Missouri Tigers: Raymond Wingo Moving to Offense?

It’s no secret that there has been a massive overhaul at the wide receiver position for the Missouri Tigers this year. Bud Sasser, Jimmie Hunt, and Darius White are all gone, and their leading returning receiver, Nate Brown, had a total of five catches in 2014, oh and he’s hurt with a knee injury.

So, with the struggles they’ve seen this far in spring football, they’re turning to a familiar face: Raymond Wingo.

In the two scrimmages Missouri has had in spring football open to the media, there have been zero touchdowns through the air and seven interceptions. Maty Mauk, Eddie Printz, Corbin Berkstresser, and Marvin Zanders haven’t been able to get the ball in the hands of Wesley Leftwich, J’Mon Moore, and Eric Laurent. The defense, particularly the corners, have overwhelmed them.

With Brown likely out for the rest of the spring, Gary Pinkel called up-and-coming redshirt freshman cornerback Raymond Wingo over to the other side of the ball this past week to play receiver. Wingo finished Saturday’s scrimmage with two catches for 20 yards.

Wingo isn’t new to offense, as he played cornerback, wide receiver, and even some quarterback at St. Louis University High School. He made a lot of plays on both sides of the ball, but when he came to Mizzou in the summer of 2014, Pinkel elected to keep him on offense.

I said in the cornerback preview earlier in the week that Wingo was a candidate to move to wide receiver, but I thought it was unlikely that the switch would happen. Pinkel said after the scrimmage that Wingo would remain on the offensive side of the ball for the remainder of the spring, but will evaluate and make a permanent decision over the summer.

The big reason why there’s been little production from the receivers this spring is because of the lack of separation from the cornerbacks. Wingo ran a sub 4.3 forty yard dash earlier this spring, so he can solve that issue, and can fly by defenders down the field. Mauk went on to say after the scrimmage that, “He’s (Wingo) kind of like a (Marcus) Murphy type guy, except a lot faster.”

Nov 22, 2014; Knoxville, TN, USA; Missouri Tigers running back Marcus Murphy (6) runs for a touchdown against the Tennessee Volunteers in the first quarter at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports

Those are bold words, because as Tiger fans know, Murphy had seven returning touchdowns in his career at Missouri. He probably would have made the offense flow a lot better last year if he was kept as receiver like they originally intended to, but an injury to Morgan Steward’s hip caused that plan to derail.

Back to Wingo, the best word to describe this move is spark. This offense, right now, desperately needs a spark. Whether that’s a product of injury (to Brown), or just the fact the defense is so far ahead of the offense, something needed to change. Wingo is only 5-foot-11, 180 and can’t solve all the problems on offense, but Mauk can dump the ball off to him and make some plays.

Will Wingo be on offense for the September 5th season kick-off against SEMO? The answer is dependent on the health and the rest of the receivers progression throughout the offseason. I think ideally Pinkel would rather keep him on defense, and cornerbacks coach Cornell Ford wants him back on defense, but that’s all contingent on the current crop of receivers.

Brown needs to get healthy. Moore and Leftwich need to make some plays on Aarion Penton and Kenya Dennis. One of the redshirt freshmen (DeSean Blair, Thomas Richard, Keyon Dilosa) needs to establish themselves as a rotational receiver.

Also there are two freshmen receivers coming this summer who can do similar things that Wingo could do: Richaud Floyd and Jonathan Johnson. Both are smaller, sub 4.4 receivers that are incredibly dynamic with the ball in their hands. It’s not guaranteed that a true freshman could, but if one of them has a great summer and fall camp and avoids a redshirt, that might move Wingo back to defense.

Maybe it’s not that big of a deal that a redshirt freshman may temporarily change positions, but it speaks to the creative mind of Gary Pinkel. Right now, the Missouri Tigers’ offense needs all the creativity it can get.

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