5 Missouri football players who will benefit most from Gator Bowl practices

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Eli Drinkwitz was firm: The bowl game isn’t a tryout.

“The only way you get better is to practice. But this isn’t a practice game. This is a game that we’re both trying to win and we’re trying to win,” Drinkwitz said Tuesday. … “This is a game against the ACC regular season champion. So, if somebody can help us win, they’ll get to play. But (there aren’t) participation trophies. If the young guy earns it in practice, he’ll get to play. If he doesn’t, he won’t.”

Missouri football will face Virginia in the Gator Bowl on Dec. 27 in Jacksonville, Florida. Despite the shine being taken off bowl games by the College Football Playoff expansion, the matchup between MU and UVA is still quite an exciting one, with plenty at stake for both teams.

The Cavaliers (10-3), who made the ACC title game but lost to Duke, are seeking a program-first 11-win season.

Missouri (8-4) is a win away from tying the best three-year stretch in school history with a 30th win in the past three years.

Bowl games always bring around the development question because of the additional 15 allotted practice opportunities they provide, and now, the fact that appearing in the game does not count against redshirt eligibility.

Drinkwitz made it clear that he won’t play players for the sake of playing them, and that the most significant developmental benefit is on the practice field.

Here are seven players who we think those practice opportunities will benefit most:

Logan Reichert, offensive guard

There are at least two starters along the Missouri offensive line — center Connor Tollison and right tackle Keagan Trost — who are out of eligibility after this season. Left tackle Cayden Green could opt to head to the NFL Draft as a junior.

That’s opening up roles to fill. Missouri will almost certainly look at the portal when it opens to fill some, or all, of those. Still, Drinkwitz has previously called the line a developmental position, and Reichert is the clearest case of a player you would like to see take that next step.

He has been in the program for three years and has had to navigate multiple injuries. He’s listed at 6 foot 6, 344 pounds, which is tremendous size if the Tigers can use it.

The question is whether he’s up to speed. These bowl practices could help determine whether he’s ready by next year or not.

Javion Hilson, defensive end

The former top-50 freshman is going to have opportunities to enter the rotation.

Zion Young is out of eligibility. Damon Wilson II may opt to head to the NFL as a junior.

Again, we’d expect Mizzou to add a transfer edge rusher. Hilson, who is a Cocoa, Florida, product, came with high billing and an expectation that he’d play early. The Tigers saved his redshirt at what proved to be an immensely deep unit for the Tigers, but future opportunities are coming for Hilson.

Those start with the bowl prep.

Dante McClellan, linebacker

Dante McClellan 83 yard pick 6 pic.twitter.com/bncTEqF7rc
— Represent Mizzou (@RepresentMizzou) August 29, 2025

McClellan appears to be following the Nick Rodriguez path at linebacker for Mizzou. The true freshman was the Tigers’ most oft-used freshman on special teams this season, which bodes well for his future as a defensive rotation member. He returned a pick for a touchdown in the Tigers’ win over Central Arkansas in Week 1.

The Tigers will have opportunities for playing time at linebacker in 2026. Khalil Jacobs and Triston Newson are out of eligibility after this year. Josiah Trotter could be an early draft declaration as a redshirt sophomore.

McClellan, along with sophomore Jeremiah Beasley, will be among the players competing to fill those open spots.

Cameron Keys, cornerback

Eli Drinkwitz let it slip a little on early national signing day: The Tigers are going to chase corners in the portal.

For good reason, too. All three of Missouri’s top three cornerbacks are out of eligibility, as Toriano Pride Jr., Dreyden Norwood and Stephen Hall all seem likely to play their final game in Jacksonville.

Probability indicates that Mizzou will not sign three cornerbacks from the portal, which means some development is needed.

Keys, a redshirt freshman out of Panama City, Florida, has been an oft-mentioned name in the next-in-line discussion, so this could be a big few weeks for the corner.

Matt Zollers, quarterback

Alright, we buried the lede a little here.

This is, of course, a huge three weeks for Matt Zollers. The Tigers have a choice to make this offseason between the true freshman and Beau Pribula at quarterback.

There’s a chance Missouri will bring both players back and let them compete in the spring. There’s a chance that Mizzou also goes QB portal shopping again. We’re not naive, because this is college football in 2025 — there’s a chance one of Zollers or Pribula leaves this offseason.

However it shakes out, Missouri will spend a not-insignificant portion of the next few weeks evaluating whether or not Zollers is ready to lead the offense in 2026. Drinkwitz has called him the future of the program at quarterback. The question, while Pribula still has one year of eligibility remaining, is whether that future is as early as next season.

There are options on the table, and that makes this an important period in Zollers’ development.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri football players who will benefit most from Gator Bowl practices

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