re: Major difference between Mizzou and the rest of the SEC

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If you have a 2* Senior playing like a 4* is there a difference?

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In his senior year, no. However, there is obviously a big difference between a player that is ready to contribute his first year or two in the program and the project that needs those first two seasons of development before he's good enough to hit the field. You either get more years of quality play out of the player that is ready to contribute early, or he leaves early and you his scholarship is open a year or two early.

Pinkel makes up for that deficiency in a lot of different ways, but Mizzou would only be better if we had more players that could contribute early.

That being said, we have 8-12 RS freshmen that have a good shot at cracking the depth chart and playing significant minutes this season. Nobody that looks like they will start, but plenty of 2nd stringers that will play lots of snaps.

We also have a sophomore starting at CB that played fantastically as a true freshman last season, and a sophomore backing up a DT spot that was also fantastic last year, but wasn't in good enough shape to play starting snaps at DT. Except for the rare players like Fournette, most players' development is better served getting a RS year to build up their bodies in the weight room before being thrown into SEC play.