Mitch Morse

Morse took over for Seattle Seahawks' second-round pick Justin Britt as the Tigers' left tackle in 2014 and promptly starred, earning Second Team All-SEC honors in his first season on the blindside. Switching positions is nothing new for Morse, who initially worked his way into the starting lineup at Mizzou at center in 2012 before injuries pushed him to right tackle, where he'd started the 17 games prior to that. It is this kind of dependability and versatility that could result in Morse competing for a starting role relatively early in his NFL career. Morse possesses the frame to remain outside, though he projects better back to the right side. He has good, but not elite footwork to handle speed rushers. Morse has a powerful punch that could also prove effective inside at guard, as well.

strengths

Like Justin Britt, Morse is a functional athlete whose strengths are his patience, power and tenacity. Morse has above average initial quickness and shows balance while he "chucks" his way back in pass protection. Morse shows good patience, allowing the defender to get near him before showing a quick, powerful punch to latch and control opponents. He plays with his knees bent, helping him to absorb bull rushes and plays on his toes, allowing him to slide laterally to mirror. Morse is attentive and can handle switching off on twists and unexpected blitzes. As a run blocker, Morse is at his best turning and sealing defenders with his initial quickness or simply driving them off the ball with power. He has good (but not great) quickness and balanced when dropping back into pass protection, as well as when pulling or sprinting out to block defenders at the second level.

weaknesses

He is a bit top-heavy and struggled a bit with speed rushers while at both right and left tackle. He does not possess elite balance and foot speed in his kick-slide, though he's competitive and relatively long and therefore competitors must beat him off the edge; he doesn't give it up easily. Morse will lunge to protect the edge, however, and in doing so drop his head, leaving him vulnerable to swim and spins. Though he shows impressive straight-line speed to the second level, Morse's slightly top-heavy frame and average core flexibility cause him to struggle when needing to adjust to moving targets and too often he misses these blocks.

ESPN.com ranked him as the nation's No. 19 offensive tackle talent

ranked by Rivals.com as the nation's No. 51 tackle prospect

was a three-year starter on the offensive line who also starred on the defensive line as well, playing defensive tackle

earned first-team all-state honors as an offensive lineman each of his last two years, in addition to being a two-time first-team all-district pick there

as a senior in 2009, added first-team all-district honors as a defensive tackle to his resume

an outstanding student who twice won Academic All-State honors

high school coach - Ed McCabe.

Parents - Kevin & Catherine Morse

interested in studying Hotel & Restaurant Management at Mizzou

lists hobbies as weight lifting, sports, music, movies and the great outdoors

chose Mizzou over Kansas, TCU, Stanford and Vanderbilt, among many others

mentioned Mizzou's academic opportunities, its beautiful facilities, and the great attitudes of MU's coaches and players that were big draws for him.