Missouri Tigers Football Countdown: 48 Days Until Roderick Winters

Sep 19, 2015; Columbia, MO, USA; The Missouri Tigers mascot Truman entertains fans during the game against the Connecticut Huskies at Faurot Field. Missouri won 9-6. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 19, 2015; Columbia, MO, USA; The Missouri Tigers mascot Truman entertains fans during the game against the Connecticut Huskies at Faurot Field. Missouri won 9-6. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /
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There’s only 48 days left until the Missouri Tigers kick off their 2016 season at West Virginia, so today we honor number 48 for the Tigers, linebacker Roderick Winters.

While the Missouri Tigers are lacking depth in several areas heading into the 2016 season, one spot where they’ll have plenty of talented players is at linebacker.

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While he’s unlikely to be on the two-deep depth chart heading into fall practices, Roderick Winters could be a player that contributes heavily to the Tigers’ special teams units this fall.

Heading into his redshirt sophomore season, the 5-foot-11, 225-pound Winters has yet to play in a game. He redshirted during his first year on campus, and he missed the entire 2015 campaign after suffering a lisfranc fracture during fall camp. Considering his elite athleticism–a skill that may be in short supply for linebackers around the nation, but is actually rather common at Mizzou–Winters could be a valuable member of the Tigers’ kickoff and punt teams this year if he can show that he’s returned to health in preseason practices this year.

Next: Mizzou Football Countdown: 52 Days Until Eddie Serrano

Winters was ranked as a two-star prospect by Rivals coming out of high school, but with Mizzou’s history of coaching up prospects that haven’t exactly been highly-regarded, that shouldn’t at all limit his potential to become a starter at some point. Winters had 150 tackles and 14 sacks during his senior year at Bowie High School in Arlington, Texas, so he’s obviously shown an ability to be extremely productive in the past. It’ll be interesting to see how much on-field action that Winters gets this year.