Mizzou football freshmen to watch according to the Tigers’ experienced players

Columbia Daily Tribune
Left guard Xavier Delgado was taken aback by one of Mizzou football’s newcomers along the offensive line at the beginning of training camp.
Missouri cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine echoed his co-star in the secondary, Ennis Rakestraw Jr., in complimenting a player who could prove to be his successor.
And Harrison Mevis paid a big compliment to his presumed backup.
Here are three true freshmen who Missouri upperclassmen brought up Friday as players to keep an eye on this season and beyond:
Logan Reichert, OL
Delgado has been around his fair share of Missouri training camps … six, as of this year.
But his first meeting with 369-pound, 6-foot-6 true freshman Logan Reichert was a first even for him.
“That was a sight to see,” Delgado said. “That’s probably the biggest human being I’ve ever seen on a football field besides maybe (former Georgia defensive lineman) Jordan Davis. He’s a big dude.”
Despite his size, it’s clear that Reichert is still adjusting to the pace of the college game through his first training camp.
He’s looked off the pace at times, especially at the sweltering practice Friday morning on Faurot Field. Offensive line coach Brandon Jones had his full unit, other than the competing centers, rapidly repeating contact-heavy one-on-one drills during the open period of practice, and that seemed to take a toll on the freshman out of Raytown.
But his time will come, Delgado said.
“(Reichert is) a great dude and he’s going to get good,” Delgado said. “He’s just gotta take time to really understand the playbook and just stuff like that, just get confidence in his play, and he’s going to be really good for us.”
Shamar McNeil, CB
Abrams-Draine and Rakestraw Jr. are back to partner up in an enticing cornerback tandem for the 2023 season.
If they’re NFL bound at the end of this season, though, they’ve both had positive first impressions of one of their potential successors, Shamar McNeil, a freshman out of Lauderhill, Florida.
“I’ve been seeing him growing day by day,” Abrams-Draine said Friday. … “He’s got good size, good speed. I think he’s gonna be a good cornerback for Mizzou.”
That backed up what the other half of the star duo said earlier in camp, as Rakestraw immediately pinpointed the 6-3 McNeil’s length as something that had stood out to him.
McNeil is highly unlikely to surpass the returning starters any time soon, nor backups Marcus Clarke and Dreyden Norwood, but the returners like what the future holds at corner.
“Just watching (the young corners) day by day critique themselves and take coaching,” Rakestraw said, “they’re gonna be special when we leave.”
Blake Craig, PK
If Harrison Mevis is impressed with your leg strength, that should be interpreted as a good sign.
Mevis has the third-longest field goal in Missouri history at 56 yards — a feat he’s managed twice. He’s been good from 50 yards or longer on 10 occasions in his three seasons in Columbia, which is four more than anyone else in Tigers history.
So his praise for the Liberty North High School product comes with high stock.
“He has a huge leg,” Mevis said. “He has huge potential. I think Missouri’s kicking is going to be really good for the next five years.”
Craig has flashed that in practices over training camp, comfortably clearing the post from near midfield on several occasions at the beginning of practices both inside the new Stephens Indoor Facility and outside.
Also of note: For the past few practices, quarterback Brady Cook has been holding for Craig.
“I think Blake, coming out of high school, it’s just getting reps,” Mevis said. “He probably didn’t have a snapper or a holder to this quality in high school, so it’s just getting in a rhythm. And what helped him was coming in early. I came in early as well, in January, and that’s what really helps, getting those spring practices. But it’s really just getting reps.”