The stars have aligned to bring several Missouri previews across the wire this week. We’ve all circled the South Carolina trip as an early battle in the SEC East, but there’s another September trip to another Columbia that will test Georgia’s reloaded defense.

Missouri of course got Georgia’s attention last season with a competitive first half and tallied the most points scored on Georgia until the Auburn game. They’re replacing a creative offensive coordinator (with Derek Dooley) and lose productive receiver J’Mon Moore. But talented quarterback Drew Lock returns after considering a jump to the NFL, and deep threat Emanuel Hall will remain a favorite target. In 2017 Hall got behind the Georgia defense for 141 yards and two long scores on just four receptions.

But the Missouri player I find myself dwelling on is sophomore TE Albert Okwuegbunam. Georgia fans will be glad to see South Carolina’s Hayden Hurst gone, but “Albert O” might be in a position to take Hurst’s place as a nightmare matchup. As a freshman Okwuegbunam caught 29 passes for 415 yards and an impressive 11 touchdowns. Better than 1 out of every 3 catches went for a score. Only Ole Miss’s A.J. Brown, considered the SEC’s top returning wide receiver, had as many receiving touchdowns.

Okwuegbunam caught a four-yard shovel pass for Missouri’s first touchdown in Athens last year, but he’s most dangerous releasing down the seam. He’s a favorite target on pop passes where interior defenders must pay attention to the run and also follow the imposing tight end releasing right past them. At a solid 6’5″ and 260 lbs., he’s a load for most defensive backs and elusive enough to get open against slower linebackers.

Modern offenses love to feature the Gronkowski-style receiver exactly because of that speed vs. size conundrum, and Missouri seems to have found their Gronk in Okwuegbunam. It’s something Georgia is looking for in its fleet of tight ends, and it’s why Georgia fans ask about the position every offseason. There’s a trade-off in a power running game when the TE must often stay in to block, but we know that hasn’t been Missouri’s identity.

Other than the shovel pass on which Okwuegbunam sliced through Georgia’s interior defense, he had just one other reception in the game. The matchup interests me more this year because of what Georgia lost on the interior of the defense. The Dawgs will miss Roquan Smith for many reasons, and his pass coverage ability is near the top of the list. That had been a big weakness of Georgia’s middle linebackers prior to Smith, and it’s not an easy job even for the best. Georgia also loses ball-hawking defensive back Dominick Sanders. Sanders worked at both safety and star – positions that might be asked to pick up a releasing tight end down the seam. We’ll find out in September if Georgia’s replacements at both ILB and safety/star can be as effective containing one of the SEC’s most prolific scorers.