Mizzou’s bowl game may offer a little bit of a bridge to 2025.
Missouri football will take on Iowa in the Music City Bowl on Monday in Nashville, Tennessee. The Tigers (9-3) are a win away from recording back-to-back double-digit win campaigns for just the third time in program history, which would also be the first time without Gary Pinkel as the head coach.
Mizzou head coach Eli Drinkwitz’s team will head into the game with their starting roster mostly intact, as only three players have opted out and no starting members of the 2024 squad have entered the transfer portal.
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Iowa (8-4) is in similar shape, with star running back Kaleb Johnson and cornerback Jermari Harris as the lone opt-outs. The Hawkeyes will be without quarterback Cade McNamara, who was their starter at the beginning of the season but was benched in October. McNamara has since entered the portal.
Here are the players we think could step in for Missouri’s opt-outs and injured players in the Music City Bowl:
Missouri will be without two starting offensive linemen against Iowa, as center Connor Tollison will miss the game with an injury and right tackle Armand Membou has declared for the 2025 NFL Draft after his junior season.
Mizzou has already been working with Drake Heismeyer at center, as Tollison missed the final three games of the regular season with a knee injury. But Walters, who has lined up just about everywhere along the line during his time at Mizzou, is now seemingly confirmed as the next man up behind Membou, taking the starting spot in the team’s updated depth chart.
Walters will be playing in his final game as a Tiger, as he is expected to run out of eligibility at the end of this season. The St. Louis native has played in all 12 of MU’s games this season, with one start coming at right guard in Week 2 against Buffalo.
Mizzou also is down two starting wide receivers, as Luther Burden III is preparing for a likely first-round pick in the NFL Draft and Mookie Cooper is out due to injury.
In the slot receiver position, specifically, Mizzou is down both its main players, as Mekhi Miller — Burden’s backup — is transferring. According to the depth chart, Marquis Johnson looks likely to step into a starting role, while freshman James Madison II is the new backup.
Johnson’s strengths are pretty well known by now. He can stretch the field with his speed, and he has shown a lot of big-play ability over two years in CoMo.
But Madision is still somewhat of a collegiate unknown. He was a four-star recruit and the 67th-ranked wide receiver in his class, according to the recruiting service 247Sports’ composite rankings. He played in two games — against Murray State and UMass — meaning he preserved a redshirt in his rookie year.
It may not be as a starter, but Missouri fans should get to see the freshman for the first time in a non-reserve capacity.
Joshua Manning has already mostly filled in for Cooper, and Theo Wease Jr. will play the final game of his college career Monday in Nashville. Those two likely will hold on to starting roles.
How Mizzou plans to divide up its linebacker reps is anybody’s guess. Starting middle linebacker Chuck Hicks has opted out, seemingly for personal reasons. Key outside linebacker Khalil Jacobs was ruled out for the year midseason.
Triston Newson and Corey Flagg Jr. are likely to take the bulk of the reps. Freshman Nicholas Rodriguez has already made some appearances on the outside behind Newson. That group is likely to make up the bulk of the rotation.
But when Flagg needs a snap off? The most likely next player up is Jeremiah Beasley, who had a big role on special teams throughout the season but was limited on defense.
That ought to change in the bowl game. Beasley burned a redshirt in Columbia this year after transferring to the Tigers as a true freshman from Michigan. He was a four-star prospect out of high school, and looks set to get at least some playing time in Nashville.
Brett Norfleet had surgery shortly after the regular season ended and will miss the Music City Bowl. That should allow Jordon Harris to step into a starting role for the bowl game.
Harris wasn’t exactly short on reps this year. He played in 11 games this season, starting five, and caught four passes for 34 yards. His 6-foot-4, 255-pound frame makes him especially useful as a blocker.
But the starting duties, and the job of taking the bulk of tight end reps, haven’t really come his way to this point of his career. That should change Monday, as he will, at the very least, split time with senior Tyler Stephens.
