Eli Drinkwitz has one of the best wide receivers in the country on his roster.

Luther Burden has been as good as advertised since coming out of high school as the No. 1 overall prospect in the country. He’s accounted for 6644 yards and 5 touchdowns already through just 5 games this season for the Tigers.

And he’s a major reason why Mizzou is 5-0 heading into Week 6 against LSU, one of their biggest tests of the season.

Drinkwitz was asked about Burden and what he’s like off the field at Wednesday’s SEC teleconference. Here’s what the Mizzou HC had to say:

“I think it’s just growth and maturity, but I think when I started to think about it more, last season he faced adversity on the football field, for probably the first time in his life,” Drinkwitz said. “Luther’s always been the best player on his team and when he got here, he got dinged up, he got injury, fighting through injuries and he wasn’t necessarily having the success that maybe he thought was going to come. And you know what, sometimes you have to face adversity, and you have to respond. And the way he responded has elevated his level of success. We talk about it all the time, there’s just different phases of growth, and when you face adversity and you overcome it, your confidence grows and I think you see that with the way he trained this offseason, with the way he practices right now. He’s an elite practice player, and I think that translates to the performance he has on the field, and I think it’s because he faced adversity, overcame it, gained confidence from that adversity and has now developed into the player he is.”

The Tigers take on the… Tigers at Noon Saturday on ESPN from Columbia, Missouri.