Mizzou football lands ex-Miami cornerback Marcus Clarke | Mizzou Sports News

COLUMBIA, Mo. Two days before the start of the season, the Missouri defense added another Power Five transfer. Marcus Clarke, a sophomore cornerback at Miami and former starter for the Hurricanes, committed to the Tigers on Tuesday while on a campus visit. He announced his verbal pledge on Twitter.

Clarke’s commitment reunites him with first-year defensive coordinator Blake Baker, who held the same position at Miami during Clarke’s freshman season in 2020. Clarke, from Winter Park, Florida, was a three-star prospect in 2020. He appeared in six games as a freshman in 2020 and 12 games last year, including four starts.

“The number one thing that pops out about Marcus Clarke is that he is a ballhawk,” Baker said of Clarke in December 2020 in a story published by InsideTheU, Miami’s 247sports.com affiliate. “He has a background of playing on offense and defense at the high school level, but it seems like any time the ball is near him, he ends up walking away with it. I am really encouraged with his playmaking ability.”

By signing this late into the fall semester, Clarke would likely need a waiver to secure eligibility for the 2022 season, similar to the process Mizzou linebacker Chuck Hicks went through last fall when he transferred from Wyoming. The Tigers return several cornerbacks with some starting experience, led by listed starters Kris Abrams-Draine and Ennis Rakestraw Jr. The defense is thin on game experience behind those two, with sophomore DJ Jackson, redshirt freshman transfer Dreyden Norwood from Texas A&M and junior college transfer LJ Hewitt listed as the top backups.

Last fall, Clarke played 233 of his 265 defensive snaps at outside corner, per Pro Football Focus, and was credited with one interception, one pass breakup, 24 tackles and three missed tackles. He was targeted 19 times, allowed 15 receptions for 182 yards and four touchdowns. He earned a PFF coverage grade of 69.6 and an overall defensive grade of 70.2. Last year, Mizzou’s top cornerback, Abrams-Draine, graded at 83.1 in coverage and 83.0 overall on defense, just ahead of former cornerback Akayleb Evans (73.1, 75.5).

Clarke is the 11th Power Five transfer to join Mizzou’s roster since the end of the 2021 season and ninth on defense.