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Missouri Tigers: Terry Beckner Jr. Looking More Likely to Contribute

By Patrick Karraker

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Unlike many players who arrive at school as the top-ranked recruit at their position (as well as second overall, according to ESPN), Missouri Tigers defensive tackle Terry Beckner Jr. will not simply have playing time handed to him as a true freshman. Beckner, a 6-foot-4, 300-pound defensive tackle from East St. Louis, Illinois, joins a Tigers defensive line that is consistently regarded as one of the best in the country, and he’ll have to work for everything he earns as a collegiate player.

Beckner’s path to immediate success was complicated by the fact that he had academic eligibility issues this spring. He didn’t officially become cleared for participation by the NCAA until early June, and there was some fear that he might have to go the JuCo route for a while before he arrived at Mizzou. On the flip side, Beckner’s chances at playing time as a freshman became much greater on June 21, when defensive tackle Harold Brantley, arguably the Tigers’ best player and a projected first-rounder in the 2016 NFL Draft, suffered serious injuries in a car accident that will prevent him from playing at any point in 2015.

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Beckner didn’t begin fall practices at the top of the Tigers’ depth chart–freshmen never do, as Gary Pinkel and staff are very careful about making new players earn their playing time–but he has begun seeing time with the first and second team defenses during recent practices and scrimmages. He had his strongest performance to date during Thursday morning’s scrimmage, leading all Mizzou defensive linemen with four tackles.

Effective scrimmage performances are by no means a gateway to regular playing time–the presence of other names like Marvin Zanders, Jake Brents, and Terez Hall near the top of the stat sheets should tell you that–but with Mizzou’s defensive line jobs all up for grabs this year, it definitely helps that Beckner is making an immediate impression. The projected starting defensive tackles, junior Rickey Hatley and sophomore A.J. Logan, have been unknowns for the most part going into this season, so they shouldn’t have that much of an edge over Beckner if the freshman continues to shine. The biggest threat to Beckner’s playing time may be current second-stringer Josh Augusta, who has been extremely helpful to Mizzou’s defensive efforts at times over his first two seasons but has struggled with his weight, ballooning up to weights as heavy as 360 pounds this offseason.

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Even if Beckner Jr. isn’t a starter on opening day (or at any point this season), it still would be very possible for him to get involved on Craig Kuligowski’s heavily-rotated defensive line. Guys who would go on to become early picks in the NFL Draft, such as Sheldon Richardson, Markus Golden, and Shane Ray, have made strong impressions in recent years as rotational backups before going on to become starters later in their respective careers. Mizzou effectively employed four defensive tackles–Harold Brantley (55 tackles, 7 TFL, 5 sacks), Lucas Vincent (43 tackles, 8 TFL, 3.5 sacks), Matt Hoch (35 tackles, 9 TFL, 3 sacks), and Josh Augusta (23 tackles, 4.5 TFL, one sack)–during 2014, and there’s no reason that they can’t rotate similarly this season, provided that they have four DT’s worthy of extensive playing time.

If Mizzou can get an effective rookie performance out of Beckner, as well as his positional colleagues Logan, Hatley, and Augusta, their defensive line should once again be one of the most fearsome in the country, and that figures to make Mizzou a strong SEC East contender once again.

Next: Could Nate Crawford be Mizzou's Next Great Offensive Lineman?

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