Meet The Freshman: Safety Trajen Greco

After making the Tigers wait for a long time, the 4-star defensive back is ready to earn playing time for the Missouri defense in 2024.

4-star safety Trajen Greco made the Tigers wait for his commitment to the Tigers. He committed on January 6, 2024 at the Under Armour All-American Bowl and signed shortly after.

Greco now comes into the 2024 year as the third-highest-ranked recruit in the incoming class, with the opportunity to walk into a role in the secondary core for the Tigers. He has plenty of competition at both cornerback and safety, which will provide mentorship and improvement, but also challenges getting onto the field.

High School

Greco totaled 86 tackles in two years for the Mill Creek Hawks. He put one tackle for loss on top of that in his career, as well as seven career interceptions. Along with the seven turnovers, he recorded 23 pass breakups in the two years.

His most productive year was his junior year for the Hawks, where he mustered 61 tackles of his career 86. 17 of the pass deflections came during that season, as well as five of the seven interceptions. This was all in 15 games.

The production dropped a little during his senior showing, playing two fewer games. He recorded 25 tackles, six deflections and two interceptions.

Greco was versatile, also playing receiver for the Hawks. During his senior year, he finished with 549 yards and 10 touchdown passes. He also rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown.

Recruiting

Greco was composite ranked No. 175 in the country, according to 247Sports Composite Rankings. That makes him the No. 12 safety and No. 21 in the state of Georgia. On3 industry rankings have him ranked the highest at No. 73 in the country.

He was only rated lower than a four-star recruit on Rivals, where they listed him as the No. 60 safety in the country and No. 59 in Georgia.

Before his commitment to the Tigers, Greco made his pledge to the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets. He committed on June 26, 2023 and decommitted on November 25 of the same year. Over a month later, he committed and signed to Eli Drinkwitz and the Tigers.

Among the Tigers and Yellowjackets, Greco held offers from Boston College, North Carolina, Duke, Pittsburgh and others.

Fit with the Tigers

Greco, only standing at 6-feet tall and 180-pounds, might come off as undersized for a safety. Some recruiting sites listed him as a cornerback however, which he also played in high school, providing him with some versatility on the field.

Greco is another outstanding athlete, with elite speed and a twitchy frame as well. His good hands, likely a result of his receiving skills on the other side of the ball, translate well to playing defensive back. He has good ball-skills and thinks like a receiver while in the secondary.

His offensive skills may not get a lot of shine during his tenure at Missouri. The receiver room is stacked with plenty of talent that may not see the field immediately, making it that much more challenging for Greco to see the field on offense.

As for defense, the same point stands, as there is plenty of depth at both secondary positions. Names like Toriano Pride Jr, Marvin Burks Jr. Daylen Carnell, Dreyden Norwood and others all stand in the way of Greco seeing the field. Sophomore Ja'Marion Wayne made the switch from receiver to defensive back and was a standout during the spring game.

As for many of the incoming freshmen, it will be a challenge to get on the field for Greco. He has the athleticism and the talent, but the returners and transfers, like Pride Jr. and Houston Christian transfer Caleb Flagg, will prove difficult.

This story is a part of a series from MizzouCentral this summer, breaking down where each new Tiger will fit on the 2024 team.

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Meet the Transfer/Freshman series: Eddie Kelly | Toriano Pride Jr. | Jaylen Brown | Courtney Crutchfield | Corey Flagg Jr. | Darris Smith | Chris McClellan | Williams Nwaneri