A quarter of the way through the 2026 season, Mizzou’s roster is starting to show its shape. Some players are climbing into bigger jobs.
Others are seeing their roles shrink. And after a 31-24 loss to Mississippi State, the Tigers have a fresh batch of stock movers as they turn toward No.
8 Florida on Homecoming.
The biggest winner right now is Cayden Lee. He arrived from Mississippi with a proven résumé and plenty of production, but he’s become something more in Columbia: the clear No. 1 receiver.
Against his former team, he exploded for 11 catches, 155 yards and two touchdowns. One score came on a well-designed screen that let him work after the catch; the other showed he can still threaten vertically.
That 11-catch outing was Mizzou’s highest since Kevin Coleman had 12 against UMass last year. Against SEC opponents, it was the most by a Tiger since Luther Burden III’s big run in weeks 4-6 of 2023. Lee now leads Mizzou with 412 receiving yards and 27 catches, and he and Donovan Olugbode have become the face of this revamped passing game.
“He’s an elite player, and we knew he was an elite player,” Eli Drinkwitz said. “We knew he and Austin (Simmons) has chemistry, and that’s why it was so important to get him. He’s been everything we’ve expected.”
Naeshaun Montgomery is another name moving up. He opened the year as an “Or” starter at X, but against an FBS opponent for the first time, his role expanded. The box score only shows one catch for 7 yards, but he was on the field for a career-high 70 offensive snaps and ranked third on the team with five targets, behind Lee and Olugbode.
The chemistry with Austin Simmons is still developing, but the chances are there. And with Terry and DeMarion Fowlkes in Jacob Peeler’s receiver room, Mizzou has no shortage of options.
The edge group has also seen its value rise, especially with injuries creating more room for depth to matter. Darris Smith and Langden Kitchen are both questionable for Saturday, and if either one can’t go, those extra reps will be there against a top-10 opponent.
Daeden Hopkins has been the headliner. He was just named SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week and leads the Tigers with 21 pressures, 8 sacks and 12 quarterback hurries. The Hermann, Mo., native has been a wrecking ball, and his production has held up in league play with four sacks.
He wasn’t the only edge player making noise against Mississippi State, either. Hopkins and Kamauryn Morgan each recorded a sack on Kamario Taylor after Kitchen left with an injury.
Demarcus Johnson added a hit on the Bulldogs’ quarterback, and Jaden Jones played a season-high 39 snaps. Per Pro Football Focus, Jones posted a 77.2 run defense grade and a 76.1 tackling grade in a game where Mizzou’s overall tackling was shaky.
That kind of edge depth matters, and not just for this week. Even if Smith and Kitchen are both available against Florida, having more usable bodies in the rotation only helps long term.
On the other side of the ledger, Caleb Goodie Sr. has seen his role shrink. There was real curiosity about how he would fit when he transferred to Columbia, but with Montgomery getting more featured work, Goodie’s snap count has dropped hard. He played 54 combined snaps in the Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Kansas games, then just 16 offensive snaps over the last two weeks.
That’s a surprising turn for a player who arrived with 51 career receptions and 919 receiving yards.
The tackling at linebacker has also slipped into the down column. Robert Woodyard Jr. and Nicholas Rodriguez were supposed to help stabilize that part of the defense, especially with the returning production and incoming transfers Mizzou brought in. Nate Edwards pointed out in the spring that Rodriguez had a 94.5% tackling accuracy rate, while Woodyard came from Auburn at 89.7%.
So far, though, the numbers and the eye test both say the same thing: it’s been a problem. Rodriguez’s PFF tackling grade has fallen from 87.2 in 2024 and 78.4 in 2025 to 46.9 this year.
Woodyard’s has gone from 79 to 58.2. Together, they were responsible for four of the team’s 13 missed tackles at key moments against Mississippi State.
One missed stop by Rodriguez on Fluff Bothwell helped lead to the Bulldogs’ first offensive touchdown. A missed Woodyard tackle on a swing pass helped extend a drive that ended in three points.
“It’s an aspect that Drinkwitz has harped on weekly, and was reinforced again this week with Mizzou looking to stop a good rushing attack against Florida.”
That theme ties directly into the bigger issue from Saturday: Mizzou didn’t close. Drinkwitz said, “We didn’t finish the way we needed to in the fourth quarter,” and added, “As coaches, we have to be better on both sides of that to help our offense, defense, to start better and finish better.”
The Tigers led 24-17 early in the fourth quarter and, according to ESPN’s Analytics, had a 73.6% win probability at the 8:06 mark. Then Mississippi State put together back-to-back scoring drives while Mizzou’s offense came up empty.
That kind of finish has been unusual for Drinkwitz’s teams. They’ve had plenty of late-game wins, including Kansas this season; Auburn and South Carolina last year; Oklahoma, Vanderbilt and Arkansas in 2024; and Kansas State and Florida in 2023.
Saturday was only the third time in the Drinkwitz era that Mizzou lost after carrying a win probability above 70% in the fourth quarter. The other two were Auburn in 2022 and South Carolina in 2024.
In Other News...
Missouri Gets An Early Read On Key Defensive Help Vs Florida
Missouri got its first injury snapshot ahead of Homecoming against Florida, and the initial SEC availability report immediately put some focus on the defensive front. The Tigers listed eight players in varying statuses, with EDGE Darris Smith and DE Langden Kitchen both tagged questionable as they work back from ailments that affected their availability last week.
Smith sat out the previous game with an ankle injury, while Kitchen left early with a lower-body injury, leaving Missouri to monitor two important pieces as the Florida matchup approaches. The Gators own report was lighter, with two questionable wideouts in Vernell Brown III and Bailey Stockton, but for Missouri the bigger question is how much of its defensive line rotation it can count on when the conference deadline forces the first public update before kickoff. [Read more 🡒]
Florida's Breakout Season Faces A Huge Test At Missouri
Floridas visit to Columbia arrives with both teams trying to sort out what kind of October run they can make, and college football analyst Greg McElroy sees the matchup tilting toward the visitors. He pointed to Floridas running game as the most reliable edge in the game, with Jadan Baugh powering a ground attack that has helped shape the Gators breakout start.
Missouri, meanwhile, is being pressed by issues that have shown up in the margins, especially in finishing drives and keeping opponents from turning limited chances into points. The Tigers also face a Florida team whose defensive tendencies could create a tougher day for Missouris passing game, which makes the October 3 meeting feel like more than just another conference game for a team trying to keep its league standing from slipping. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou Suddenly Has A Defensive Concern Heading Into Florida
Missouris trip to No. 8 Florida picked up an extra layer of uncertainty Wednesday night when the injury report listed several key defenders as questionable, including edge rushers Langden Kitchen and Darris Smith and linebacker Bobby Washington Jr. For a Tigers defense that will need to bring pressure and stay sturdy in the middle against a ranked opponent on the road, those names jumping onto the report immediately changed the look of the matchup.
Eli Drinkwitz had already acknowledged Kitchen and Smiths status during his Tuesday media session, so the situation was not a complete surprise, but it still leaves Missouri waiting on important pieces at a critical spot on the field. Florida has injury questions of its own, with leading receiver Vernel Brown III and third receiver Bailey Stockton also listed as questionable, but Missouris bigger concern is whether it can get enough speed and depth back on defense before kickoff. [Read more 🡒]