Starting Missouri football wide receiver to enter transfer portal
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The first starter from the 2025 Missouri football team to indicate he will enter the transfer portal is wide receiver Joshua Manning.
Manning, who started all but one game for Mizzou in the 2025 regular season, will head to the transfer portal when it opens Jan. 2. The news was first reported by On3, and Missouri removed Manning from its online roster shortly afterward.
The wideout is the fifth Missouri player to indicate they intend to transfer this offseason.
The college football transfer portal officially opens Jan. 2 and will remain open for new entries through Jan. 16. There will be no spring transfer portal window this year.
All four of the other players who have announced their intention to transfer away from Columbia were backups or underclassmen reserves: Redshirt freshman wideout James Madison II; freshmen running backs Marquise Davis and Brendon Haygood; and safety Caleb Flagg.
That makes Manning the first somewhat surprising decision.
Manning played the most snaps among all Missouri wide receivers this year with 597 downs, per Pro Football Focus. That was the eighth-most across the offense, behind only the five starters along the offensive line, quarterback Beau Pribula and tight end Brett Norfleet.
He caught 29 passes on 51 targets for 318 yards and two touchdowns this season. PFF graded him as one of Mizzou’s better run-blocking wide receivers.
Manning is a Lee’s Summit, Missouri, native who committed to the Tigers as a composite four-star prospect in the Class of 2023. The staff frequently praised his behind-the-scenes work, as he worked from freshman reserve to special teams contributor to starter over his time with the program.
He will have one year of eligibility remaining at his next school.
Missouri offensive coordinator Kirby Moore, who spoke highly of Manning in the offseason, left the Tigers last Friday to become the head coach at Washington State.
Mizzou is now expected to lose two of its starters, as slot receiver Kevin Coleman Jr. is out of eligibility. Backups Xaiver Loyd and Logan Muckey also are out of eligibility after this season.
It might not be the reason Manning is transferring, but rising sophomore standout Donovan Olugbode is eligible to return to the team next season and looks highly promising as an outside receiver — where Manning takes his reps.
Missouri can also return Marquis Johnson and Daniel Blood as experienced options at wideout, and DaMarion Fowlkes and Shaun Terry II are eligible underclassmen returners. Missouri signed two wide receivers — Jabari Brady and Devyon Hill-Lomax — in its Class of 2026.
The Tigers are likely to actively seek out at least one, probably two, wide receivers when the transfer portal opens in January.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Starting Missouri football WR Joshua Manning to enter transfer portal
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