Mizzou football coming into 2023 stacked at wide receiver

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

First-year offensive coordinator Kirby Moore will have his pick of weapons to work with in 2023. Mizzou is returning more than a handful of wide receivers, in addition to a couple of big off-season transfers.

Standouts Luther Burden, Mookie Cooper and Mekhi Miller will all be back on the field this upcoming season, but the wide receiver room is stacked, beyond just them. Demariyon 'Peanut' Houston, Ja'Marion Wayne and Micah Manning all have a year or two under their belts now. Head coach Eli Drinkwitz also brought on Oklahoma-transfer Theo Wease Jr. and Ole Miss transfer Dannis Jackson in the off season.

"I think they just continue to grow," quarterback Brady Cook said. "It's a really tight room and they all push each other. We've just got a lot of key pieces, a lot of guys that make plays. I think that's gonna be huge for just getting them the ball and letting them do their thing."

When defensive players were asked who stood out the most, offensively, and made the most plays in the spring, most of them pointed to Wease Jr. The former Sooner came to Columbia in the off season with two years of eligibility remaining. He played in 36 games at OU, catching 64 balls for 1,044 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Defensive lineman Jayden Jernigan went to high school with Wease Jr. and said the best way to describe him on the field is electric.

Another explosive piece on the Mizzou offense is Burden. The St. Louis-native is setting his sights on a Heisman-type season. On Sunday, before the start of fall camp, he said that will be his biggest goal in 2023. He said his biggest area of growth, after his freshman campaign, is becoming a more vocal leader.

"It's a blessing to be around so much talent because there's like so many options of where I can get better at," he said. "Now I can just look at more than one person, I can look at multiple people and just learn off them."

Wide receivers coach Jacob Peeler is entering his second season at the helm of the group. He said the best part of the group he has in 2023 is that they push each other everyday.

"The ability to, you know, if a guy is tired or whatever it may be, having multiple options to help that other guy out," Peeler said.

There is also a balance with having so many guys compete for targets. Drinkwitz said that they'll have to spread the love amongst the room this season, but it also provides great competition.