Missouri promoted from within to fill its head coaching vacancy, handing the job to Tigers alum and defensive coordinator Barry Odom, and this is the type of class we’ve seen over the years from his predecessor, Gary Pinkel, and the former staff.

It is full of players with intriguing upside.

The Tigers have had a good run across the border into the state of Illinois, landing five prospects from the Land of Lincoln this cycle. They also have gone strong in the state of Texas with three Lone Star State prospects.

The question now becomes this- can Odom and his staff develop at the level that Pinkel and his staff did, which was at the level of the best in college football? Perhaps no coach maximized talent more than Pinkel and in particular now-departed (to Miami) defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski.

That won’t be answered on signing day. That will be answered in the years to come.

Current rank: No. 14 SEC, No. 59 Nationally (247Sports Composite rankings)

Top commit: Natereace Strong, RB, Hinds (Miss.) Community College. Strong, an East St. Louis native who signed with the Tigers out of high school, has difference-maker types of skills at running back. Rated as the No. 2 junior college running back in the country per 247Sports Composite rankings, the 6-foot-1, 210-pounder is a tremendous blend of power and speed and should positively impact the Tigers run game immediately.
 
Sleeper: Marvin Terry, DE, Dallas (Texas) South Oak Cliff. The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Terry isn’t ideal size for an end, but he can flat-out rush the passer and follows in the footsteps of previous Mizzou defensive ends who weren’t necessarily no-brainers heading into college, but who certainly were no-brainers heading out. It will be up to the Tigers to develop him as a pass rusher, but the raw ability certainly is there.

Quick take: Despite its ranking, this is a very solid transitional class for Odom and his staff and as was stated earlier, it’s never really been about class rankings for Missouri, it’s been more about out-evaluating most everyone else in college football and then outstanding player development. It’s up to Odom, who is certainly familiar with the process that has allowed Missouri football to rise, to make sure that the trend continues in CoMo.