The No. 25 Missouri Tigers had a tough sport in opposition to the Alabama Crimson Tide this Saturday, dropping 34-0 with out their beginning quarterback and working again, falling to 6-2 on the season.
Nonetheless, they continue to be a top-25 crew within the nation, with losses coming to Alabama and now-No. 10 Texas A&M, whereas beating Boston School, Vanderbilt, and Auburn already.
The Tigers have been led by quarterback Brady Cook dinner, who has thrown for 1,575 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception. However, the bread and butter of their offense has been star broad receiver Luther Burden III, who has 40 catches for 450 yards and 4 touchdowns this season.
Burden has been seen by many draft pundits as the highest receiver within the 2025 NFL Draft, as he might probably go contained in the High 5, making him a near-lock to depart Missouri on the finish of the 12 months.
As well as, the Tigers might lose prime receivers Theo Wease Jr. and Mookie Cooper subsequent 12 months, as each are at the moment seniors, which means they’ll want an abundance of recent expertise on the place for the 2025 season.
Insert 2025 four-star wideout Donovan Olugbode, who’s a top-40 participant within the class, in accordance with Rivals, rating because the seventh-best receiver within the cycle.
Olugbode, who performs for IMG Academy, stands 6’1’’, 200 kilos, and dedicated to Missouri again in July following official visits to USC, Florida, and Washington.
Recognized for his velocity, shiftiness in open house, route-running, and dependable fingers, Olugbode might very effectively be an early contributor for Missouri as they navigate with a brand new receiver room in 2025.
Whereas he has been banged up with accidents this 12 months, the longer term freshman does have a number of video games with over 60 yards this 12 months, serving as one of many crew’s prime wideouts alongside freshman star Eric McFarland.
His finest sport of the 12 months got here in opposition to Venice, the place the wideout caught 4 passes and practically eclipsed the 100-yard mark, due to a 62-yard catch-and-run for a rating from quarterback Ty Hawkins.
The four-star has been locked into Missouri, popping out for 2 gameday visits this 12 months, together with being readily available for the 21-17 win over Auburn two weeks in the past. However, different packages are seemingly reaching out, seeking to gauge the curiosity of the top-100 receiver because the Early Signing Day interval reaches nearer and nearer.
Trying to the longer term, Missouri at the moment has eight scholarship broad receivers for subsequent 12 months: rising senior Mekhi Miller, rising juniors Marquis Johnson, Joshua Manning, and Daniel Blood, rising sophomores James Madison II and Courtney Crutchfield, and rising freshmen Olugbode and three-star Shaun Terry.
Ought to the room keep the identical, Miller and Manning mission because the crew’s prime exterior receivers, whereas Blood and Johnson could possibly be extra seen as inside/exterior choices. That leaves open room within the rotation for the youthful guys to step up and Olugbode will likely be one of many extra high-profile names that’ll look to cement himself early.
Being a crisp route-runner, it wouldn’t be shocking if the freshman impresses the teaching employees early, however getting wholesome will likely be necessary for him to start out off robust on the subsequent stage.
