Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah, it's the time of year again, baby.
This time we're doing it as the transfer portal has closed for the time being, despite the fact that there will certainly be more defections and potentially more additions as we get through the spring.
For our purposes, I'll post the scholarship chart as far as I know it right now. I've done my homework on the transfers in and JUCO folks and I feel confident that I'm right. If I'm not just show me your proof and I'll make the changes.
So here's where I everyone right now as a full roster:
Let's get to it! We'll break it out by position.
The offense is currently fielding 40 scholarship players, 5 of which are 5th+ year players, 18 of which are eligible to graduate at the conclusion of the season.
Four scholarship players, three of which are in the fourth of year at the collegiate level. As things stand it'll be a fairly lean and inexperienced room of players at the conclusion of '26... but things will not stand the way they are by that point. Beau Pribula is the presumed starter but he's going up against two guys who have multiple years in the Kirby Moore system already. And while you should never count anyone out... don't expect Matt Zollers to really do anything this year.
Six total scholarship players are on display with this position group and this batch, in particular, has some decent class balance on display. Tavorus Jones is (somehow) the old man of the group, with presumed starter Ahmad Hardy and third down specialist Jamal Roberts each bringing more in-game experience to the table than the aforementioned Jones. Redshirt freshman swiss army knife Austyn Dendy and incoming freshman Marquise Davis and Brendon Haygood round out the scholarship players, all of whom will be fighting for playing time this upcoming year.
After under achieving compared to expectations last year, the receiving corps gets a hard reset with 8 scholarship players. Kevin Coleman is the lone, uber-established piece but will be playing his first (and last) year at Mizzou. Speedy Johnson has the best CV of the '26 batch that will be looked to as a backfill to the departed Burden/Wease/Cooper triumvirate. The redshirted James "The President" Madison II and the three intriguing freshman round out this position group, meaning half of the scholarship pass catchers will be some sort of flavor of freshman. Yikes!
Six scholarship tight ends also demonstrate some solid roster balance, with one super senior, one freshman, and two each of third-year and second year players. With Norfleet playing injured for the year there isn't a ton of proven flash with this group but the potential remains as high as you want to believe.
There are 16 scholarship options on the offensive line but only two with starting experience at Mizzou. Two of the portal imports will be done after this year, with Cayden Green being a guy who could test the NFL waters after a particularly strong '25. The youth is intriguing - both in the redshirt freshman and true freshmen - while former blue chipers and high-upside guys like Logan Reichert, Tristan Wilson, and Brandon Solis will most likely be finally ready to legitimately compete for playing time.
There are currently 42 defensive scholarship players, with 12 for sure being done at the conclusion of this year and potentially 21 eligible to complete their time on campus. And, up until the point Eli Drinkwitz and friends rudely chose to add former blue chippers Jalen Catalon and Damon Wilson II, each position group was evenly balance at 8 players for each position.
HOW DARE YOU RUIN PERFECT SYMMETRY BY ADDING ELITE PLAYERS. HOW. DARE. YOU.
Probably the most hyped position group thanks to the portal additions, Missouri has nine scholarship options to replace the defensive end production of Johnny Walker, Jr. and create dynamic depth to backup Eddie Kelly and Zion Young. Between the (hopefully) healed Darris Smith, the proven G5er Nate Johnson, the overlooked giant Langden Kitchen, and five-star dynamo Damon Wilson II, Mizzou has a quartet of two-year players to add to the mix and potentially supplant last year's rotation. The steady Jakhai Lang can still add to the mix as well, while the Wine Country War Hammer Daeden Hopkins and five-star steal Javion Hilson round out the younger options.
The 8 scholarship players are broken into four upperclassmen and four underclassmen, with only two for sure being done at the end of the year...and that's if they don't get medically redshirted. Mizzou has relied on at least four interior linemen to cycle in for each of the past three years, and last year's batch was easily the thinnest this position played that rotation, so this is one of two position groups where you could potentially see some more active youth.
And this is the other. Mizzou added the experience Mikai Gbaynor to pair with last year's transfer addition Khalil Jacobs, but both will be done at the end of this year. Freshman All-American Josiah Trotter joins fellow second-year players Jeremiah Beasley and Nick Rodriguez, while Brian Huff, Jason King, and Dante McClellan represent the freshmen batch. Having two upperclassmen players nearly guarantees that Mizzou will be pressing second-year players into service...but there are worse things than forcing former blue-chippers into the field.
Having only 8 scholarship players for the corners might seem like a lot for a position group that has only really played three guys for the past three years. And given that the staff brought in Stephen Hall to pair with Dreyden Norwood and Toriano Pride, you could safely assume those are the three guys we'll see this year. But Nick Deloach, Ja'Marion Wayne, and maybe even Shamar McNeil could fight for playing time given the defensive staff's propensity to juggle the three that played, with two freshmen probably sitting on the bench this year.
The 9 scholarship players here feature three transfers - all with various levels of eligibility - plus two returning starters with four years' experience and some high-upside underclassmen. This is another position group that plays a lot of guys and Mizzou has relied on the portal a lot to keep the depth chart deep. That leads to a lot of two-year turnover but, so far, it's worked out fine.
One transfer scholarship punter in his last year, a long snapper with two years left, and our latest favorite moon-shot kicker are the three scholarship specialists on the roster.
Ok, so let's get to 85, shall we?
40 offensive players + 42 defensive players + 3 specialist = 85. Ta da!
Now, the portal defections aren't done, so this number is very malleable until we get through the second portal window.
Also, keep in mind, "official scholarship player" in the NIL era is a dubious terms and the way these guys are getting their education paid for is not always in an official scholarship offered by the school.
But, as of right now, that's where we stand.
And I'm confident that, by the time this posts, it will be antiquated and wrong.