First, a clarification.  There are some questions being sent to me that I can’t answer.  As in, there’s a tiny chance that Missouri could benefit from the answer to that question (and a minuscule chance that someone from Missouri would find this blog – let alone the internet), so I just won’t go there.  I’ll discuss players and depth charts and coordinators and schemes, but I won’t tell you of offensive packages or specific wrinkles.  If you know anything about me, you know that the last thing I would do – literally, the last thing on earth I would do, behind volunteering for radiation testing and eating at Burger King – is write something that would benefit the University of Missouri.

On to the questions.

Where do you see Aaron Gress’ role this year?

First off, if you’ve been reading this space for long, you know that I love Aaron Gress. Already on my All Decade Special Teams Team, and he’s only played one season. And please remember that it was Aaron Gress that made the play on two of the four stops during the Michigan goal-line stand. Warrior.

As for this season, I think he’s clearly the 4th linebacker. Last night, with Ian Thomas sitting out (not sure the reason for that), Gress was running with the first string at weakside linebacker. I’m not sure how Vic Koenning player rotations will work, but I think Gress might rotate in when either of the two outside linebackers rotate out. Beyond that, my only goal for him is to have the most special teams tackles in the Big Ten. Should be no problem – warrior.

Outside of Becker, what is the depth chart at FB and TE? Do we have quality impact players at either position other than Becker?

This is more guess than practice observation, but here’s how I think it will shake out:

We want a depth chart with two consistent players at each of the two tight end positions (one being a fullback/h-back/blocking tight end, and the other being a pure tight end). I think Becker is the starter at one of those positions and the backup at the other position. In other words, we’re going to see a lot of Zach Becker on the field. Blocking out of the backfield, blocking from the wing, blocking from the line, catching passes from the wing, catching passes from the line. I really think Becker is the guy.

London Davis probably starts at the “pure” tight end position. I expect to see a lot of Davis/Becker when were in the twin tight end look. Backups? Probably Justin Lattimore backing up Davis, and maybe Jay Prosch backing up Becker (Mizzou walk-on transfer Chris Willett has a shot here, too). The wild card is true freshman Evan Wilson. They gave everyone rotations at practice last night, but they threw to Wilson a lot. Kid is a big target – he looks like he’s 6′-8″ in uniform. Another wild card might be walkon-QB-turned-TE Eddie Viliunas. Hmmm… I need to make sure to watch the tight ends tonight.

Based on what you’ve seen so far, who do you have slotted into the 1WR – 5WR roles?

Again, this is more guess than practice observation at this point, but if I had to rank the wide receivers in terms of number of catches at the end of the year, right now I would put them as follows:

1. AJ Jenkins
2. Jarred Fayson
3. Eddie McGee
4. Jack Ramsey
5. Steve Hull
6. Fred Sykes
7. Chris James
8. Darius Millines

But that will probably change over the course of the next 3 days. Especially the 8 spot. Might Spencer Harris get the most catches of the freshmen? Stay tuned…

Will we see Days or Earnest Thomas competing for time at safety before the season ends?

First off, I think Earnest Thomas is at linebacker. I’m 87% certain he was working solely with the linebackers last night. The Sam linebacker has different duties in this defense than in the past, and I think the three guys in line there are Nate Bussey, Ashante Williams, and Earnest Thomas.

For Days (and Fritz Rock), playing time vs. redshirt probably depends on Walt Aikens’ status. If Aikens is, say, suspended for 2 games but then returns to the team, then I think the safety rotation is Sanni, Henry, Aikens, and Bellamy, with Joelil Thrash fighting for a few minutes (if he stays at safety and doesn’t get moved back to corner). If that’s the case, I think Rock ‘n Days (2013 defensive backfield nickname alert!) will redshirt.

How is Corey Lewis moving? How much is he participating?

He’s walking around just fine, but I don’t think he’s really participating other than walk-through stuff. In one of the video interviews with Zook, he said that Lewis is a long way from being cleared by the doctors. I still think he redshirts.