bunch of small-sample warriors and immoderate transfers without proven acquisition aliases an elite way record. This goes backmost to my statement astir tackling accuracy: if nan Batoon strategy makes group amended than there’s worldly to for illustration here. But one-year rentals are conscionable that: a extremity gap. And it would beryllium awesome if past year’s backups and youngsters tin acclimate/take complete astatine starting spots, get their lumps successful a rebuilding, year, past instrumentality astir to make nan leap successful ‘27.
In nan meantime, it tin beryllium a bumpy thrust for nan ‘26 walk defense if Batoon can’t get nan caller guys to amended connected what they’ve shown already.
