Missouri's defense has struggled with allowing big plays over the past three years, particularly explosive pass plays. However, in 2025, the team made significant improvements, resulting in a strong performance against the pass.
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - JANUARY 08: CJ Daniels #7 of the Miami Hurricanes can't make the catch against Chris Graves Jr. #32 of the Ole Miss Rebels in the second half during the CFP Semifinal Vrbo Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium on January 08, 2026 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by CFP/Getty Images) | Getty Images
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - JANUARY 08: CJ Daniels #7 of the Miami Hurricanes can't make the catch against Chris Graves Jr. #32 of the Ole Miss Rebels in the second half during the CFP Semifinal Vrbo Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium on January 08, 2026 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by CFP/Getty Images) | Getty Images
If someone on the street walked up to you and said âname the biggest issue Missouriâs defense has faced over the past three yearsâ and gave you five seconds to answer, youâd probably respond âallowing big playsâ.
If you read anything Iâve written over the same time frame, youâd probably be able to dial down a little further and say âallowing explosive pass playsâ.
But you know what? The 2025 defense actually ended up being excellent against the pass last year, thanks to a huge leap in defense capabilities against explosive plays.
Missouri opponents had a -0.07 EPA per drop back (Missouri ranked 24th in the nation in the stat. Excellent!), 6.7 Adjusted Net Yards per Attempt (28th), and only gave up a 20+ yard gain 13% of the time (25th).
Go back to â23 and â24 and those numbers were flipped, ranking in the bottom 25 for most of those categories.
But, of course, not only is Missouriâs defense getting nearly an entire makeover, but all three corners from last yearâs three man rotation are gone.
So now what?
Today weâll look at the corners and safeties currently on the roster and see how they stack up in pass defense.
First, some definitions:
Completions/Attempts: just like you would read it for a quarterback, except you want the reverse! The number of completions the defender allowed is listed first, followed by the number of times his receiver was targeted. The lower the completion percentage number, the better.
Passes Broken Up: you can probably figure this one outâŠthe number of times the defender in question managed to physically break up a pass from being caught by the receiver.
Interceptions: the number of interceptions the defender logged. Donât overthink this one.
Forced Incompletion Rate: this stat was created to account for bad throws from the quarterback. This is an incompletion that was caused by the defender getting in the way and affecting the receiverâs ability to catch the ball. Overthrows, underthrows, tipped balls at the line, or other such non-DB occurrences are removed for this stat.
20+ Yard Completions Allowed: another self-explanatory one. How many times the defenderâs receiver caught the ball for 20+ yards.
Yards Per Attempt: number of yards the defender allowed divided by the number of times his receiver was targeted.
Opponent QBR: if you took every quarterback that Missouri played and mashed them into one guy, this is the QBR of that Megazord-QB when throwing at this particular defender.
Letâs look at the guys who have been with the team at least one year:
The biggest thing to take away here: itâs hard to take away anything from this. Missouriâs most experienced pass defender was only thrown on 21 times last year, so there isnât a large enough sample size to get a good idea of whatâs to come from this collection of Beans Banner and 2025âs backups. Itâs a good thing the staff portalled in a bunch of dudes, then, huh?
(Jahlil Florence and JaDon Blair were not in active pass coverage last year)
At first glance this isâŠfine? Frankly the thing that stands out the most is that four of the guys that portalled in didnât play much last year, and I thought that the idea was to bring in veteran guys to fill in the gaps left by Dre Norwood, Toriano Pride, and Stephen Hall. Instead, you get two fairly seasoned vets in Graves and KLF, plus two Oregon corners with 1 year of eligibility a piece with a combined 9 targets last year, and two young guys who were always meant to be depth/building block pieces.
Second, Graves isnât nearly the impact corner that I thought he was coming in. 44% completion percentage is ok but a 54.9 QBR is hovering towards the bottom quartile in the nation, and allowing 7.4 yards per attempt while only breaking up 3 passes on a 11% FINC is not super impressive.
But! Donât interpret that as me writing these guys off! If you remember this time last year I was unimpressed with what Stephen Hall was bringing to the corner rotation and thought he would be a liability. Why? Here is what he did in 2024 at Washington State:
Stephen Hall 2024: 38-66 (57.6 comp), 3 PBUs, 1 INT, 6.1% forced INC%, 6 Comp 20+, 7.2 YPA, 71.4 QBR
And hereâs what he did last year:
Stephen Hall 2025: 11-23 (47.8% comp), 2 PBUs, 0 INTs, 8.7% forced INC%, 3 Comp 20+, 9.1 YPA, 91.8 QBR
A bit of a mixed bag, wouldnât you say? But he cut down on the explosive plays allowed and improved a tick on his forced incompletions while bettering his completion percentage. Not bad for a one year rental, and â given my overwhelming thought that this is going to be a bridge year with a rebuilding defense â I donât mind Mizzouâs transfer DBs improving in a few key areas only.
But if they want to improve across the board, Iâll take that, too.
As a reference point, here is what Toriano Pride (corner), Dre Norwood (also corner), and Daylan Carnell (slot corner/safety) did last year:
Thatâs what Missouri is losing, and that is what everyone listed above will try to replicate.
Conclusion
Corey Batoon has improved Missouriâs explosive pass plays defense every year since his arrival but is restarting with a bunch of small-sample warriors and some transfers without proven experience or an elite track record. This goes back to my argument about tackling accuracy: if the Batoon system makes people better than thereâs stuff to like here. But one-year rentals are just that: a stop gap. And it would be great if last yearâs backups and youngsters can acclimate/take over at starting spots, get their lumps in a rebuilding, year, then stick around to make the leap in â27.
In the meantime, it can be a bumpy ride for the â26 pass defense if Batoon canât get the new guys to improve on what theyâve shown already.
Q&A
What has been Missouri's biggest defensive issue in recent years?
Missouri's biggest defensive issue has been allowing big plays, especially explosive pass plays.
How did Missouri's defense perform in 2025 compared to previous years?
In 2025, Missouri's defense showed significant improvement, excelling against explosive pass plays.
What specific improvements did Missouri make to their pass defense in 2025?
Missouri's defense made a huge leap in capabilities, particularly in reducing the number of explosive pass plays allowed.
Who were the key players involved in Missouri's pass defense improvements?
The article does not specify individual players, but highlights the overall defensive unit's enhanced performance in 2025.
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