Missouri has fallen on hard times in the past two seasons. A program that won 23 games in 2013 and 2014 has won nine in the past two, falling toward the bottom of the SEC. But amid Mizzou’s decline, one thing hasn’t changed.
Charles Harris is the latest of Missouri’s elite NFL defensive line pipeline
Mizzou keeps producing top draft talent on the defensive line.
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
The Tigers are still producing elite defensive linemen who come off the board early in the NFL draft. They’ve been at this for years now, and the latest example is defensive end Charles Harris, the 22nd overall pick on Thursday by the Dolphins.
Harris was the sixth Missouri defensive linemen picked in the first two rounds of the draft since 2009. The full list since then:
- ‘09: Ziggy Hood, 32nd overall to the Steelers
- ‘11: Aldon Smith, seventh overall to the 49ers
- ‘13: Sheldon Richardson, 13th overall to the Jets
- ‘14: Kony Ealy, 60th overall to the Panthers
- ‘15: Shane Ray, 23rd overall to the Broncos
- ‘16: Harris, 22nd overall to the Dolphins
The Cardinals drafted Markus Golden, a linebacker/end tweener, 58th overall in 2015. Golden’s gone on to 16.5 sacks in his first two NFL campaigns. He’s listed as a linebacker but brings a similar skill set to an end’s.
That’s a striking list of talent at one position group for any school. Even Alabama, which recruits more trench talent than just about anyone, has only had three second-rounders and one first-rounder (Marcell Dareus in ‘11) in that stretch.
It’s a great look for former Mizzou line coach Craig Kuligowski. He’s now with the Miami Hurricanes, and it stands to reason he had a lot to do with Harris getting here.
Kuligowski spent 15 years as Missouri’s defensive line coach. He was the position coach for all of these players, plus a few notables before this current stretch of high picks.
More than just high picks, most of these players have turned out to be good ones. Hood didn’t get a second Steelers contract and has been a journeyman for a few years, but he’s had a decent NFL run. Smith was great for a time, before non-football problems derailed his career. Richardson’s made a Pro Bowl. Ealy was a key player on a Super Bowl participant two seasons ago. Ray just had eight sacks as an NFL sophomore.
Mizzou’s got work to do to get back to where it was as a college football team near the end of Gary Pinkel’s tenure in Columbia. But #DLINEZOU is very much a thing, and the program and its fans should feel proud of that. It’s hard to churn out this many quality defensive linemen with such consistency over so many years.
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