RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesEnough talking. The first ball of fall has been spotted, and camp is underway.
Missouri football held its first practice of fall camp Monday in the Stephens Indoor Facility, officially kicking off the final stretch of the offseason before the Tigers ’ season-opening game Sept. 3 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff in Columbia.
The Tigers will hold 15 practices before entering gameweek preparations, and several of those will have open periods for the media — and Missouri basketball coach Dennis Gates , who stopped by and chatted with Eli Drinkwitz — to observe the action.
An early disclaimer: Missouri allows the media to observe a very limited portion of its practices. The five-period allotment Monday lasted approximately 25 minutes and mostly involved individual drills and fundamental work.
But, it’s an opportunity to get a glimpse at some pertinent topics, like potential depth chart analysis and individual development.
Here’s what we saw on the first day of fall camp:
Initial glimpse at Missouri football defensive depth chart
The Tigers rolled out what looked like their current first, second and third teams on defense into formation during the observable portion of practice. This is, of course, not finalized at this early juncture of camp, but it’s a good glimpse at who is positioned to play this coming year.
There weren’t many surprises on the first team, where Marquis Gracial and Jalen Marshall were the defensive tackles, Darris Smith and Langden Kitchen were the defensive ends and Robert Woodyard Jr. and Nicholas Rodriguez lined up at linebacker to round out the front.
At safety, Elijah Dotson was the STAR, Santana Banner and Trajen Greco were on the back end and Chris Graves Jr. and Nick DeLoach Jr. were the cornerbacks.
DeLoach is the notable name there. He will compete with Oregon duo Sione Laulea and Jahlil Florence and returner Cam Keys in camp for a starting spot in what is typically a three-player rotation. Does DeLoach have the early edge? We’ll be keeping a close eye on this race.
Over to the second team:
Jaden Jones and Daeden Hopkins were the defensive ends, while Jason Dowell and a player with no number lined up at defensive tackle. Woodyard rolled back out on defense at the Mike, and he was joined by Dante McClellan on the weakside. Our expectation is that Jeremiah Beasley is the backup Mike, based on a conversation with linebackers coach Derek Nicholson on Sunday, but we did not spot Beasley on Monday.
Sione Laulea and true freshman Jaxson Gates ran out at corner with the second team. Kensley Louidor-Faustin played the STAR. JaDon Blair and a player wearing No. 14 were in the other safety roles. There currently is no No. 14 listed on the Mizzou defense, so it’s currently unclear who that player was.
Sterling Webb back, Ahmad Hardy absent — as expected
You’ll notice that Sterling Webb, who has been granted a temporary restraining order against the NCAA and is immediately eligible for the 2026 season, was not among the two-deep listed above. Don’t fret, Webb was in attendance.
He had a new number — No. 90 — and featured with the third team. It’s likely that the Tigers will reintroduce Webb slowly in camp, as his only football activity in the past six months has been with the Buffalo Bills after a rookie minicamp invite. We still fully expect Webb to re-enter the rotation at defensive tackle, but the returning starter is being made to earn it.
Also of note, although expected, was Ahmad Hardy’s absence. Drinkwitz said Sunday that he would not participate in practice this week but may be involved in walkthroughs. We did not see Hardy on Monday.
Injured right tackle Josh Atkins was present, but he was walking with a cane. Defensive tackle Donta Simpson Jr. also appeared to be limited in the open portion of practice, not participating in any drills and often working by himself off to the side.
More: Eli Drinkwitz says Ahmad Hardy won't participate in first week of camp
Initial team captains?
At the beginning of practice, a handful of players lead stretches in the middle of the 100+-player group. Those historically have been either previous-day standouts or team captains. Since this was the first practice of fall camp, we’re inclined to believe Monday’s group is the latter.
Linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez and offensive linemen Cayden Green and Dominick Giudice led the opening portion of practice Monday. We feel fairly confident saying they’ll all wear the capital-C captain’s patch this year.
Five players working on punt returns
You know it’s fall camp when we’re talking about punt returners.
Five players worked on catching and returning punts in Practice No. 1, all from the wide receiver room: Donovan Olugbode, Cayden Lee, DaMarion Fowlkes, Shaun Terry II and Naeshaun Montgomery.
Darris Smith noticeably bigger
Mizzou defensive ends coach Brian Early told the Tribune that Darris Smith has reported to camp at 265 pounds. At this time last year, he was listed at 235.
The Tigers need a gamewrecking defensive end, and Smith has shown up in shape for the role. He’s massive, even compared to some of the other players in his position room. It’s extremely hard to miss him.
We’ll have more on Smith throughout camp, as he is one of the Tigers’ most important players this year. But the Day 1 change was worth a note unto itself.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Observations, depth notes from Missouri football's 1st fall camp practice
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