As the dust settles on one of the most turbulent transfer portal cycles in recent memory, Missouri football finds itself reshaping its identity on the fly. What unfolded this winter wasn’t just roster tweaking-it was full-on roster triage.
A wave of young players exited the program, leaving the Tigers not only short on proven talent but alarmingly thin on developmental depth. That exodus forced head coach Eli Drinkwitz and his staff into a two-pronged strategy: plug the immediate holes with battle-tested veterans and restock the long-term cupboard with high-upside prospects.
It’s the most complex portal class of the Drinkwitz era, and it reflects the new reality of roster building in college football-where retention is just as important as recruitment.
The Win-Now Group
Let’s start with the headline names-the guys expected to make an impact from day one. This group was brought in with a clear purpose: stabilize the roster and keep the Tigers competitive in 2026.
Quarterback Austin Simmons leads that charge. He’s expected to win the starting job and bring a steady hand to the offense.
Behind him, the offensive line got a much-needed infusion of experience. Josh Atkins, a proven starter from Arizona State, looks like a plug-and-play solution.
Zack Owens and Luke Work, both from Mississippi State, add versatility and maturity to a unit that needed both in equal measure.
On the defensive side, the linebacker room got a serious facelift. **Robert Woodyard Jr.
**, Malik Bryant, and Bobby Washington bring SEC-ready physicality and experience to a position group that saw significant turnover. These guys aren’t just depth pieces-they’re expected to lead.
The secondary, which was dangerously thin last year, now has fresh legs and fresh competition. **Chris Graves Jr.
**, Jahlil Florence, Sione Laulea, and Kensley Louidor-Faustin were all added to not just fill out the depth chart, but to push for real playing time. This is a unit that couldn’t afford another season on fumes, and the staff knew it.
Here’s the full list of immediate contributors:
- Josh Atkins
- Malik Bryant
- Caleb Goodie
- Chris Graves Jr.
- Cayden Lee
- Kensley Louidor-Faustin
- Zack Owens
- Jahlil Florence
- Austin Simmons
- Sione Laulea
- Bobby Washington
- Luke Work
- Robert Woodyard Jr.
This group touches nearly every position on the field. The common denominator?
Experience. These are players who’ve seen live bullets, who know what it takes to compete at a high level.
They’re here to keep the floor high and the wheels turning while the younger guys catch up.
The Long Game
But the second half of this portal haul tells a different story-one that’s just as important. These aren’t plug-and-play veterans. These are developmental pieces, brought in not for what they’ll do in 2026, but for what they might become in 2027 and beyond.
Here’s that group:
- JaDon Blair
- Elijah Dotson
- Xai’shaun Edwards
- Jaden Jones
- Kenric Lanier II
- Naeshaun Montgomery
- CJ May
- Donta Simpson Jr.
This is where the staff is betting on upside. Players like JaDon Blair, CJ May, Naeshaun Montgomery, and Elijah Dotson arrive with high ceilings and multiple years of eligibility.
They may not have the stats yet, but the tools are there. Others, like Jaden Jones and Donta Simpson Jr., are raw athletes who could blossom with time and coaching.
Some of these guys might crack the rotation in 2026-particularly on special teams or in spot duty-but the real value comes in their eligibility runway. After losing a surprising number of young players before they ever became contributors, Mizzou needed to refill the pipeline. This group is the answer.
A Balancing Act
In a typical portal cycle, a team leans one way or the other. You either go heavy on veterans to win now or load up on young talent to build for the future.
Mizzou didn’t have that luxury. The Tigers lost seniors and underclassmen alike, forcing the staff into a delicate balancing act.
Lean too hard on veterans, and you risk another depth crisis in a year or two. Focus too much on development, and the 2026 season could spiral. Drinkwitz and his staff had to thread the needle-and they may have pulled it off.
It’s not a class with a single identity. It’s two classes in one: one for now, one for later. And that’s exactly what the moment required.
What Success Looks Like
On paper, Mizzou came out ahead. If you match incoming talent to outgoing talent based on high school recruiting ratings, the Tigers actually saw a net gain.
That’s a win in itself. And if guys like Atkins, Owens, Woodyard Jr., and Graves Jr. step in and perform, the immediate returns will be obvious.
But the real test comes later.
The true measure of this class won’t be just how many starters it produces in 2026. It’ll be how many of the developmental players stick around, grow, and contribute in 2027 and beyond. If May, Lanier, Dotson, or Montgomery can carve out roles and stay in the program, Mizzou will have solved a long-term problem that’s plagued many Power Four programs in the portal era.
If not? Then we’re right back here next winter, talking about another split-class designed to patch holes and project futures.
In this new era of college football, roster building never really stops. But for now, Mizzou’s portal class looks like a calculated gamble to win both today and tomorrow. Whether it pays off will depend not just on who plays-but on who stays.