Missouri football’s transfer portal exodus has become so sprawling that keeping up with every former Tiger now feels like a full-time job. The 2026 season is about to kick off with the Week 0 slate, and more than 40 ex-Mizzou players are still out there, spread across the country and ready to show up on TV screens this fall.
Among the most notable names from the most recent wave, Damon Wilson II is headed to Miami, where he is expected to start as the Hurricanes try to replace Reuben Bain and Akheem Mesidor at edge. Beau Pribula has already won Virginia’s starting quarterback job, beating out Pitt transfer Eli Holstein, and he’ll be on the field this Saturday when UVA meets NC State at 1:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.
Marvin Burks Jr. landed at Wisconsin and is projected to open as the Badgers’ starting field safety. Marquis Johnson, meanwhile, is on Missouri’s schedule - the wideout is expected to start for Mississippi State, which hosts the Tigers on Sept.
- Joshua Manning is set to be a top target at Kansas State, while Keiton Jones looks like the likely starter at right guard for the Wildcats.
Mose Phillips III should be in the rotation at Oklahoma State, and Javion Hilson, Mizzou’s top signee in the Class of 2025, does not appear to be a projected rotation player at Virginia Tech.
A few more familiar names are settling into new spots around the country. Marquise Davis is likely third on Louisville’s running back depth chart behind Isaac Brown and Keyjuan Brown.
Jayven Richardson, who started at left tackle for Missouri when Cayden Green was out last season, appears headed for the No. 2 left tackle role at Colorado. Daniel Blood is the lone player who followed former offensive coordinator Kirby Moore to Washington State.
Justin Bodord is at Middle Tennessee State, Shamar McNeil at Akron, Jaylen Early at Texas State, Mark Manfred III at Kentucky, and Johnny Williams IV, Henry Fenuku and Brendon Haygood are all at North Texas. James Madison II is at UTSA, Caleb Flagg at UCF, and Robert Meyer will kick for UC Davis.
The quarterback group alone tells its own story. Jake Garcia is now at Furman after stops at Michigan, East Carolina, Miami and Missouri, and he is expected to start for the Paladins in the Southern Conference.
Gabarri Johnson moved on from Oregon State and landed at Samford, where he was buried behind Braden Atkinson and Maalik Murphy; if he wins the job, he could meet Garcia and Furman on Oct. 24 in Greenville, South Carolina. Their paths already crossed at Missouri in 2023 as backups to Brady Cook.
Aidan Glover has surfaced at UT Martin after one season as a backup at Northwest Mississippi CC, and he arrived there as a three-star signing in the Class of 2024.
The 2025 transfer class also has a long list of names still on the move. Kewan Lacy is back for a second season at Ole Miss and is one of the top returning running backs in college football; Missouri visits him in Oxford on Oct.
- Williams Nwaneri is expected to start at Nebraska.
Jaylen Brown has moved from Missouri to South Carolina to LSU, where he may be in line for reserve snaps after missing last season with a spring injury.
Eddie Kelly Jr. is back in the SEC at Mississippi State after a winding path that included Missouri in 2024 and West Virginia. He committed to the Bulldogs on Aug. 25 after being granted a temporary restraining order against the NCAA in a West Virginia court, which gave him access to the portal.
Mekhi Miller is at Missouri State after a season at Tulsa in which he played only four games. Jahkai Lang enters his second year at SMU after posting 24 tackles last season.
Courtney Crutchfield is projected as a second-team receiver at Arkansas, while Jaren Sensabaugh is not projected to be part of NC State’s defensive back rotation. Mikai Gbayor, who never actually made it to a season with Missouri after transferring in and out in the spring of 2025, has gone from North Carolina to Florida State.
Talan Chandler is at Arkansas State, Brayshawn Littlejohn at FIU, Ja’Marion Wayne at Coastal Carolina, Austyn Dendy at Bowling Green, and Grayson Clutchlow at Missouri State.
Looking further back, DJ Wesolak is now at Coastal Carolina after stops at Oregon State and Missouri State, following head coach Ryan Beard to Conway, South Carolina. Valen Erickson is finishing his career at Liberty after the last two seasons at NC State. Sergine Tounkara is at California, Carmycah Glass at Houston, Ma’Kyi Lee at New Mexico State, Max Whisner at Sam Houston State, and Marcus Scott II at Catawba College.
In Other News...
Missouri Has A Real Stake In The SEC's Latest Eligibility Fight
As the college football season gets underway, the SEC is once again in the middle of a fight that could reshape how rosters are built across the league. The conference, along with the Big Ten, ACC and Big 12, has said it will not allow athletes with professional experience to return to college sports, a stance that has already drawn legal challenges from players' lawyers and kept the eligibility rules in a constant state of uncertainty.
For Missouri, this is more than a philosophical debate about the future of college sports. It touches the Tigers' own recruiting and roster management, along with the wider transfer rules that help determine who can play where and when. With four power leagues holding firm and the legal push still unfolding, Missouri has a real stake in how this gets settled, even if the final answer remains a moving target for now. [Read more 🡒]
Mizzou Just Pushed Its New Look In A Direction Fans Will Notice
Missouri athletics is leaning further into the modern college sports business model, rolling out a jersey patch sponsorship with Ambetter Health for football and its Olympic sports. The St. Louis-based health insurance company now gets a visible place on the Tigers look, while the partnership also ties into a broader branding push that includes new naming rights at both ends of the football stadium.
The North and South End Zones now carry EquipmentShare and Multipli Credit Union, another sign that Mizzou is turning more of its gameday real estate into sponsor inventory. Ambetters parent company, Centene, is Missouris largest company by revenue, so the deal has a local angle even as it marks another noticeable shift in how the Tigers present themselves on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Just Entered A Historic Debate Fans Will Love
Indianas breakthrough title run in the 2025-26 season did more than end a long wait in college football. It also reopened one of the sports favorite debates, because once a first-time champion finally gets through, everybody starts asking who might be next. ESPN analyst Bill Connelly leaned into that conversation with a ranking of the programs most likely to win their first national title, and the short list has already given fans plenty to argue about, with Oregon, Ole Miss and Missouri all in the mix.
For Missouri, the appeal is obvious enough to make the discussion feel less like wishful thinking and more like a real barometer of where the program is headed. Connellys breakdown credited the Tigers upside as part of a broader conversation about coaching stability and the kind of roster talent that can turn a good season into a historic one. Ole Miss, meanwhile, is right there in the same conversation, which is exactly why this kind of ranking tends to linger with fans long after the original list is published. [Read more 🡒]