Missouri Football: 5 Post-Spring Questions Facing the Tigers

The Missouri Tigers have finished spring practice and recently played their spring game. We now won't see them again until August as they will take the remaining few months off until fall camp arrives.

For the Tigers, spring was very valuable as they open up their first season in the SEC. There were injuries to several key players on both sides of the ball, but the time was greatly needed so coaches could figure out what they need to work on in the fall. But not everything develops an answer in such a short amount of time. 

Here are five questions that Missouri still has to answer heading into the 2012 season.

Will We See Henry Josey at All This Season?

Running back Henry Josey had a fantastic season last year, rushing for over 1,100 yards and averaging over eight yards a touch. That was until he suffered a horrible knee injury that forced him to have surgery and miss the final three games of the season. Word is now that he'll end up having a second surgery within a few weeks.

So we probably already know the answer to this question, but if head coach Gary Pinkel will remain optimistic, I will too.

"He's doing very, very well," Pinkel said. "I always get the question, 'Will he be able to play this season?' And my answer is he's got three years to play two. So, when he's ready to play, that's when he'll play."

Kendial Lawrence and Marcus Murphy have done a solid job in spring practice replacing Josey, but losing a top offensive weapon really doesn't help this team.

Who Will Win the Kicking Battle?

Senior kicker Trey Barrow was penciled in as the starter heading into the spring. When the spring was over, it was redshirt freshman Andrew Baggett who is now listed as the starting kicker for the Tigers.

"I kind of knew," Barrow said via Stltoday.com. "He had beaten me in the scrimmages, and it's up to the coaches. I have to come back strong in the spring game and work harder this summer to try to get my spot back."

Barrow was the kicker in the second half of the season for Missouri, making 77 percent of his kicks. The Tigers must get this issue resolved because we've all seen just important how field goal kicking is, especially in the SEC.

Defensive Line Help?

The Tigers lost several players along the defensive line, which means that players will have to grow up fast in order to have success in the SEC. The Tigers will get Sheldon Richardson and Brad Madison back, two players who showed promise a season ago. But depth is going to be extremely important going into the SEC.

The top four teams in the SEC last season were able to pressure the quarterback and finished with at least 30 sacks on the year. The Tigers will have to discover a few more players who can get after it on the defensive line, or they'll have no chance this season.

How Much of Dorial Green-Beckham Will We See?

We haven't yet seen Green-Beckham on the field, but it's by far one of the things that have Missouri fans most excited. He was the headline recruit this past National Signing Day and is a wide receiver who's 6'6", 220 pounds and runs the 40 in the 4.4 range. He has the potential to be one of the best receivers in college football and should be a solid contributor from day one.

Question is, where does he fit in the offense and how much playing time will he receive his true freshman year?

Will James Franklin Be Healthy?

Quarterback Corbin Berkstresser has played well in James Franklin's absence, but that doesn't mean the Tigers are comfortable with the redshirt freshman heading into the season. Franklin needed shoulder surgery and is expected to make a full recovery by the time the season starts. Although questions about how complete he'll be is a completely different issue.

Will he have the arm strength to make the throws? Will he have any lingering effects from the injury?

Missouri and its offense will only go as far as Franklin leads them, and the Tigers will need a quarterback who's 100 percent healthy if they'll have any chance Week 2 against Georgia.