Missouri’s cornerback room is starting to take shape, and Eli Drinkwitz sounds encouraged by what he’s seeing.
With Week 1 getting closer, the Tigers are still sorting through a deep group that includes former starters and multiple transfers, which has left the pecking order open. But after Saturday’s press conference and scrimmage, Drinkwitz made it clear that one name is standing out early: Ole Miss transfer Chris Graves Jr.
Graves, who started nine games for the Rebels last season, has already logged more snaps than any Missouri cornerback in 2025. Drinkwitz pointed to that experience when describing where things stand.
"We've got quite a bit of depth," Drinkwitz said. "Obviously, Chris Graves has played a ton of football, he's probably got the best grasp of what we're trying to do on one side."
Graves wasn’t the only cornerback who drew praise. Drinkwitz also brought up Sione Laulea, Jahlil Florence, Nick DeLoach Jr, Jaxson Gates and Cameron Keys as players who can help the Tigers. That list nearly covers the entire room, and it speaks to how many options Missouri has at the position.
"There's a lot of ability there and it's just about who's going to make plays on the ball," Drinkwitz said. "Who can cause incompletions and then force takeaways. And so every day we're just continuing to try to get reps and stack fundamentals and see who's going to be a guy for us."
Among the rest of the group, the two Oregon transfers have been especially noticeable. Drinkwitz said both Laulea and Florence have matched expectations so far.
"Sione and Jahlil have been exactly what we had hoped," Drinkwitz said.
Laulea, a fifth-year player, climbed from San Mateo College, where he was ranked the No. 2 junior college transfer, then spent two seasons at Oregon before arriving at Missouri. If he’s going to handle starter-level snaps, he’ll be taking the biggest leap of his career.
Last season at Oregon, he had seven tackles on 116 snaps and earned a 76.7 grade in pass coverage. He hasn’t played an official snap for Missouri yet, but the staff has seen plenty of him in practice and scrimmage settings.
On Saturday, Laulea made his case again.
"I was proud of Sione today," Drinkwitz said. "He had a couple of really big tackles on a duo play where he was the unblocked guy. He fit pretty good."
Florence brings a different profile. At 6-foot-1, he’s shorter than Laulea, who is listed at 6-foot-4, and his path to Columbia was different too.
A four-star recruit who started for Oregon in his sophomore season, Florence dealt with injuries over two seasons before choosing Missouri as a place to get his career moving again. He also flashed during the scrimmage.
"Jahlil had two big time plays, one in the red zone, one backed up (and) forced an incompletion. So it's good stuff," Drinkwitz said.
Beyond Graves, Laulea and Florence, Missouri’s depth chart still includes DeLoach, who brings starting experience from his second season with the program, Keys, who showed raw potential in limited 2025 snaps, and Gates, whose speed and upside give the Tigers another intriguing option.
The starters haven’t been announced, but with less than three weeks until Week 1, it’s obvious Drinkwitz likes the shape of this group.
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