Marquis Gracial and Jalen Marshall were listed as the starting defensive tackles for the Tigers ahead of Week 1. In an era where transfers are taking more starting spots year-to-year, it is becoming increasingly uncommon for players to climb the ranks every season like Gracial and Marshall have done at Missouri.
The pair joined the Tigers' squad in 2022 and have increased their action throughout their first four years. Gracial played three games for Missouri in his first two seasons and has played in all 26 games over the last two years, improving his stats each season. Similar to Gracial, Marshall played just two games in his first two seasons and has played in 25 of the 26 games since, making two starts.
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This year, the two are taking another step as Missouri's starting defensive tackles. Head coach Eli Drinkwitz spoke on the pair's evolution Saturday.
"Those guys have had production in limited roles and now it's opportunity for their roles to expand," Drinkwitz said. "They've got some really good players behind them that push them every single day. They know if they don't play at a high level that we can rotate, get somebody else in there pretty quickly. So that's been good for everybody, but really proud of those guys. It's their turn."
What makes the fifth year's path to starting at Missouri even more enticing is their journey to Columbia, Mo. Gracial is a Missouri native and Marshall's from Overland Park, Kansas, which is slightly over two hours from Columbia.
"It's really awesome. Those guys came in together, one from the east side of the state, one from the west side of the state, representing the two largest metropolitan areas that we have and guys that are really what this program is about," Drinkwitz said.
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Last season, Gracial and Marshall were both important pieces to the tackle room, but were not given the keys to lead the squad just yet. Gracial appeared in 257 snaps and Marshall played in 193 snaps in 2025.
Gracial thrived in his limited action, posting a 80.4 defense grade on Pro Football Focus, which ranked No. 41 of 913 interior linemen. His 86.8 run defense grade ranked 16th. Marshall boasted a 67.5 grade, but did not appear in enough snaps to qualify for the rankings.
Gracial's biggest area of improvement in 2025 will be against the pass after posting a 59 pass rush grade in 114 snaps. Team captain Dominick Giudice is confident in his improvement.
"We call him the standard here," Giudice said. "He's really tough to go against. We always say iron sharpens iron and going against him each and every day is very beneficial for the both of us. He's really stepped up his game from last year. Just being able to stop the run, which is really important to us, but also being able to have that power rush that he has and work a lot of different moves."
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Sterling Webb and Jason Dowell were named the reserves for the fifth year starters. Webb played in 407 snaps with the group last year, but joined the roster later due to NCAA eligibility changes. Dowell is a sophomore that appeared in three games last season.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/missouri as 'It's Their Turn': Mizzou DT's Marquis Gracial and Jalen Marshall Named Starters
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