Son, I've been watching Missouri football since Warren Powers was roaming the sidelines, and I can tell you that spring practice hype is the oldest trick in the book. We heard the same song and dance about the secondary before the 2005 Independence Bowl meltdown. Flying around in practice in shorts and helmets means nothing. You know what built secondaries? Guys like Eric Wright who put in years in the system, not some transfer who just got here because his last school's NIL deal fell through. We lost real experience, the kind you can't replace with just athleticism. I remember when a defensive backfield was a brotherhood forged over seasons, not a collection of hired guns from the portal. This group hasn't faced a real, coordinated SEC passing attack yet. Talk to me after they've gone toe-to-toe in a place like The Swamp in September, when the heat is on and the plabook isn't scripted. Until then, color me deeply skeptical. Every year it's the same story about the new guys, and then a quarterback like Peyton Manning or Tim Tebow from the old days would expose them for being exactly what they are: new.
