Missouri football, as Tigers assistant Al Pogue put it, lost a lot of mileage at cornerback.
The Tigers are tasked with replacing two NFL-bound corners, Kris Abrams-Draine and Ennis Rakestraw Jr., from their 11-2, Cotton Bowl-winning 2023 team. That’s a combined eight seasons and 63 games of college ball leaving Columbia.
It’s not an easy ask for Mizzou to quickly replace that experience. But the 2024 squad appears, upon early indications, to be in good hands.
Literally.
During Missouri’s Black & Gold spring game Saturday on Faurot Field, St. Louis native and Clemson transfer Toriano Pride Jr., playing in front of MU fans for the first time, made a quick impression.
In man coverage against eventual spring-game offensive MVP Joshua Manning, Pride went leaping for quarterback Brady Cook’s deep ball targeted at the receiver outside of the numbers on the left side of the field. The coverage was exemplary. Pride’s leaping frame completely blocked the view of Manning, who dragged the corner to the ground but did nothing to prevent what was done.
In his first taste of live football in front of fans on Faurot, Pride intercepted the pass — the two-handed, no-juggling, no-doubter variety of pick.
“They tried to go big fade ball to the field,” linebackers coach D.J. Smith said after the spring game, “(but) Toriano Pride’s a gamer, man. … It’s good to have him here.”
Pride is the former teammate of star wide receiver Luther Burden III at East St. Louis High. He was the second-ranked prospect out of Illinois in the Class of 2022 — second behind Burden.
The Clemson transfer played 26 games over two seasons for Dabo Swinney’s team, making three starts. He has 36 total tackles, a couple of which for loss, and an interception to go along with nine pass breakups.
In a unit left wanting for game experience on the big stage, that’ll play.
And it more than likely will play with Missouri’s most experienced returning corner.
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Before spring camp started, MU head coach Eli Drinkwitz indicated that Missouri’s other starting cornerback was going to be tough to usurp.
Dreyden Norwood, a former Texas A&M transfer and now third-year Tiger, was the man to beat. He filled in for an oft-injured Rakestraw admirably, starting in the Tigers’ Cotton Bowl win over Ohio State and four times before then. He has now made 25 total appearances for MU.
“I think we would all be kidding ourselves,” Drinkwitz said, “if we didn’t believe that Dreyden Norwood was ahead of everybody else.”
There aren’t many indications that anything changed on that front through the practices that shaped spring camp.
“I’ve been really pleased with Drey’s growth,” Pogue said. … “He’s just letting his natural ability come through and (making) plays, and I think the biggest thing for him is, you know, you can see the confidence. He has the confidence that he can compete in this league.”
Added new MU defensive coordinator Corey Batoon on March 9: “The Norwood kid’s had a really good camp. He’s made some plays on the ball, he’s been very consistent. I think that on the back end, he’s really stood out.”
The Tigers ran with Norwood and Pride, on different teams due to the nature of the Tigers’ pre-spring game intrasquad draft, on their respective lineups right out of the gate Saturday. Shamar McNeil, Marcus Clarke, Ja’Mariyon Wayne and Nicholas Deloach were among the corners to see the field.
Those four, along with true freshman Cameron Keys and summer enrollee Jaren Sensabaugh, will likely shape up the fight for time behind Norwood and Pride.
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Clarke has played 15 games over two seasons since transferring from Miami shortly before the 2022 campaign started. He had two interceptions in a reserve role last season, against Memphis and at Kentucky, but Pogue said he wants the room’s oldest corner to be more consistent.
Pogue mentioned that he recently met with McNeil, a redshirt freshman who drew compliments from both Rakestraw and Abrams-Draine in 2023 as a true freshman, and said he’s seen some day-to-day improvement, but that the underclassman is “not where I want him to be.”
The cornerbacks coach indicated that wide receiver turned cornerback Ja’Mariyon Wayne also will have a role in the future.
“One day it’s gonna be his time, I’m gonna drop the leash on him,” Pogue said, “and say, ‘I told you guys.’”
For now, Norwood is the most likely lock for a starting role when MU opens its 2024 campaign Aug. 31 against Murray State.
Across from him, Pride, with a quick Faurot pick, has emerged as the frontrunner.
“It was really big to acquire a player like (Pride),” Pogue said. … “It’s evident we have to replace two really good players that we’ve currently lost, and for him to come in and have that experience, … it was really big for us to get him. I mean, he’s definitely a plus to our room.”
