Sometimes in this job I feel a bit like Liz Lemon at the end of January.
You’re telling me 2026 just got started? More than one half of Mizzou’s roster got turned over, yet we’re 8.5 percent of the way through the calendar year??
Advertisement
The transfer portal can do that to you. The fast and furious nature of the new player movement system can leave us all scrambling a bit for a firm grip on reality. How do we feel about our favorite college football team, one that looks entirely different today than it did literally three weeks ago?
Luckily, we’re here to help. We’ve gathered the brain trust for a post-portal roundtable to follow up on the one we did ahead of the window. How are we feeling? Who’s our favorite player Mizzou added? That and more, below.
Go back to your “mission statement” from before our pre-portal roundtable. How did the staff do following that mission?
Josh Matejka, Deputy Site Manager: I was adamant that the staff be flexible in the portal and I’m going to give them a pass… with an asterisk. So maybe like a B-? They clearly remained flexible enough to grab some really good players after the College Football Playoff like Cayden Lee, Chris Graves, Jr., and the host of Miami defenders. But they also seemed to go all in on the idea of bringing Andrew Sprague from Michigan. When Sprague instead returned to Ann Arbor, the staff pivoted to Josh Atkins (a good addition) and a host of reserves. That’s not quite the confidence booster you’d like to see for an offensive line that needs to be elite to get Mizzou to the CFP.
Advertisement
Sammy Stava, Staff Writer: I wrote in the pre-portal roundtable that Mizzou needed to find the right quarterback this offseason. Whether Austin Simmons is the guy or not — I think Eli Drinkwitz and the staff found their No. 1 option. Last offseason it was reported that Mizzou was in the mix for Miller Moss and even Fernando Mendoza, but they ended up with Beau Pribula which just seemed like a Plan B or C. They identified Simmons as their guy and almost immediately landed him once the portal opened. I think that deserves some credit.
True Deck, Football Writer: Despite a start that didn’t really match my mission statement of being decisive and showing confidence about where the money is going, I think that picked up near the end. The last 8-10 transfer additions were huge for the Tigers and they showed where the team is likely headed when it comes to who will be playing next year. The additions of Austin Simmons and Cayden Lee is exactly what I was talking about picking players to really buy in on.
Nate Edwards, Football Writer/Podcaster: This portal cycle was much more unique than prior windows that I believe any mission statement we set needs to be amended. Coaches and GMs were unanimous in saying that the single window put an inflated priority on moving fast, so there was a lot of overpayment for players whose value didn’t match the time demand. The churn of every team’s roster basement also churned up a lot of anxiety and so the price of the the 26 rosters is much more inflated than even the 25 or 24 rosters. It’ll be hard to tell sitting her in January but the coaching staffs who get a passing grade here were nimble enough to navigate that, find some value, add some depth, and keep the bill in a reasonable range for influential money people. To answer directly: this portal class seems much less impressive than previous iterations but I’m holding off until I see how everyone else fared, and I’m going to give the Drinkwitz staff the benefit of the doubt of making the correct maneuvers here until proven otherwise.
Quarterback is the most important position on the field, and the Tigers went out and added an exciting talent in Austin Simmons. How do you feel about the new QB?
Josh Matejka: Better than I felt about Pribula last season. Like Beau, Simmons only has a little bit to show in terms of on-field tape, but there’s one key distinction: He was one injury away from potentially being a starting QB in the College Football Playoff this season. Simmons won the Ole Miss job out of camp and was simply overtaken by an all-time run from Trinidad Chambliss, who only got the chance because Simmons was hurt. If Lane Kiffin determined that Simmons was good enough to start on a team that went to the CFP semis, I think he’s good enough to start and succeed at Mizzou.
Advertisement
Sammy Stava: I love the addition of Austin Simmons. The former Ole Miss quarterback has high upside. He lost his starting job with the Rebels due to injury and stuff like that happens. If he’s good enough to get recruited by Lane Kiffin, you know the talent is there. While not proven quite yet, there’s a whole lot to like — including his off-field qualities. From what I’ve heard, he’s a great locker room leader and an outstanding student which can go a long way.
True Deck: I’m a fan of the addition. Similar to Josh, I’m more confident in success for this upcoming season than I was at this point for Pribula. I think getting Cayden Lee, as much as he is a massive addition to the team, is Mizzou is telling Simmons, “we trust you.” I think the potential is there and while he still has some stuff to sharpen up like decision making, this is a really strong pull by Drinkwitz.
Nate Edwards: It’s not great that, for the second year in a row, the big quarterback addition to the roster falls under the “potential” category rather than “production” but, well, see my statement in question one. Austin Simmons has proven jack shit on the field but is obviously talented (as his high school and portal stars nod to) and he was off to a good start at Ole Miss before being undone by injury. “Injury prone” is not what I want my portalled QB to be but, hey, at least there’s Nick Evers and Matt Zollers around. However, I will give Drink credit on two aspects: first, he moved fast to get the quarterback he wanted AND GOT HIS FIRST PICK; and, two, his first picks of portal quarterbacks for the past two years were Heisman-winner Jayden Daniels (who ended up at LSU) and Heisman-winner Fernando Mendoza (who ended up at Indiana). He didn’t get them but, at this point, I trust his eye for portal QBs.
Mizzou added almost 30 new players to the roster through the portal. Which addition excites you the most (apart from Simmons)?
Josh Matejka: I’ll be the “boring” guy and say Mizzou’s addition of Josh Atkins excited me quite a bit. And no, it’s not just because we have the same name. Atkins is a massively experienced left tackle who grades out well for his position and gives Mizzou the option to move Cayden Green back to his more effective position of left guard. Either Mizzou will have two potential all-conference lineman on the left side of the line, or Cayden Green will go supernova and move Atkins over to right tackle… in which case Mizzou will have two potential all-conference lineman on the outside of the line. Either way, the Tigers come out on top.
Advertisement
Sammy Stava: Eli Drinkwitz and the staff did an outstanding job addressing the secondary position — especially at cornerback. It’s a tossup between Elijah Dotson and Chris Graves Jr. at CB but I’ll go with Dotson because he’s a former four-star, top-100 prospect and got some valuable playing time in his freshman season at Michigan. Multiple years of eligibility is a huge plus and he has the potential to be a star.
True Deck: I’ll go with linebacker Robert Woodyard. He came in from Auburn, along with a couple teammates, and I think he has serious potential to be a splash player for Mizzou this upcoming season. He’s shown the quickness to get to the quarterback and he had a solid season this year with Auburn. One of many exciting breakout candidates on the defense.
Nate Edwards: Mark Shenouda. Punter. Tennessee State. Eli Drinkwitz-style football NEEDS a punter to average 39-41 yards per punt and not having that avaiable last year made everything more difficult. Mark Shenouda can absolutely punt the f*** out of the ball and you can say his name in the style of “My Sharona”. So when you see that ball boom 42 yards into the corner of the opponent’s three yard line, make sure you let out a victorious “Ma-ma-ma-Maaaaaaaaaaark SheNOUDA”.
There’s always room to be critical, so what holes do you still see on the roster that the staff didn’t sufficiently address in the portal?
Josh Matejka: No offense to the variety of players the Tigers added, but the staff didn’t do nearly enough to add to a defensive line that is losing a ton of production. There are a lot of interesting players in this class — CJ May has the high-end potential, Malik Bryant has championship experience, Donta Simpson, Jr. should help in the middle — but none of them should be reasonably expected to replace guys like Chris McClellan, Zion Young or Damon Wilson II. The line was the anchor of the Tigers’ excellent defense last season, and the staff is gambling on their own development capabilities to make that the case in 2026.
Advertisement
Sammy Stava: A lot of experience is leaving the offensive line position, and I just don’t think Mizzou did nearly enough to significantly upgrade the unit with Cayden Green returning. They’ve added a lot of solid, complimentary pieces with SEC experience, but I don’t see the difference makers that can contribute at a high level. It was reported that Mizzou was in the mix for Andrew Sprague but he decided to return to Michigan and the Tigers couldn’t seem to capitalize after that.
True Deck: I’ll go with the defensive back unit. Even though the team picked up players like Elijah Dotson and Chris Graves, I don’t know if they will be ready this year. I’m not saying these guys won’t be great but Graves didn’t do enough to prove to me that he is ready to start 12 games in the SEC and Dotson is pretty young. I just think it would’ve been a big power move for Drinkwitz to go and pick up one of the top corners in the portal.
Nate Edwards: Already been said by d-line and corner. There was no splash addition for the amount of edge rushing talent that was lost, did not add anything to the interior, and your corner additions are all out of eligibility at the conclusion of next season. You can’t win at every position but those are the ones to point to as noticeable areas of improvement.
Let’s get direct: When you consider just what they lost and gained in the portal, is Mizzou a better or worse team?
Josh Matejka: They’re better, but only temporarily. The Tigers replaced a lot of unproven youngsters with more experienced Power Four players, and that will raise the floor for 2026 and 2027. But at some point you need to identify youth and develop them into multi-year players (as Nate pointed out in his IU debrief earlier this week.) The 2026 transfer class puts the onus on Eli Drinkwitz to keep succeeding in the portal, which isn’t a bad strategy… but it’s definitely risky.
Advertisement
Sammy Stava: I’ll say slightly better and it all starts with the quarterback. Austin Simmons should be an upgrade over Beau Pribula. With Ahmad Hardy and Donovan Olugbode returning, plus wide receiver Cayden Lee transferring from Ole Miss — Simmons should have plenty of weapons to work with in a new-look offense. Returning production on the defensive side is a question mark, but there’s enough talent there for it to potentially come together.
True Deck: I’d say better. I think the Tigers lost a lot of pieces but did a great job in the portal finding replacements. There are plenty of experienced players that have played across the SEC and other main conferences and I think at least a few of them will transition over nicely. Keeping Ahmad Hardy was key. The transfer portal is always risky but I’d say its safe to say Mizzou did a solid job.
Nate Edwards: The same, maybe slightly worse, but only from a “proven” standpoint. I was ok with ‘25 being a bridge year with more losses because, before 2020, that meant that all those pieces came back and you can surge in the following year. But Mizzou suffered a bridge year decline in wins (while staying nearly the exact same in SP+ as ’24, oddly enough) AND NOW they have to break in a new QB, all new receivers, new right side of the line, new coordinator, new corners, PLUS depth pieces stepping up along the line, ALL while trudging through the first 9-game SEC slate. It’s going to be a rough year and I’ll give them total credit and a passing grade if they maintain a 7-8 win season and similar SP+ quality. The unknowns could always be happy surprises but the odds point to another tough season, highlighted by an inability to ace every acquisition test.
