Our grades for the first half of Mizzou football's 2022 season

We're halfway through the 2022 Missouri Tigers football season.

The Tribune's mid-season grades are in, and while those grades are complimentary of the defense, it leaves much to be desired for the offensive side of the ball.

Missouri is just a few plays away from being 5-1 as opposed to 2-4.

"The No. 1 core value of our football team is to always compete," Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. "Now we've got to get over the hump."

That's easier said than done, especially when Missouri needs to win four of its last six games to even earn a bowl game. The Tigers know their work is cut out for them.

"Nobody likes where we're at," Drinkwitz said. "It's up to us to change that."

Here are our grades from the first half of the season, grading the offensive and defensive units overall before evaluating player groups:

More:Missouri football's bye week plans: Healing, learning and opportunities for young players

The offense

Overall: C

Quarterback

Grade: C

Brady Cook has been the unquestioned quarterback but has had mixed reviews. Jack Abraham has gotten a look against Kansas State when Drinkwitz was looking for some kind of spark, but he threw two interceptions.

Teams can get by in college football if their quarterback isn't the reason the team loses games. The defense and special teams need to be above average to pick up the slack, but it's been done before. Missouri has a good defense and excellent special teams this year.

But the offense is still limited. The quarterback position isn't the biggest reason, but it's a reason. Cook has worked his way to forming a connection with players like Dominic Lovett and Luther Burden, and that has helped the deep ball come together as the season has gone on.

However, Cook's touchdown-to-interception ratio of 5:6 is still one of the biggest detriments to the offense.

Here are three quarterbacks and their stat lines through six games in the 2022 season.

• Quarterback A: 1,597 yards passing, 52.5 completion percentage, nine touchdowns, six interceptions and a 42.3 quarterback rating.

• Quarterback B: 1,217 yards passing, 64.9 completion percentage, five touchdowns, six interceptions and a 55.2 quarterback rating.

• Quarterback C: 1,492 yards passing, 63.8 completion percentage, nine touchdowns, three interceptions and a 91.6 quarterback rating.

If it's not too obvious, quarterback B is Brady Cook. He has the highest completion percentage of each player listed.

As for the other two, A is Connor Bazelak and C is JT Daniels. Both Bazelak and Daniels, who are upperclassmen, have Indiana and West Virginia at 3-3 records so far this season. Daniels listed Missouri in his final three transfer destinations before picking the Mountaineers.

Cook, a sophomore, has every chance to improve. He'll need to for Missouri to gain bowl eligibility.

Skill positions

Grade: B

This has been the brightest spot the offense has to offer. It's fair to loop the running backs, receivers and tight ends together as they came into the season with much optimism, and have lived up to that excitement.

Burden has shown why he was rated as one of the best receivers in the country last recruiting cycle. Lovett has emerged as one of the best receivers in the SEC. The rushing combination of Nate Peat and Cody Schrader has become a productive one-two-punch rushing combo, with Peat seizing the lead role. Even Tyler Stephens, who took a few games to re-emerge after his Week 1 fumble, caught a red-zone touchdown against Georgia.

The skill players have shown the best can make plays, while players like Tauskie Dove and Barrett Banister are still reliable in the passing game, too.

The offense has flourished because of these players.

More:What's Mizzou's path to bowl eligibility at the bye week? 10 thoughts after Mizzou's loss to Florida

Offensive line

Grade: C

This is a tough group to grade because of its inconsistency.

On one hand, the Schrader-Peat combo has combined for 581 rushing yards and six touchdowns. A portion of that is thanks to the offensive line. Still, Missouri is tied for 77th in the nation with 13 sacks allowed on the season.

There are key penalties associated with this group, such as the false start that ended up taking away a chance to go up 20-3 against Georgia or the holding calls that take drives backward. That is why this group is kept from owning a B.

There could be changes to this unit, especially if Hyrin White returns in the second half of the season. But without that kind of direct personnel change, this unit has six more games to shake the inconsistent label.

The bottom line

The offense has struggled in SEC play, turning the ball over four times and averaging 17.7 points per game across three games. Those two stats need to improve if MU wants to win four more games and clinch a bowl berth.

Against Louisiana Tech and Abilene Christian, the unit did its job. The Kansas State game was a debacle, but it can be overlooked if the succeeding games display growth.

The defense

Overall: A

Defensive line

Grade: B

Of the 12 team sacks Missouri has recorded this season, eight have come via defensive linemen. Isaiah McGuire has the lead with two, but the evenly split sack numbers are a testament to the depth of the defensive line.

Those sack numbers don't account for players like Trajan Jeffcoat and Darius Robinson, who have recorded three quarterback hits apiece. This team is getting to the quarterback, even if it doesn't result in a sack. Those are just the passing numbers.

Last year, MU's run defense ranked 125th overall nationwide. This year so far, the Tigers are ranked 61st.

Not all of that is the defensive line's doing, but the added depth, talent and development at the position is a significant reason why.

More:After Florida loss, Mizzou football moves into its bye with its biggest issues at its feet

Linebackers

Grade: A

It's safe to say Ty'Ron Hopper was everything Missouri fans hoped he would be when he transferred from Florida. Chad Bailey has become a steady and important piece to the defense's structure, too.

Hopper has pressured the quarterback, leads the team in solo tackles, has forced turnovers and been part of the pass defense. Doing a bit of everything is why he's in the conversation for being Missouri's most valuable player so far. Bailey has missed the last two games but otherwise has been a steady piece.

Last season, Bailey earned more snaps around the midway point of the season. MU's run defense improved from allowing 6.6 yards per carry in the first five games in 2021 to allowing 3.6 yards per carry in the following five games. The biggest change was seeing Bailey's snap count rise from 12 snaps per game to 61 per game.

It's impressive to see Dameon Wilson perform at a level ahead of a redshirt freshman. When Chuck Hicks and Carmycah Glass were lost for the year before the season even began, linebacker depth became a concern. Wilson has eased those concerns.

You can't ask much more from the unit that fields two of the best players on the team.

Defensive backs

Grade: B

One of the deepest and most talented positions on MU's roster has lived up to that billing.

Kris Abrams-Draine has taken on the starting corner role and has thrived, leading the team with five pass breakups. Ennis Rakestraw is second on the team with four pass breakups and has an interception. Those two players have been as reliable as they are talented.

Even when Abrams-Draine missed the Florida game with an injury, Texas A&M transfer Dreyden Norwood played well in his stead.

The safety positions have been dependable. Martez Manuel's shift over into the star safety position has benefited him as much as the team, and he hasn't missed a beat in learning the position. Jaylon Carlies has continued to force turnovers and tackle well from his safety spot, and Joseph Charleston has shown he can create turnovers as well.

Of the top four tacklers for Missouri this season, Carlies leads the team, while Charleston and Manuel are third and fourth, respectively. Usually, when safeties are leading the team in tackles, that's a sign of a struggling run defense as the running backs are making it to the second level.

Here, it's a sign of the MU safeties' ability to diagnose running plays and move quickly to stop them.

The bottom line

If you would have told Missouri fans a year ago that, in one year's time, the defense would be stopping the run and giving the Tigers a chance to win all of their games this year, they would have been thrilled.

After the struggles the team had last year, it's become evident that defensive coordinator Blake Baker is one of the better defensive minds in the SEC. It's on the offense to match what the defense has started.

The defense is on pace for 24 sacks, 10 interceptions, 76 tackles for loss and 10 fumble recoveries.

Specialists

Kicker

Grade: B

Harrison Mevis had one of the most heartbreaking moments of the season, missing a chip-shot field goal that would have defeated Auburn. He showed that he isn't dwelling on that with a performance against Georgia where he nailed a 56-yard kick.

He's an All-American kicker for a reason. Mevis is a lock to show that as the second half of the season gets underway and MU needs the most consistency it can get from its best players.

Punter

Grade: A

After losing the initial punter battle, Jack Stonehouse has taken the starting punter job and thrived. He has an average of 44.3 yards per punt and has rocketed a longest punt of 68 yards. It's his job to lose.

One of the best things about Stonehouse's punts is knowing that he's sporting a master mustache under his facemask.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Grading the first half of the Mizzou football 2022 season