After 1 week, how has Missouri football done in portal, what’s next?
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Half the madness has passed.
The college football transfer portal passed the halfway mark Friday, Jan. 9. This year’s window — the only window, with the elimination of the spring portal — runs from Jan. 2-16. Players only have to be entered into the portal by Jan. 16 to transfer. They can still commit to new schools afterward.
Missouri football, as of Saturday morning, has signed 11 players. Now, the timestamp here is important. The action moves fast in the portal and it’s quite possible by the time you read this, something has changed.
But let’s take stock of where Missouri stands at what is essentially the midpoint of college football’s version of free agency.
As a reminder, here are the 11 players who Mizzou has landed: quarterback Austin Simmons (Ole Miss); wide receivers Horatio Fields (Auburn) and Caleb Goodie (Cincinnati); running back Xai’Shaun Edwards (Houston Christian); offensive linemen Josh Atkins (Arizona State), Luke Work (Mississippi State) and Will Kemna (Kansas State); linebacker Robert Woodyard Jr. (Auburn); safeties JaDon Blair (Notre Dame) and Kensley Louidor-Faustin (Auburn); and cornerback Jahlil Florence (Oregon).
Here’s how Missouri football has done at acquiring transfers, and where the Tigers are still likely to target more newcomers.
Missouri landed a starting-caliber QB, answering major question
Mizzou had two choices at quarterback: Find somebody to push freshman Matt Zollers, or find someone Zollers could push.
The Tigers have gone with the latter. Simmons was meant to be Ole Miss’s starting quarterback this season, but an ankle injury and the remarkable emergence of D-II transfer Trinidad Chambliss ended that after Week 2 of the 2025 campaign.
Simmons is still a highly promising addition. The lefty has a live arm, is experienced with play-action and, in a pinch, can move.
Missouri will let him and Zollers compete, but it would be surprising if Simmons isn’t the starter in September.
How is retooling secondary progressing?
Mizzou is losing 90% of its snaps at corner and three of its top six safeties, including two starters. Defensive back was a major need for the Tigers, and they have acted accordingly with three additions to date.
Florence, a corner, will almost certainly start next season. He was a one-time Oregon starter before an injury in 2024. The Tigers do still need to find at least one more player from the portal who can immediately play, however.
Safety was less of a concern because Missouri can return promising players, like Santana Banner and Trajen Greco. There is some depth in the room, too.
Louidor-Faustin should compete for reps immediately, and the upside for Blair from Notre Dame — he is a massive 6-foot-5 — is encouraging. But Blair will be a redshirt freshman and not necessarily expected to immediately enter the lineup.
We’d expect at least one more corner and maybe one more safety in this window.
Offensive skill positions look encouraging
Mizzou has done almost exactly what was expected at wide receiver and running back.
Edwards, coming from the FCS level with a 1,000-yard season in hand, will be an ideal No. 3 to Ahmad Hardy and Jamal Roberts. Depth was extremely thin in the room and his addition helps solve that issue.
Fields and Goodie are highly encouraging options to start at wide receiver, a room that only has one of its top-five options from last season returning. Both look more like outside options. Mizzou may still look for one more wideout who can line up as a slot receiver.
Questions still present along offensive line
Mizzou really needs a right tackle, with All-American Keagen Trost out of eligibility and a lefty QB entering the picture. But the headline addition so far, Atkins out of ASU, is a career-left tackle, taking more than 2,000-career snaps at the position.
Now, that doesn’t mean he can’t line up on the right, but it’s worth asking the question whether that would be comfortable.
The other option: Atkins slots in at left tackle, and Cayden Green moves back inside to left guard. That could allow Dominick Giudice and Curtis Peagler to play center and right guard, respectively. Mizzou would still need a right tackle in that case. There are options, from Tristan Wilson to Logan Reichert to another transfer.
Until we see it play out, it’s difficult to predict the exact plans here.
Where’s next for Missouri?
Defensive line.
Missouri absolutely must add a defensive tackle or two, with Chris McClellan and Sterling Webb graduating. The Tigers have returning experience, but numbers are somewhat thin.
The Tigers, after Damon Wilson II made the somewhat-surprising call to enter the portal, also now definitely need a defensive end. Zion Young is graduating and Nate Johnson is transferring, meaning Missouri, at the very least, needs another player who can be part of the rotation.
Missouri may also target another linebacker. The Tigers have landed a starter in Auburn’s Woodyard, who is perhaps the headline addition in Columbia so far. But with Josiah Trotter draft-bound and two more rotation members out of eligibility, there are reps to fill.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Analyzing Missouri football transfer portal business after first week
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