Justin Gage, who ended up having a seven-year NFL career, provided Mizzou with a receiver who had the ability to dominate a game from 2000-02. He was followed by Will Franklin, Jeremy Maclin, Danario Alexander, Dorial Green-Beckham, Bud Sasser, L’Damian Washington and others who were consistent safety blankets, such as myself and Tommy Saunders. Mizzou also had an excellent run of pass-catching tight ends with three consecutive All-Americans — Martin Rucker, Chase Coffman and Michael Egnew.
Columbia, Mo., has been a pass-catching factory. So how did Mizzou get to a place last season where there was no one to take the receiving reins?