Drinkwitz talks safeties

The Missouri Tigers had a lot of turnover through the transfer portal this season, but no group had a higher percentage of change than the safeties.

With the losses of Joseph Charleston, Tre’Vez Johnson, Sydney Williams and Phillip Roche, Missouri had to change about half of the scholarship players in the room.

But the Tigers brought back a couple of key players in returning starters Marvin Burks and Daylan Carnell.

Burks was limited with injury through spring camp, but Carnell, one of the Tigers most likely to be taken in next year’s NFL draft, shined one again.

“Obviously, Daylan Carnell continues to be himself, I thought he had his best spring since he’s been here,” Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz said. “Sense of urgency, his command of the defense, his competitive spirit, his wanting to be a leader on that side of the ball, I think, really impacted him.”

The Tigers also brought in a group of newcomers in the portal. The most experienced of the group is Jalen Catalon, who spent last year with former Mizzou coach Barry Odom at UNLV after spending a year at Texas and three seasons at Arkansas.

“We are really, really glad we got him,” Drinkwitz said. “Just a guy that’s an instinctual player, violent player, man. He could’ve, all across the middle, I would hate to be the wide receiver with him around, because he did an excellent job. You can tell his veteran presence and understanding the game by not taking some shots on our defensless players. But, man, he is going to be a very impactful player.”

Drinkwitz wasn’t done with the praise for Catalon, complimenting his ability to trick offensive players and the positional versatility he brings alongside his experience.

“He was able to bait our quarterbacks into a couple of bad looks, he was able to bait the offensive linemen into making calls on blitzes when he was just bluffing and not showing,” Drinkwitz said. “He was able to blitz and not be seen and make (tackles for loss) in the backfield. So he’s a guy that just has instincts and knowledge because of the amount of experience that he has playing the game from a leadership standpoint.”

With only one starting spot open, the talk around Catalon has been high enough to expect he will take the role alongside Carnell and Burks on the field at the beginning of games.

But the Tigers like to rotate their safeties, and both of the other transfer additions should see the field regularly as well.

Sanata Banner joins the Tigers after a breakout redshirt freshman season at Northern Illinois. The big-body safety is joined by Mose Phillips, a rising junior coming from Virginia Tech who put up some big numbers in his sophomore season as he took a starting spot.

Add in returning sophomore Trajen Greco, senior Caleb Flagg and redshirt freshman Jackson Hancock, along with incoming four-star freshman CJ Bass, and the Tigers’ safety group looks fully revamped.

“All those guys found ways to impact the defense,” Drinkwitz said of the rotational group.

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