Missouri football has been busy.
The Tigers have added 17 players via the transfer portal since it opened in December, and the Tigers are set to lose 16 players the other way. Of the 17 newcomers, nine have come on the defensive side of the ball.
Mizzou entered the portal with multiple positions of need, mostly due to players exhausting their eligibility or declaring for the 2025 NFL Draft. The Tribune is handing out grades for how the Tigers fared at filling those open roles.
More: Missouri football live transfer portal news: Tracking who joins, leaves Mizzou in portal
Here’s our criteria: Do they plug an instant need for the Tigers in 2025? Do they set Mizzou up for success beyond next season? Were they among the top available players at their position?
Here are our grades for Missouri’s transfer portal work at each position on defense:
Defensive end: B
Transfers in: Damon Wilson II (Georgia); Nate Johnson (Appalachian State); Langden Kitchen (Northwest Missouri State)
Transfers out: Jaylen Brown (South Carolina); Williams Nwaneri (Nebraska)
Missouri’s additions at defensive end? Excellent.
Wilson is ranked as the No. 5 player to enter the transfer portal in this cycle by 247Sports, and Johnson was a freshman All-American at Appalachian State. Those two players appear like instant fits for the rotation off the edge.
The losses? Concerning.
Nwaneri was one of Missouri’s most high-profile high school recruits in team history. If anything, Brown appeared to be the more college-ready of the two players, finding a way to get some reserve minutes in 2024 and looking like an exciting future prospect. After one season on campus, both of them are gone.
That’s part of the game now. It’ll happen to most teams in the country. But, that doesn’t change the optics of losing two exciting players at a premium playmaking position.
Defensive tackle: C
Transfers in: NA
Transfers out: NA
In this case, no action may be an action in itself.
Missouri is only losing Kristian Williams from the room, meaning that if it stays put into spring camp with no additions or departures, the Tigers are trusting an in-house player to take on a starting role next year.
Is one of Marquis Gracial, Jalen Marshall, Sam Williams up for the job? By not making any transfer moves, that appears to be the hand Missouri is playing.
Linebackers: A
Transfers in: Josiah Trotter (West Virginia); Mikai Gbayor (Nebraska)
Transfer out: Brayshawn Littlejohn (Appalachian State)
The Tigers added two players with Power-conference experience to replace the two spots left open in the core four-player rotation, as Chuck Hicks and Corey Flagg Jr. exhausted their eligibility.
Trotter was named a freshman All-American by the Football Writers Association of American after his 92-tackle, one-interception redshirt freshman campaign at West Virginia. Gbayor had six tackles for loss and three pass breakups for Nebraska as a redshirt sophomore last season. Both players have multiple years of eligibility remaining. Those are all good signs.
If Missouri returns Triston Newson, who is now eligible for an extra year because of an NCAA waiver for former junior college players, then the rotation for reported new linebackers coach Derek Nicholson appears to be set. Littlejohn was a backup in 2024, and didn’t appear likely to jump into the rotation next season.
More: Missouri football tabs Miami’s Derek Nicholson as next linebackers coach | Report
Cornerback: B
Transfer in: Stephen Hall (Washington State)
Transfer out: Jaren Sensabaugh (NC State)
Missouri wasn’t expected to lose any players from its cornerback room, but the corner play was inconsistent last season and the Tigers needed to find some competition for key returners Dreyden Norwood, Toriano Pride Jr. and Nicholas DeLoach Jr.
The Tigers did just that with Hall, who has played five seasons of college football and was a team captain at Wazzu last season. Hall appears to only have one year of eligibility remaining, but since he started his career in JuCo that could change, depending on the NCAA’s next decision.
Hall had 50 total tackles last season and returned an interception for a touchdown.
Sensabaugh entered the portal shortly after MU announced the signing of Hall. The staff spoke highly of him, but his path to reps appeared slim for next season with a large group of returners. His absence isn’t an immediate problem.
Safety: A
Transfers in: Jalen Catalon (UNLV); Mose Phillips III (Virginia Tech); Santana Banner (Northern Illinois)
Transfer out: Phillip Roche (Undecided)
Job well done, Missouri.
Mizzou is losing three players — Joseph Charleston, Tre’Vez Johnson and Sidney Williams Sr. — from its rotation. The Tigers have recouped that lost production, and then some.
Catalon is a college football veteran and has SEC experience. He began his career at Arkansas and had 99 tackles in 10 games in 2020. He was a third-team AP All-American last season at UNLV after recording five interceptions in 14 games. Next season will be his seventh in the sport.
More: A way-too-early, post-portal prediction at Missouri football’s defensive depth chart in 2025
Phillips and Banner both were starters last season and should figure into the rotation in 2025. Tack on returning starters Daylan Carnell and Marvin Burks Jr., and the safety room appears to be in good standing because of some prompt portal work.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Grading Missouri football’s transfer portal business on defense
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