Missouri has its 2026 football captains, and the group brings a mix of established production, returning experience and a few players stepping into bigger roles.
Eli Drinkwitz’s leadership group features running back Jamal Roberts, left tackle Cayden Green, center Dominick Giudice, linebacker Nicholas Rodriguez, safety Santana Banner and kicker Blake Craig.
Roberts is heading into his fourth year at Mizzou and is set to open the season as the Tigers’ starter with Ahmad Hardy sidelined for at least the first game against Arkansas Pine-Bluff. He’s coming off the best statistical season of his career, piling up 124 carries, 753 yards and six touchdowns.
He averaged more than six yards per carry and added 18 receptions for 141 yards. For his career, Roberts is 32 yards shy of 1,000.
"Jamal's been phenomenal," Drinkwitz said. "I think he's responded the right way and had an excellent camp."
Green is in his fourth college season and third at Missouri, where he’s settled in as the starter at left tackle and earned preseason All-SEC recognition from the league’s media and coaches. His path to that spot included a freshman year at Oklahoma, then a season at guard for Missouri before moving outside to left tackle ahead of the 2025 season.
He missed two games because of injury, but still started 11 last season. Across 749 career snaps at left tackle, he has given up only two sacks and three hurries.
Rodriguez is preparing for his first season as a full-time starter, but he’s already logged plenty of snaps. The third-year linebacker from Miami started three games and played in all 13 last season after appearing in 11 as a true freshman in 2024. He recorded 61 tackles in 2025 and led the team with seven pass breakups, then finished on a high with a career-best 16 tackles in the Gator Bowl loss to Virginia.
Banner’s first season at Missouri turned into a breakout in 2025 after he arrived from Northern Illinois, where he spent two years. He finished with 59 tackles, which ranked third on the team, and added three pass breakups and an interception. He’s the most experienced returnee in the Missouri secondary.
Giudice takes over as Missouri’s starting center after spending last season at left guard. In 13 games, he allowed just one sack and one quarterback hit. The fifth-year senior is replacing Connor Tollison, who started the last three seasons at center for Mizzou.
Craig is entering his fourth season, though he missed 12 games last year with a torn ACL.
In Other News...
Mizzou Finally Settles A 1960 Title Debate Fans Never Forgot
More than six decades after the season ended, Missouri has officially added its 1960 football team to the schools list of national champions. The recognition came after a U.S. Senate resolution introduced by Sen. Eric Schmitt was adopted, giving formal weight to a claim Tigers fans never really let go of and putting the programs place in that title conversation in an entirely different light.
The review behind the resolution leaned on historical records, including the forfeiture of Kansas wins because of an ineligible player, which technically left Missouri with an undefeated season. Even with several schools staking a claim to the 1960 crown, the Tigers now have the university and the Senate on record in their corner, a long-awaited acknowledgment of a debate that has lingered for generations. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzous Freshman Core Already Looks Ready For The Spotlight
Missouris volleyball team opened the season with a clean start at the Mizzou Invitational, rolling past Western Illinois and Towson in back-to-back sweeps. The early results gave the Tigers a quick jolt of momentum, but the bigger takeaway was the way the freshman class immediately fit into the action, with Ceylin Kuyan making an eye-catching debut and Eva Smith following with a strong showing in the second match.
Dawn Sullivan had plenty to like about the groups energy and consistency across the day, and that matters for a team trying to build its identity early. What makes the opening weekend even more interesting is how quickly those first-year players seem capable of shaping the rotation, giving Missouri a deeper and more versatile look as the schedule starts to tighten. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou Is Mourning One Of The Greatest Track Stars In Program History
Missouri track and field lost one of its all-time standard-bearers with the death of Dan Lavitt at age 67. A former Tiger who later became a 2000 Hall of Fame inductee, Lavitt built his reputation as one of the programs most accomplished hurdlers, winning four Big Eight Conference titles and setting a school record in the 110-meter high hurdles in 1980.
Lavitts legacy at Mizzou reached beyond individual medals, too. He was part of a relay unit that helped set a world record, and after his competitive career ended, he remained a familiar part of the Columbia community. For a program that has long taken pride in its history, his passing is a reminder of just how much one athlete can mean both on the track and far beyond it. [Read more 🡒]