Former Clemson quarterback Kelly Bryant is transferring to Missouri, he announced Tuesday.
3 ways Kelly Bryant’s Mizzou transfer could work out well for everyone
Columbia looks like a good landing spot for the ex-Clemson QB.
Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
Mizzou fans are excited. They’re getting a QB who won a position battle to replace Deshaun Watson and got Clemson to the Playoff in 2017, and who had a lot of potential suitors when he announced after four 2018 games that he’d take a redshirt and go elsewhere. He was considering Auburn in the end, making this a big recruiting win for Barry Odom.
Bryant’s move to Columbia presents opportunities for the player to prove himself in a good offense and for the Tigers to patch a key roster hole. Here’s how it can be a fit.
1. Bryant fills a need right as Drew Lock leaves Mizzou for the NFL.
Four-year starter Lock is done, so Bryant can come in and start immediately. He won’t be handed the job, but he’s got way more big-game experience than the other quarterbacks on Mizzou’s roster, current redshirt freshman Taylor Powell and redshirt sophomore Micah Wilson. Bryant wouldn’t have committed if he didn’t see a good chance he’d win the job.
He brings an impressive resume. In addition to the run to the Playoff in 2017, Bryant was playing just fine in 2018 before the five-star Lawrence passed him up. He was averaging 7.5 yards per attempt (sacks included). For reference on Bryant’s arm, Lawrence is at 7.7 yards per attempt. Bryant had averaged 6.1 yards per carry (sacks not included), drawing on dual-threat skills he’s been showing off since high school.
2. Bryant should have a lot of help. He joins a good offense that should bring back a lot of its production.
Bryant will have plenty of talent around him. The Tigers are slated to bring back Larry Rountree III, who just ran 1,000 yards and 10 TDs as a sophomore. Fellow backs Damarea Crockett and Tyler Badie still have eligibility remaining, too. So do three of the top four pass-catchers from this year, including sophomore tight end and Mackey Award finalist Albert Okwuegbunam, freshman receiver Jalen Knox, and — if he comes back — junior Johnathon Johnson. They just added Arkansas grad transfer WR Jonathan Nance. The starting line, which played well this year, has three starters with remaining eligibility.
Offensive coordinator Derek Dooley, Tennessee’s former coach, is apparently a good play-caller now. (IDK either.) The Tigers are 16th in Offensive S&P+ in his first year as coordinator. Bryant and Lock are different players, but Dooley should be able to fit Bryant into a talented and experienced offense. If Bryant is looking to have a big year before trying to make it in the NFL, he could have walked into way worse situations.
3. Mizzou looked primed to be pretty good anyway next year, given a schedule that’s a lot lighter than this year’s was.
The Tigers just went 8-4. S&P+ thought they were closer to a nine-win team, but they lost by a whisker to both South Carolina and Kentucky. They played the fifth-best schedule in the country, per S&P+, and played both Georgia and Alabama tougher than most.
The good news: 2019’s schedule looks a lot lighter. That adds to the excitement of Bryant’s arrival, Mizzou blog Rock M Nation says:
It comes at the most opportune time, too, as Missouri’s schedule opens up next season after playing the nation’s toughest in 2018. The Tigers face none of the powers in the SEC West; after a road game against Wyoming to start the season, they play five consecutive home games with a bye week thrown in. The toughest games of the year come in a three-game stretch during the back-half: at Kentucky, at Georgia, home vs. Florida.
Every other team, including a Will Grier-less West Virginia squad, has major question marks.
Missouri was two snaps away from going 10-2 this season. Kelly Bryant doesn’t necessarily mean Missouri should suddenly be guaranteed ten wins, but it puts them back in that ballpark.
Bryant, who has already played on the sport’s biggest stage, should have a chance to play in some big games again. The Tigers look like the second- or third-best team in an SEC East Georgia should win, but stranger things have happened than a team like Mizzou making a good run in a year when it doesn’t have to play Alabama and gets Florida at home.
Bryant won’t be expected to be an All-American and win the East. But there’s good upside here and no reason he can’t have a quality year for a quality team.
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