Four Mizzou players who could be selected in 2022 NFL Draft
By Josh Fann
C Michael Maietti
Mizzou’s offensive line was one of the more pleasant surprises to the 2020 college football season. Many thought that the offensive line was going to be rough for Missouri last season due to all the talent they lost to graduation and the amount of turnover. Surprisingly, they held up pretty well and one of the biggest reasons was because of transfer center Michael Maietti.
Maietti was a much-needed pickup coming over from Rutgers and one of head coach Eliah Drinkwitz’s first big recruiting wins. Maietti only allowed a 0.7% pressure rate which ranked first in the Big 10 in 2019 according to PFF. Maietti didn’t miss a beat coming over to the SEC in 2020 and ended up with a 76.3 overall grade from PFF which ranks in the top five of returning lineman in the SEC. Maietti was also honorable mention All-SEC in 2020 which is impressive for an offensive lineman playing in the SEC as only so many can make it.
In fact, there was a lot of buzz that Maietti would enter the draft this year but Drinkwitz told the media that he was begging Maietti to return for another year every day leading up to his decision and it worked as Maietti eventually announced he would return for another year. Maietti held up very well in pass-protection in 2020 and was also very successful in carving run lanes for Larry Roundtree and the Missouri rush offense. There’s no doubt that if Maietti continues to improve and develop for another year at Missouri he can be a high draft pick in 2022.