If you haven’t noticed Missouri recruits like a blue-blood program now. Lmao.
There are recruiting wins where a school gets a kid that has a ton of promise and they earn the honor of maximizing his potential.
There are recruiting wins where a school gets a bona fide star and get to enjoy his talents for at least three amazing years.
And then there are recruiting wins where a school beats out every power program in the country for a guy that every team wants very badly and all think they can get.
Missouri’s most recent recruiting win falls into that last category.
Henry Fenuku committed to Mizzou on Monday afternoon with the following power four offer list. Buckle in, it’s lengthy:
- Arkansas
- Baylor
- California
- Florida
- Florida State
- Georgia
- Houston
- kansas
- LSU
- Ole Miss
- Ohio State
- Oregon
- Pittsburgh
- SMU
- TCU
- Tennessee
- Texas A&M
- Texas Tech
- USC
And that’s not even listing the G6 teams that wanted him, too.
I have no idea how good the kids will be but everyone seems to think he’s going to be fairly excellent. And even though he’s a high 3-star with most recruiting services, getting a solid verbal from a dude that most schools want very badly is a huge recruiting victory, regardless of how many stars are next to the guy’s name.
Where He Fits: At a reported 6’3” and 295 pounds heading into his senior season, Fenuku projects as a prototypical guard and his highlight film reflects that. Starting on the left side, most of Fenuku’s tape is him pulling from left to right and removing the defender from the play side. He has super quick feet and is explosive out of his stance when he pulls. There are moments where he engages the defender at a high level which is a no-no, but to his credit, most of that is when he’s climbing to the second level in his blocking progression. A nice blend of size and speed (with room to grow) makes it clear as to one of the reasons why he is so in-demand.
When He’ll Play: Well, a quick perusal of Missouri’s offensive guard depth chart shows a fairly congested path to playing time. Cam’Ron Johnson is gone no matter what after this year, and Armand Membou might test the draft waters if his season goes as well as we think it could. Be behind those two are Tristan Wilson and Logan Reichert, and behind them are Ryan Jostes and Curtis Peagler, all of whom will have multiple seasons with the team by the time Fenuku gets here. Offensive linemen tend to wait their turn at the college level and develop over several years so he probably won’t see him until multiple seasons down the road.
What It All Means: Obviously Missouri’s recruiting has improved under Eli Drinkwitz but the offensive line recruiting has been lightyears better than the previous two staffs. Fenuku might not be a 4-star like the aforementioned Reichert or even a Jack Lange in the same recruiting class but getting an athletic interior lineman that has enough skill that EVERYONE wants him? And your school gets him? Yup, that’s big time recruiting right there.