Assessing Missouri's 2015 class the week before signing day

In typical Missouri fashion, Gary Pinkel has commitments from several promising athletes with the potential to develop beyond their current status, like three-star WR Brandon Martin (6-foot-4.5, 200 pounds).

The 2015 Tigers class slants heavily toward offense, as the team’s seven highest-rated recruits are all offensive players. Mizzou scored just 27.8 points per game last season, 73rd among 128 FBS teams, so reinforcements are most welcome.

The gem of this class, QB Drew Lock, is a four-star prospect from Lees Summit, Mo. Currently the Tigers claim a whopping four running backs and five receivers in addition to four offensive linemen. That’s 14 of 21, and one of those is a punter.

Other than Lock, the big fish is DT Terry Beckner Jr. of East Saint Louis, Ill., the 13th-best player in the entire class according to the 247Sports Composite. Missouri also has commitments from a pair of Composite three-star defensive ends, both rated four-star by 247Sports, in Isaiah Washington and Nate Howard.

Since Mizzou must replace Shane Ray and Markus Golden, getting a commitment from defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski to return after Illinois offered him a co-defensive coordinator position. Beckner Jr. takes his official visit to Columbia, Mo., this weekend.

There are three players classified as “athletes” in this class, but overall the group is full of speed, a theme for Mizzou in recent years. After back-to-back SEC East titles, it would be nice to see the Tigers leverage that to land a Top 25 class highlighted by Beckner Jr. and Lock, two fairly local recruits coveted nationally.

ASSESSING MISSOURI’S 2015 CLASS

Current commits or enrollees: 21 (avg. star: 3.0)
Remaining primary targets: DT Terry Beckner Jr., RB Kirk Merritt, OLB Quart’e Sapp
National/SEC rank: 26/11

NOTABLE COMMITS

*Junior college transfer