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According to GaryPinkel.com, Missouri’s players voted four seniors as its 2014 team captains Monday.
Left tackle Mitch Morse, receiver Bud Sasser, defensive end Markus Golden and strong safety Braylon Webb are the individuals tabbed as the team’s official leaders.
All but Webb, a true senior, are fifth-year players who redshirted in 2010. They’ve helped the program transition from Big 12 contender to a rough first year in the SEC to an SEC East championship.
It’s also interesting that the players selected captains at the positions with the most vital losses. Receiver (Marcus Lucas, L’Damian Washington and Dorial Green-Beckham) and defensive end (Michael Sam and Kony Ealy) are front of mind. But even Morse, who enters 2014 with a consecutive starts streak of 25 games, is replacing all-conference left tackle Justin Britt.
And with star cornerback E.J. Gaines and fellow 2013 starter Randy Ponder both gone, the secondary also will count on the presence of Webb both as a playmaker and as someone to keep the group in the right spot mentally and emotionally.
Those four players will need to provide leadership for units that must maintain a high level of play despite key losses.
Center Evan Boehm and quarterback Maty Mauk seem like the only other logical possibilities left off this group, at least from an on-field leadership standpoint. It’s an oversimplification to call this Mauk’s team, but the Tigers will count on a huge season from him if the team is to reach its goals. But he’s only a sophomore entering his first full year as a starter. Boehm, a junior and potential all-conference center, seems like a great candidate next year as the glue to the 2015 offensive line.
It’s hard to ever find fault in a group of team captains elected by the team itself, and this is no exception.
From a production standpoint, Sasser leads all returners with 26 catches last season. Golden, a second-team All-SEC pick, would’ve gotten a lot more attention last season for making 13 tackles for loss off the bench if not for the fact that he backed up the SEC’s Defensive Player of the Year in Sam. And Webb is a threat to lead all SEC defensive backs in tackles after making 89 stops in 2013. He also can make plays in pass coverage, as evidenced by his three interceptions a year ago.
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.
