Missouri Tigers have Battle at Right Guard Position

After the Missouri Tigers’ first official scrimmage of the summer, one significant change was made, as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Dave Matter reported that Mitch Hall and Taylor Chappell are now even at the right guard position.

Chappell, a redshirt junior who has long been seen as an intriguing prospect, has been a tackle throughout his career and had been working at right tackle in recent days. He’s gotten an extended chance in recent days while starting right tackle Connor McGovern has been out with an injury. Offensive line coach A.J. Ricker, who just took over at the beginning of the summer practice session as the replacement for recently-retired Bruce Walker, indicated that Chappell’s performance during the scrimmage and in recent days was enough to spark an official competition for the starting job at right guard.

If he should win the starting job, Chappell would continue the trend of Mizzou tackles shifting inside to guard, which started last year with the decision to move 6-foot-6, 315-pound tackle Anthony Gatti to left guard. After starting in relief of then-injured senior Max Copeland in the early part of 2013, Gatti is now the projected starter at that position.

Then again, the 6-foot-5, 320-pound Hall may match up better with the power that the Tigers seem to be seeking by playing Gatti at the guard position. Both because of the aggressive defenses in the SEC and the fact that they’ve lost so many receivers this offseason, Mizzou will undoubtedly go heavier in the run game this year, and they’re going to want ferocity on the interior line.

With Ricker now in place, nothing is for certain on this offensive line, and it’s possible that we could see more changes before the start of the year as Ricker gets his first extended work with this group. Though the receiver group is probably the most intriguing to watch because of all its uncertainty, the line will also be exciting to follow over the next couple weeks.