Missouri football: 3 Mizzou Tigers primed for a breakthrough season in 2021

Redshirt freshman running back Michael Cox is currently an unknown to many Missouri football fans.

There is no more argumentative pick than Cox on this list.

Cox is a 2020 walk-on running back from Atlanta, Ga., who received offers from Brown, Dartmouth, and Pennslyvania. Hardly and football powerhouses on that list.

Declining those offers, Cox took a chance on himself joining the  Tigers. Redshirting in 2020, he would not have seen the field much behind runningbacks Roundtree and Tyler Badie. While Tyler Badie seems to be the defacto starting runningback, Cox could be a workhorse running back with a good lead-up to the 2021 season.

Cox was one of the few players singled out by Drinkwitz following the 2021 spring game, saying that he was “very, very excited about the way [Cox] played today.”

While a spring game touchdown and a good word from the coach hardly spell immediate success, Cox also has his physical measurements going for him. Standing at 6’1″ and 227 lbs., Cox is a closer player in size and style to Roundtree compared to Badie, who is 5’8″ and 194 lbs.

While I am not saying that Badie’s size prevents him from being the top back, it provides an opening for Cox to have a great performance.

Badie previously landing on the 2018 SEC All-Freshman Team, with only 101 touches that season. Cox could easily match or surpass that number while being the powerhouse back in comparison to Badie’s receiving and elusive play style.