SEC Media Days: What ESPN's analysts said Mizzou football needs to be successful in 2022

When Eli Drinkwitz took the podium Monday at SEC Media Days, he talked about the future of the sport and the philosophical vision of college football.

After Drinkwitz spoke, ESPN spoke about the immediate future of Missouri football.

The SEC Network's media days table of Auburn alum Takeo Spikes, Florida alum Tim Tebow and Georgia alum Ben Watson talked about what the beginning of the season could look like for the Tigers.

They discussed the most critical game for Missouri in the first month of the season.

More: Eli Drinkwitz wants Mizzou football to follow championship standard set by Kansas City Chiefs

"If Mizzou is going to have any success at all, it's imperative that they need to walk out of the first three games of the season with some type of confidence," Spikes said. "That confidence has got to come from being able to get a win."

According to the panel, that win is Week 2 at Kansas State.

The Wildcats, coming off an 8-5 season, are expected to be improved in 2022. The matchup against Kansas State is a chance for Missouri to prove it can beat a good Power Five team and earn Drinkwitz's first road nonconference win in his tenure.

A victory there would be significant for a Tigers team that wants to take the next step. What would be a win in Tebow's eyes is being .500 in the first half of the season.

"In the first six, they got to think, 'We've got to go 3-3,'" Tebow said. "If they can go 3-3 in their first six, I think that is a huge win for Mizzou."

The first half of the 2022 schedule includes the Tigers' first three opponents of their SEC season: Georgia, Florida and Auburn.

The Bulldogs remain one of the best teams in the nation. The Gators have a new coach in Billy Napier, and Auburn finished 6-7 last season much like Missouri.

Missouri will need to significantly improve on defense if it wants to contend in the SEC, Watson said.

"This team last year could not stop the run at all," Watson said. "This year, defensively, they've got to stop the run to contend in the SEC. They've also got to force some turnovers."

More: Quarterbacks, recruiting and more: What Eli Drinkwitz told local media at SEC Media Days

Missouri is now on its third defensive coordinator in three years, Spikes noted. Ryan Walters moved on to Illinois after the 2020 season, Steve Wilks coached in Columbia for one season before returning to the NFL, and Drinkwitz elevated Blake Baker to defensive coordinator from safeties coach for this season.

Baker was originally hired hired to coach safeties this past offseason. Although there will be some familiarity, Spikes said MU needs to have something different on defense.

"You can't run the same thing and expect a different result," Spikes said.

It's fair to point out that Missouri's defense looks extremely different in key points.

Of the 19 transfers Missouri welcomed in during the offseason, there's at least one transfer addition at each of the Tigers' defensive positions. MU added Joseph Charleston at safety, Dreyden Norwood at cornerback, Ty'Ron Hopper at linebacker and Jayden Jernigan on the defensive line, to name a few.

The panel was in agreement: The Kansas State game will be a measuring stick for Missouri's season very early on.

"That really feels like the swing game," ESPN's Joe Tessitore said.

Chris Kwiecinski is the sports editor for the Columbia Daily Tribune, overseeing University of Missouri and Boone County sports coverage. Follow him on Twitter @OchoK_ and contact him at CKwiecinsk@gannett.com or 573-815-1857.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: ESPN football analysts discuss Mizzou football at SEC Media Days