Missouri has added 13 transfers in the 2026 cycle ranging from former starters to unproven freshmen. The group of newcomers will help restock on previously depleted position groups and reload Missouri's talent for a bounce-back 2026 season. 

The class, comprised of nine three-stars, two four-star and 11 three-star transfers, ranks ninth in the Southeastern Conference, per 247 sports. Missouri finished as the eighth best team in the SEC. Four of the teams below Missouri in the portal rankings finished higher than the Tigers in 2025's conference standings, and five of the teams above them in portal rankings finished below the Tigers in SEC standings. 

Teams below Missouri are leaping over them, while teams far ahead — like Georgia, Alabama and Texas A&M — are close behind with an already much more talented roster ahead of the portal cycle. 

As far as external improvement goes, that math isn't adding up for Missouri to be better next season. Luckily for the Tigers, there's still plenty of time left to bulk up their transfer class. Here's the two positions they put the most focus on to improve the roster. 

Cornerback was arguably Missouri's most-needed position heading into the portal's opening. Seniors Toriano Pride Jr., Stephen Hall and Drey Norwood exhausted eligibility, while Shamar McNeil and Mark Manfred III entered the portal. The room held just four players rostered for the 2026 season, none of which played more than 51 snaps in 2025 and two of which were incoming freshman. 

Missouri addressed the need immediately in the portal, earning the commitment of Oregon cornerback Jahlil Florence as the programs first addition of the 2026 cycle. This put the room at five members. 

Florence is a talented player who certainly doesn't harm the cornerback room. But his injury history raises eyebrows on how often he will be taking the field for the Tigers. The former Duck was a regular contributor on the boundary for his freshman and sophomore campaigns from 2022-2023, playing 648 snaps between the two seasons. An injury suffered toward the end of his 2023 season derailed his career from there, sidelining him for the entire 2024 season and minimizing his role in 2025. 

Missouri's cornerback room consists of Florence, who hasn't played real rotational snaps in over two seasons, Keys, who has 56 career snaps, DeLoach, who played poorly in his lone season as a starter, and two incoming freshmen who haven't played a collegiate snap. 

There is plenty of potential in the room, but minimal proven production. Veterans will be needed to help the position room that was arguably the weakest link of an otherwise-elite defense in 2025. 

Another group that lost each starter was the edge room, as Zion Young entered the 2026 NFL Draft and Damon Wilson II entered the transfer portal. The pair combined for 1078 snaps, 16 sacks and 68 hurries on the season. Remove their production, along with fellow outgoing transfers Nate Johnson and Javion Hilson, and Missouri's returning edge-rusher trio of Daedan Hopkins, Darris Smith and Langden Kitchen combined for just 570 snaps, four sacks and 39 hurries. 

The Tigers do have two transfers committed to the 2026 roster in Demarcus Johnson (Hutchinson CC) and Jaden Jones (Florida State). Johnson has never played at the Division I level, while Jones has zero sacks and six pressures across his two seasons at Florida State. 

Summarized: Missouri has almost no proven production in a large role in a Power Four conference, with the semi-exception of Smith, who played 30 or more snaps in four of Missouri's final six games and logged three of his four sacks in the same span. 

Should Missouri desire to keep its elite edge-rush production for a fifth consecutive season, help in the transfer department is needed, barring an unexpected jump from a previously-unproductive player.