
Beans! Bees? Beads? Beans!
Missouri was set to lose at least three contributors from the safety corps at the conclusion of this year — and potentially more — so “big defensive backs” have been a noticeable target for the Drinkwitz staff during portal shopping season.
Enter: Santana Banner. Flint, Michigan native. A dude with three years of eligibility left. A guy who logged more snaps than any current Tiger defender not named Dreyden Norwood.
And best of all? His nickname is “Beans”.
BEANS.
I don’t know if he got that name because of the hill that he’s worth or the location he likes to hit dudes, but I’m thoroughly enjoying referring to a man named Beans. It also reminds me of one of my favorite Arrested Development bits:
On to the football analysis!
Where He Fits: Beans was Northern Illinois’ starting strong safety, so however that parlances translates from NIU scheme to Mizzou scheme, that’s where he’ll play. As you can see from his stat table, he’s done equal parts work of playing the run and defending the pass, logging 3 run stuffs and passes defensed each. He also logged a forced fumble and an interception during the ‘24 campaign so he projects as quite the active defender. What’s even better? According to PFF he didn’t allow a touchdown on any pass that was thrown around the guy he was assigned to defend. At an alleged 6’3” 202 he’s a slightly taller version of Joseph Charleston and, given that he’s probably taking his spot, that makes sense.
When He’ll Play: Do I have to say it? It’s an incoming transfer defender at a position of tremendous need. He’s playing as soon as the games start back up.
What It All Means: That’s one down, two or three more to go. Beans is a smart defender and stood out even on a pretty gnarly G5 defense so you would think that he’s ready to make the leap. And while Mizzou has some fun youth waiting in the wings, ideally the Tigers nab a few more game-ready safeties to slot into the rotation for depth purposes. Regardless, this is a good get for Corey Batoon’s defense and a piece that they can build around for the next few years.
0 Comments