Curtis Peagler’s confidence is paying off

For the first couple of weeks of fall camp, it seemed the Missouri Tigers had their offensive line pretty well set.

But after Missouri’s second scrimmage, coach Eliah Drinkwitz decided it was time for a change.

He shifted left guard Cayden Green to left tackle, moved expected right guard Dominick Giudice to left guard. And with the open spot at right guard? 

Well it was time for redshirt junior Curtis Peagler to get a chance to run with the 1s.

“Oh yeah, Curtis, he’s a, he’s night and day better,” Green said. “You know, he’s a, he’s always been a physical specimen. He’s always been a bigger guy, and he can move well for his size. So, like, for him, it was only, it was only a matter of time before he just put it all together, and he looks completely different even from the spring.”

Now Drinkwitz has had Peagler work with the first team the past two weeks, finishing up fall camp. And the coach said Peagler is the expected starter at right guard as of the fall camp wrap up press conference on Tuesday.

“He’s playing a lot more confidence than he’s had before,” graduate center Connor Tollison said. “I think that’s the biggest thing for him. … Just, like, believing in himself. Like, we all know he can do it, but like, you know, like we can’t do it for you him, you know? So seeing him grow and have that confidence and some swagger about him is pretty cool.”

Confidence

That confidence Tollison has noticed has been a big area of growth for Peagler as well. The 6-foot-4, 338-pound redshirt junior is the second heaviest player on the offensive line already, he has spent years building up his body with the coaching staff.

But that confidence took some time to develop.

“I’ll say confidence. You know, I think that was a big reason why I took that next step, you know, just believing in myself and just putting the work every every day,” Peagler said. “And, you know, staying after practice, and, you know, talking to (offensive line) coach (Brandon) Jones, just, you know, communicating with my guys, especially Dominic (Giudice). He came from Michigan. He has really changed that offensive line room. Shout out to him. I really appreciate him.”

Sticking with it

That growing confidence came with a lot of hard work. Peagler stuck through two seasons with the Tigers without getting into a game, then played in three matchups last year, but totaled just 36 snaps. 

But in this era of the transfer portal and young players looking for better opportunities elsewhere, Peagler stuck it out. He stayed with the Tigers and now he’s getting his chance.

“Just hard work and dedication,” Peagler said of what it took to get to this point. “It took me a minute. Obviously, I’ve been here a minute. But it took me a while to kind of hone in, gather myself and work my technique. … Coach Drink has believed me. And I think I just had to take it upon myself and make that step.”

Now Peagler will help a Tiger offense replacing 60 percent of the offensive line. But with a lot of new additions around him, Peagler knows his specific strengths. And what he’s hoping for with the Tiger offense.

“I’ll say, I love to run the ball. Love to run the hell out of the ball,” Peagler said. “I’ll say one of my strongest strengths is my hands. You know, a lot of times working with like a D-end type body. I’m just giving an example, I think my hands saved me a lot of the times. You know, just keep working on my hands and everything else will follow through.”

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