4-Star LB Chad Bailey Commits to Missouri over Ole Miss, Others

Versatile linebacker Chad Bailey announced Sunday that he's planning to play college football for the Missouri Tigers beginning in 2018.

Bailey is a 4-star recruit who rates as the No. 296 overall prospect in the 2018 recruiting class, according to the Scout.com player rankings. He also checked in as the No. 10 inside linebacker and the second-best player at the position from the state of Texas.

Although the Ridge Point High School star is listed as an ILB, he's also capable of playing on the outside thanks to his tackling ability. He's got an impressive set of raw tools that also includes good speed for the position and the ability to makes plays from sideline to sideline.

The only major concern is his lack of ideal size. He currently stands at 6'0'' and 238 pounds. How that will translate against bigger, stronger college competition is a bit difficult to project, which helps explain why he's not ranked higher with his playmaking ability.

Those measurables didn't prevent him from making a massive impact in high school. Ridge Point Football passed along the stats that made him the district's Defensive MVP:

Along with being an eraser at the linebacker level, Bailey told Anthony R. Brown II of Sports Rants he plans to become a vocal leader during his time in college, too.

"I feel I can play the captain role of the defense, always hyping the team up and stuff like that but off the field I'll make sure that everybody's at workouts and just fit into the team," he said.

Bailey represents a high-upside addition for the Tigers defense. If he's able to overcome the lack of prototypical size or enjoys another growth spurt and proceeds to bulk up, there's a good chance he'll outplay his fringe ranking.

Even though he's polished for a player of his age, there's still a learning curve when making the jump to college. How quickly he progresses will determine his freshman role because Missouri will be looking to fill some linebacker voids in 2018.