LaNorris Sellers catapulted to the top of the national quarterback discussion after an excellent freshman year. Will he take the next step to superstar in 2025?
This summer leading up to the 2025 season, we’ll be exploring the top 10 offensive and defensive players Mizzou football is slated to face this fall. We’re not ranking them 1-10, so while Jalon Daniels is a very good player, he’s not necessarily the best offensive player Corey Batoon will have to game plan for this upcoming season.
This is the eighth of (you guessed it) 10 such posts of the season. If you haven’t yet, take a look at the previous TTOP articles:
- Jalon Daniels and Nikhai Hill-Green
- Nyck Harbor and Deontae Lawson
- John Mateer and Jordan Lawson
- Le’Veon Moss and Will Lee III
- Diego Pavia and Dean Miller
- Kadyn Proctor and Dylan Stewart
- Marcel Reed and Raion Strader
LaNorris Sellers
School: South Carolina
Position: QB
Class: RS Sophomore
Height: 6-3
Weight: 240 lbs.
Hometown: Florence, S.C.
What he’s done
Few players in college football made a bigger leap from unknown to renown in 2024 than LaNorris Sellers. The 6-3, 240 lbs. quarterback entered 2024 as an unproven redshirt freshman who won the Gamecocks starting job out of summer workouts. By season’s end, he had become the Gamecocks’ offensive leader and one of the most electrifying players in the SEC.
Sellers passed for 2,534 yards, 18 touchdowns and just seven interceptions while also rushing for 674 yards and seven scores. While not prolific through the air in his first year as a starter, his blend of size, speed and playmaking ability ignited a South Carolina offense that had been pretty bleak in recent years.
After a near-upset of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Sellers hit the gas in the second half of the season, helping South Carolina win their final six regular season games including upsets of #10 Texas A&M and at rival #12 Clemson.
Photo by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
What he’ll do
Sellers enters 2025 as one of the SEC’s most hyped quarterbacks, and with good reason. South Carolina returns most of its offensive core, including standout receiver (and TTOP alum) Nyck Harbor and a retooled offensive line that showed significant improvement late last year.
While Sellers showed significant arm talent in his first season as a starter, he looks to take another step forward as a passer. His deep-ball accuracy improved as the 2024 season progressed though new offensive coordinator Mike Shula will want to expand the playbook to better leverage Sellers’ mobility and arm strength.
If he remains health all season (he missed parts of a few games last year with injuries), expect Sellers to throw for over 3,000 yards and rush for more than 800. He’s a touchdown machine so I’d imagine he’ll easily top 30 total touchdowns as he looks to make good on the multiple preseason award watch lists he finds himself on. More importantly, he gives South Carolina a legitimate shot at contending in the expanded SEC playoff picture.
Mizzou Matchup
Mizzou fans haven’t forgotten what Sellers did to them in 2024. In that November game in Columbia East, Sellers shattered Tiger hearts with a dominant performance where he put up 353 passing yards and five touchdowns, including leading the Gamecocks to a game-winning score after the Tigers took the lead with just over a minute to play.
The loss derailed what remained of Missouri’s playoff hopes and marked one of the most painful losses of the Drinkwitz era. In 2025, Missouri will get another shot at Sellers when the Gamecocks visit Faurot Field in late September. The Tigers’ defense will need a far more disciplined approach to keep Sellers from escaping the pocket and extending drives. What’s more, they’ll need to do what Johnny Walker, Jr. and the Tigers pass rushers couldn’t last year: finish plays with Sellers on the ground.
Look for Corey Batoon to assign a linebacker spy and mix in disguised blitzes to keep Sellers off balance. The key will be limiting his early success; if Sellers finds rhythm, he will become nearly impossible to contain.
Photo by Andy Altenburger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Xavian Sorey, Jr.
School: Arkansas (by way of Georgia)
Position: LB
Class: RS Senior
Height: 6-3
Weight: 231 lbs.
Hometown: Campbellton, Fla.
What he’s done
When Xavian Sorey Jr. transferred from Georgia to Arkansas ahead of the 2024 season, Razorback fans weren’t sure what to expect. The former high four-star recruit had shown flashes in Athens, playing in 27 games and garnering 24 tackles and a sack in three years, but was buried behind future NFL talent in Georgia’s loaded linebacker room. One year later, he’s one of the undisputed leaders of the Arkansas defense.
Sorey led the Razorbacks with 99 total tackles in 2024, including 9.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and an interception. He was named third-team All-SEC and became the centerpiece of a much-improved Razorback front seven. Whether flying downhill against the run or dropping into coverage, Sorey played with an intensity and IQ that quickly earned the respect of teammates and coaches.
Photo by Andy Altenburger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
What he’ll do
Now entering 2025 as a senior, Sorey returns not only as Arkansas’ top defender but as one of the best linebackers in the conference. Arkansas was decimated by the transfer portal after last season, but they were able to retain their anchor in the middle in Sorey, which help bring stability to a unit with many new faces.
Defensive coordinator Travis Williams, a former linebacker himself, should look to give Sorey more freedom this season, utilizing him in multiple alignments and bringing him on more blitzes, letting his athleticism help create havoc that last year’s unit was lacking.
With so many new faces, Sorey will be asked to do even more in 2025—mentor younger defenders, call plays, and be the face of a unit aiming to pull Arkansas out of the bottom tier of the SEC standings. If Sorey stays healthy, he could finish the season as a first-team all-SEC caliber player and find himself in Day 2 NFL Draft discussions.
Mizzou Matchup
Sorey Jr. had one of his quieter performances in the icy conditions in Columbia last November. He finished the day with only five tackles, showing that Kirby Moore effectively mitigated his effectiveness by employing an effective zone blocking scheme.
The snowy weather led the Tigers to lean heavily on the run, wearing down the second level of Arkansas’s defensive front, including Sorey. Missouri’s final drive, ending in Brady Cook’s fabled final 30-yard dash on Faurot Field, ran right up the middle where Sorey should have been playing. While the conditions in Fayetteville this fall will probably not be as adverse, Mizzou needs to take the lessens they learned in Columbia last year and apply them to shutting down Sorey again in 2025.