Mizzou's last chance to bolster its 2025 roster has arrived.
The college football transfer portal reopened Wednesday for 10 days, and players around the nation can enter their names into the database through Friday, April 25.
A handful of Missouri football players, mostly expected reserves, either have already announced their intention to enter the transfer portal or have found new teams as graduate transfers. The Tigers are expected to be active, replacing those lost pieces.
With roster limits coming to college football, Missouri can essentially only add a player after another transfers out of the program. SEC teams will be capped at 85 scholarship players and 20 walk-ons in the 2025 season, and Mizzou appeared to have 86 scholarship players at the end of spring camp. The Tigers only need to meet the roster limit by fall camp.
Since several players already appear to be en route to new teams, MU head coach Eli Drinkwitz and company have some room to work bringing new faces to Columbia.
The Tribune will keep up with every incoming and outgoing Mizzou player on this page over the next month and beyond:
We will update this section — with players' class, position, former school, and date of commitment — as commitments are announced:
Gavin Hoffman, tight end, Iowa, April 18
Xavier Loyd, wide receiver, Illinois State, April 19
Jaylen Early, offensive lineman, Florida State, April 22
Bralen Henderson, defensive tackle, Ohio, May 3
We'll list the Mizzou players who have entered the transfer portal below, as well as their position, class, and new team, when the news becomes available:
Eddie Kelly Jr., defensive end, senior — West Virginia (April 20)
Jahkai Lang, defensive end, redshirt sophomore — SMU (April 20)
Ja'Marion Wayne, cornerback, redshirt junior — Coastal Carolina (April 28)
Drew Pyne , quarterback, graduate student — Bowling Green (April 7)
Mikai Gbayor, linebacker, graduate student — North Carolina (April 16)
Talan Chandler, center, redshirt freshman — Northwestern (April 26)
Brett Brown, quarterback, senior (walk-on)
Bryce Jackson, running back, senior (walk-on)
Austyn Dendy, running back, redshirt freshman
Live updates from the portal will be posted below these evolving lists:
Mizzou received a commitment Saturday from graduate transfer Bralen Henderson, a 280-pound, 6-foot-2 defensive tackle who spent the past four seasons at Ohio, according to a report from On3's Pete Nakos. He is the first interior defensive lineman that the Tigers have added out of the transfer portal this offseason.
Missouri has dipped into the transfer portal for an offensive lineman, although not quite at the expected position. Florida State transfer Jaylen Early announced Tuesday that he has committed to the Tigers. Early primarily played right tackle and right guard for the Seminoles.
Listed at 6-foot-4, 297 pounds, the Duncanville, Texas, native spent three seasons with Florida State, but redshirted in his freshman year, meaning he should have two remaining years of eligibility. He appeared in 18 total games for Florida State.
Eli Drinkwitz said Wake Forest transfer offensive tackle Keagan Trost is likely to be the Tigers' starter at right tackle. There is still an ongoing competition at right guard, although seems to like what it has seen from Michigan transfer Dominick Guidice there. Drinkwitz said he wanted to see returner Logan Reichert workout at right guard after missing the spring with an injury, and Tristan Wilson also is in contention for the right guard duties.
Missouri is expected to add a player who can compete at the left tackle spot. It's unclear whether Early can make that move and join the position competition with West Virginia transfer Johnny Williams IV and Jayven Richardson.
Mizzou has offered Miami transfer defensive end Elias Rudolph, the edge rusher posted to his X account Saturday. The Tigers are relatively deep at defensive end, but have seen two role players from the 2024 team — Jahkai Lang and Eddie Kelly Jr. — enter the transfer portal in recent days.
Eli Drinkwitz said much of MU's transfer portal activity will be reactive to who leaves, so the offer follows that strategy. Rudolph preserved a redshirt in his rookie season with the Hurricanes last season, meaning he still has four years of eligibility remaining. He's listed at 6 foot 5 and is from Cincinnati.
Mizzou has landed a commitment from Illinois State wide receiver Xavier Loyd in the transfer portal. Loyd confirmed the move via a post to his X account Saturday. The news was first reported by Matt Zenitz of 247Sports,
Loyd, who hails from Blue Springs, Missouri, originally committed to Kansas State out of high school but saw limited playing time over the course of three seasons in Manhattan. He made the move to the FCS level last year, and the 6-foot-2 wideout caught 66 passes for 912 yards and six touchdowns.
Mizzou was expected to add some productive depth at wide receiver, and Loyd fits that bill. He is unlikely to be a starter, but could crack the rotation in Columbia next season.
Missouri has its first spring transfer portal commitment: Iowa tight end Gavin Hoffman. The former Hawkeye announced his commitment to the Tigers on Friday afternoon via his X account.
Hoffman did not play for the Hawkeyes as a true freshman last season, meaning he still has four years of eligibility remaining. He hails from Leawood, Kansas, and was a four-star prospect in the Class of 2024. Hoffman is listed at 6-foot-5, 237 pounds, and should add some depth to a room that already includes Brett Norfleet, Jordon Harris and Colorado State transfer Vince Brown II.
Redshirt freshman Mizzou running back Austyn Dendy has entered the transfer portal, a team spokesperson confirmed to the Columbia Daily Tribune on Thursday. PowerMizzou of 247Sports first reported the news that Dendy plans to transfer.
Dendy, a Pine Bluff, Arkansas, native, made the switch from safety to running back ahead of his rookie campaign and only appeared in one game, seeing the field for two snaps in the Tigers' season-opener against Murray State. He was a three-star prospect in the Class of 2024.
Iowa transfer tight end Gavin Hoffman is visiting Missouri on Thursday, his agent, Alexander Essex, confirmed to the Columbia Daily Tribune. Essex also told the Tribune that Hoffman has "cancelled all other visits at this time." PowerMizzou of 247Sports first reported that Hoffman and Mizzou had mutual interest in this transfer portal window.
Hoffman is an Leawood, Kansas, product who was a four-star prospect and the No. 2-overall player in the state of Kansas in the Class of 2024, according to the recruiting service 247Sports' composite rankings. He did not play for Iowa as a rookie, meaning he still has four years of eligibility.
Missouri linebacker Mikai Gbayor announced Wednesday that he has committed to North Carolina and new coach Bill Belichick. Gbayor only signed with the Tigers in December out of the portal from Nebraska, but a key switch in the room with Triston Newson being granted an extra year of eligibility courtesy of his time playing junior college football obscured Gbayor's path to minutes with Mizzou. He's now moving on to Chapel Hill.
Also Wednesday, Mizzou walk-on quarterback Brett Brown announced via his X account that he is entering the transfer portal. That doesn't change much in the Tigers' QB room, although perhaps opens up the possibility that MU seeks out a reserve quarterback during this window.
More: What does Missouri football need in spring transfer portal window? Positions MU may target
Eli Drinkwitz recently said the Tigers' strategy isn't necessarily to chase any specific positions in this transfer window, and instead will make like-for-like replacements with players who leave.
But it does appear as if there may be a few exceptions.
Defensive tackle:This was the only position on the roster that Missouri did not add a player in its 18-player winter transfer portal class. After assessing the options in the spring, there is a good chance that changes before the spring window closes.
Wide receiver:Mizzou is two-deep across its wide receiver room, but is lacking experienced options both in that group and beyond it. The Tigers won't necessarily chase a superstar at wideout, but an extra pair of reliable hands would help the pass-catching depth.
Left tackle:Mizzou doesn't necessarily need to take another left tackle. The Tigers added Johnny Williams IV out of West Virginia in the winter window, and he is currently battling with returner Jayven Richardson for the spot. It's an important position to get right, however, and Mizzou may opt to make another signing if the right option becomes available.
More: What Missouri football coach Eli Drinkwitz said about QB battle between Pribula, Horn
Before the spring portal window opened, Missouri had already signed 18 players via the transfer portal for its 2025 roster, either during the winter portal window or via grad transfers of junior college transfers:
Damon Wilson II, defensive end, Georgia
Kevin Coleman Jr., wide receiver, Mississippi State
Ahmad Hardy, running back, Louisiana Monroe
Josiah Trotter, linebacker, West Virginia
Beau Pribula, quarterback, Penn State
Nathan Johnson, defensive end, Appalachian State
Keagan Trost, right tackle, Wake Forest
Jalen Catalon , safety, UNLV
Santana Banner, safety, Northern Illinois
Johnny Williams IV, left tackle, West Virginia
Dominick Giudice, offensive guard, Michigan
Stephen Hall, cornerback, Washington State
Mose Phillips III, safety, Virginia Tech
Vince Brown II, tight end, Colorado State
Langden Kitchen, defensive end, Northwest Missouri State
Connor Weselman, punter, Stanford
Jack Powers, offensive tackle, Cornell
John Butcher, punter, Grossmont CC
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri football transfer portal tracker: Here's who is in, out
