Missouri football made quick work turning its verbal commitments into signings.
On the first day of the early signing period, which opened Wednesday morning and runs through Friday, Mizzou signed all 16 players who were verbally committed to the Tigers entering the window. Missouri also added one new commitment and signing by adding top-50 national prospect and defensive end Javion Hilson.
More: Missouri football lands defensive end Javion Hilson, a top-50 national prospect
That brings the Tigers' total to 17 players in its Class of 2025 at the end of Wednesday. The recruiting class will arrive in Columbia from 10 different states.
And the Tigers did it posthaste.
The first signing, flipped running back Marquise Davis, was announced shortly after 6 a.m. Wednesday. Mizzou had 15 of the 16 original commits locked up by 9:30 a.m. The 17th and expected final signing of the day was confirmed shortly after 1 p.m.
More: Missouri football star Luther Burden opts out of bowl game, declares for NFL Draft
Hilson — a Cocoa, Florida, product — is the top-ranked player in the class, ranked as the No. 42 player in the nation on the recruiting service 247Sports' composite rankings.
Missouri's quarterback in the Class of 2025 will be Matt Zollers, who is the No. 74 national prospect and the No. 7 QB in his year.
The Tigers also are bringing in three players from the state of Missouri, headlined by the Show-Me State's top-overall prospect in this cycle: Eureka High offensive lineman Jack Lange. That marks the second straight year Mizzou has signed its home state's top recruit.
Including Hilson, Mizzou signed four players in the week leading up to signing day. Running backs Marquise Davis and Brendon Haygood flipped their commitments from Kentucky and Boise State, respectively, and four-star wide receiver DaMarion Fowlkes flipped his pledge from Pittsburgh to Mizzou.
Two players — five-star offensive tackle Lamont Rogers and three-star running back Jamarion Morrow — backed off their Mizzou commitments in the same timeframe, both opting instead to sign for Texas A&M.
With 17 players on board, Mizzou currently has the 19th-ranked class in the nation on 247Sports' national team rankings, which ranks 11th in the SEC.
"Incredibly proud of the players that we were able to get," Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said Wednesday, "and look forward to continuing to work to build our roster through retention of the current players, the signing class we have now and the transfer portal."
You can find all of our coverage from the opening day of the early signing period below, including recruiting rankings for each individual signing and more:
Tobi Haastrup, a four-star defensive end, committed to Oregon , while three-star safety Javion Butts stuck with his pledge to North Carolina . Both seemingly were considering interest from Missouri all the way up until signing day, but have opted to head elsewhere.
2:14 p.m.:Eli Drinkwitz says this class that portal and high school recruitment "are not two separate things."
Added Drinkwitz: "With the portal and NIL and salary caps, you know, what you're willing to spend you have to be willing to play."
2:09 p.m.:"We set out with the goal to sign anywhere between 15 and 20 players, and we really didn't want to sign too big og a class. We've kind of found the right formula for us, so for us to settle at this number of 17 right now is really good, and we're very excited about where we're at."
2:05 p.m.:"You've got to build trust and respect," Drinkwitz said on navigating the shifting goalposts of NIL, revenue sharing, etc. ... "That's what we try to do with these relationships, is build a foundation of trust and respect to look back on what we've done and our ability to keep our word here and visit with our players and families to make sure that what we say and what we do align."
2:03 p.m.:"We've signed the top player in the state in back-to-back years, which is always important to us. We signed players from 10 different states. We've got 10 early enrollees. We signed four players ranked in the top 100, so incredibly proud of the players that we were able to get."
We'll have live updates of Eli Drinkwitz's first comments on his 2025 signing class. He's at the lectern now.
Missouri football secured a commitment from top-50 national prospect and defensive end Javion Hilson on Wednesday, which is the opening day of the early national signing period. Hilson announced his commitment live on ESPN2.
Mizzou announced shortly afterward that Hilson officially signed with the Tigers.
The edge rusher out of Cocoa, Florida, immediately leaps to the top spot in Missouri's Class of 2025 individual rankings. Before he committed, the Tigers signed 16 players who were verbally committed entering the signing window.
More: Missouri football lands defensive end Javion Hilson, a top-50 national prospect
All 16 players (we still have no word on MU's special teams commits who were committed to Missouri entering the signing period are officially Tigers. But, this week is far from done. This day, even, is far from done.
Eli Drinkwitz will meet with the media at 2 p.m. to discuss his signing class. We'll have updates of that press conference. Before then, might Mizzou add to its class? Here are three commitments to watch today, and one more to watch before the window closes Friday.
At 1 p.m., four-star defensive end and No. 42 national prospect Javion Hilson will announce his college decision. Missouri has gained some traction, per multiple reports, in the past couple days.
At 1:30 p.m., three-star safety Javion Butts will make his final decision. He is a North Carolina commit, but after the Tar Heels fired head coach Mack Brown, the Tigers appear to be making a push for a flip.
At 1:40 p.m., four-star defensive end Tobi Haastrup will choose between six schools, and Mizzou is among his final contenders.
National rank:No. 436
Position rank:No. 29
PowerMizzou of 247Sports has reported that four-star offensive lineman Keiton Jones signed with Mizzou earlier Wednesday, which means Missouri has now locked up all 16 players who were verbally committed entering the early signing period.
Jones is a Coffeyville, Kansas , native and plays his high school football at Field Kindley High. He had been committed to the Tigers since July 7, choosing MU over Arkansas , Tennessee , Kansas State and Texas Tech.
Missouri is yet to officially confirm that Jones has signed.
National rank:No. 74
Position rank:No. 7
Missouri has its Class of 2025 quarterback.
Matt Zollers has officially signed with the Tigers, team announced at 9:16 a.m. Wednesday. He is a four-star prospect on 247Sports' rankings, where he checks in as the No. 74 national recruit and the No. 7 QB in his class.
He has been committed to MU longer than anyone else in the Class of 2025, giving his pledge April 4. The Spring Ford High (Pa.) product has been one of the leading online recruiters for other players in this cycle, but an unofficial visit to Penn State , his home state school, offered some brief (but unfounded) pause for concern.
Zollers will join a quarterback room that is losing three-year starter Brady Cook , with Drew Pyne , Sam Horn and Aiden Glover all expected to return. Mizzou will almost certainly chase a portal QB.
But the Tigers have their quarterback in this class, and he's coming to CoMo from Pennsylvania .
Not including special teams players, who we are not sure will be officially announced today or not, Mizzou has three more players it still needs to turn from verbal commitments to signings. Those are as follows:
Matt Zollers, quarterback
Keiton Jones, offensive lineman
There does not appear to be any need to worry. Zollers was the first player to commit to the Tigers back in April. He has been an active recruiter and vocal in his commitment since then. As recent as last night, he posted about Mizzou flipping running back Brendon Haygood.
We can't speak for other teams without a thorough look, but Mizzou appears to be moving extremely fast getting its high school commits to put pen to paper this morning. Two-and-a-half hours into the opening day of signing period, 14 of 16 is a pretty good clip.
National rank:No. 412
Position rank:No. 27
Interior offensive lineman Henry Fenuku, a four-star product out Fort Worth, Texas, has made his commitment official. He was a highly recruited high school prospect and a big get for Mizzou in the summer. He is listed at 6 foot 3, 285 pounds.
National rank:No. 505
Position rank:No. 57
Three-star defensive tackle Jason Dowell has signed with Mizzou. The Belleville, Illinois, product who is originally from East St. Louis is listed at 6 foot 3, 295 pounds by Mizzou. He is the Tigers' lone defensive tackle signed in this class.
National rank:No. 128
Position rank:No. 12
Four-star offensive tackle and the No. 1 prospect out of the state of Missouri in this cycle, offensive tackle Jack Lange, has made his MU commitment official. The Eureka High product was among the first players to commit to MU, giving the Tigers a verbal pledge back in April. He had offers from all over the SEC and Big Ten, but the tackle is staying home.
National rank:No. 320
Position rank:No. 14 (ATH)
The latest player to sign for Mizzou out of East St. Louis is on board. Four-star safety Charles Bass III, who is listed as an 'athlete,' not a defensive back, by 247Sports, is expected to play in the secondary for the Tigers at safety. He joins the Tigers from the same school as the program-altering Luther Burden III , who recently declared for the NFL Draft.
Bass is one of the players who could have an immediate opportunity for reps. Three of Missouri's main safeties from 2024 will exhaust their eligibility at the end of the season.
National rank:No. 557
Position rank:No. 30
Unless we're missing something, the tallest member of Missouri's Class of 2025 has signed. Dakotah Terrell, a 6-foot-8 tight end out of Pocola, Oklahoma, has signed with Mizzou. The Tigers beat out Arkansas and Terrell's home-state schools to get him to commit in September. He's the 10th signing of the day.
National rank:No. 668
Position rank:No. 51
The last player to verbally commit to Missouri in this recruiting cycle, Brendon Haygood, has signed with the Tigers less than 12 hours after he officially committed. Haygood had been committed to Boise State up until Saturday, but decommitted while on an official visit in Columbia for MU's game against Arkansas. Now, he's officially a Tiger.
More: Missouri football secures commitment from Class of 2025 running back Brendon Haygood
National rank:No. 219
Position rank:No. 21
Daeden Hopkins, a four-star edge rusher out of Hermann, Missouri, has signed for the Tigers, taking the team up to eight of the 16 players expected to sign — not including two special teams commits. Halfway there.
Hopkins was part of the group that committed to the Tigers in June. At 6-6, 225 pounds, he'll need to add some weight to be an impactful SEC defensive end, but the in-state product comes with high billing. Mizzou is in the running for two more defensive ends today: Javion Hilson and Tobi Haastrup.
National rank:No. 761
Position rank:No. 80
The first in-state prospect of the to officially sign with Missouri is three-star linebacker Jason King out of DeSmet High in St. Louis. That is each of the Tigers' two commits at the position now signed.
National rank:No. 360
Position rank:No. 43
Canton, Ohio, linebacker Dante McClellan is the second defensive player to come on board. He's a four-star linebacker in 247Sports' composite rankings, and is signing at a position where, as it stands, Missouri is going to have some opportunities for reps. The Tigers are losing three of their four core members of the rotation at linebacker at the end of this season.
National rank:No. 619
Position rank:No. 94
Another late-cycle flip has signed early on signing day. DaMarion Fowlkes, who flipped from Pittsburgh to Mizzou on Monday, has put pen to paper and has signed with the Tigers. 247Sports' own rankings have him rated as a four-star prospect and the No. 22 wide receiver in his class.
National rank:No. 102
Position rank:No. 14
One of the standouts in Missouri football's Class of 2025 is officially on board, as four-star wide reveiver Donovan Olugbode officially signs for the Tigers. Originally from Illinois, the blue-chip plays his high school football at IMG Academy in Florida. He is just outside the top-100 ranked players in the nation in this cycle, per 247Sports' composite rankings.
National rank:No. 632
Position rank:No. 56
Marietta, Georgia cornerback Mark Manfred III, a three-star prospect who was part of the large group of players who committed in June, has officially signed for Missouri. He's listed a 6 foot 1, 175 pounds.
National rank:No. 521
Position rank:No. 80
Three-star wide receiver Shaun Terry, an Ironton, Ohio, wide receiver, was the second player officially announced by Missouri. He has been committed to the Tigers since June, and is part of an expected three-person group at wide receiver in this cycle for the Tigers.
National rank:No. 176.
Position rank:No. 13
He was a late flip, but he got an early start on signing day.
Four-star running back Marquise Davis, who flipped from Kentucky to Mizzou on Sunday, was the first player to officially sign for Missouri on Wednesday morning.
The work isn't quite finished.
The Tigers are still targeting at least three more players heading into signing day. Drinkwitz and his staff will learn the collegiate decisions of defensive ends Javion Hilson and Tobi Haastrup and safety Javion Butts on Wednesday.
Mizzou already has flipped three players in the past week, with running backs Marquise Davis and Brendon Haygood and wide receiver DaMarion Fowlkes.
How many more will it get by day's end?
More: Four Class of 2025 prospects Missouri football is targeting on early signing day
Entering signing day, Missouri has the No. 21 class in the country.
That ranking has been extremely changeable throughout the week. The Tigers entered Sunday with the nation's No. 20-ranked class. That number went up to No. 19 after landing four-star flips from Davis and Fowlkes; it dropped as low as No. 24 when Lamont Rogers and Jamarion Morrow flipped to Texas A&M.
But, when Haygood came on board it leveled back out a little. Expect more changes as the day progresses.
More: Missouri football 2025 recruiting class: Where Tigers stand entering signing period
The early signing period runs from Wednesday through Friday. A majority of the paperwork will be completed Wednesday.
For the recruits who choose to wait until after this window to sign with teams, the traditional signing period will open Feb. 8 and close April 1.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Missouri football recruiting class: Signing day updates, rankings
