COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri will have a new full-time starter for the 2026 season. 

Starting quarterback of 10 games, Beau Pribula, entered the transfer portal Thursday morning, leaving the Tigers without their top signal-caller and in search of a new one. 

Matt Zollers will certainly compete for the starting role, given his status as a two-game starter (soon to be three when the Taxslayer Gator Bowl rolls around Dec. 27). However, he will still only be a sophomore, and could be redshirted to maximize his long-term development and window as Missouri's starter. 

Should that be the case, Missouri would need to bring in a quarterback notably better and more Week 1-ready than Zollers. The plan of inexperienced veterans failed last season — Pribula, a first-year starter entering year four of college football, struggled to keep the offense afloat. The Tigers will be looking to compete for a College Football Playoff spot in 2026, and here's a few options who could help them reach that goal, ranging from clear starters to backups for Zollers. 

Sorsby will enter the transfer portal with four seasons of Power Four experience between Indiana and Cincinatti. He was the Bearcats full-time starter in 2025, throwing for 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns to just five interceptions, leading Cincinatti to the fifth-highest scoring offense in the Big 12. 

The 6-foot-3, 235-pound Texas native was a three-star recruit out of high school, but is a four-star transfer, per 247sports. 

Sorsby has one season of eligibility remaining, and would make for the perfect bridge starter for Zollers to sit behind for an extra season while Sorsby makes a push to lead the Tigers to the postseason. 

Leavitt will enter the portal after a foot injury cut his 2025 campaign with Arizona State short. He finished the season throwing for 1,628 yards and 10 touchdowns to three interceptions, and had completed five consecutive games without throwing a pick. He also led Arizona State to a Big 12 Championship appearance in 2024, throwing for 2,885 yards and 24 touchdowns to six interceptions in his sophomore season. 

Leavitt will begin 2026 with two seasons remaining, having spent his last two with the Sun Devils and his first at Michigan State. 

He could make the leap to the SEC as Missouri's bridge quarterback ahead of Zollers in similar fashion to Sorsby, with the chance to reach new heights in Drinkwitz' system.

Raiola is the youngest of this group, as he'll only be a junior in the 2026 season. Still, he has seasons of starting experience under his belt, throwing for 31 touchdowns and 4,819 yards to 17 interceptions between them. 

Raiola was the No. 2 quarterback in the class of 2024, and Missouri originally offered the five-star prospect before he committed to Nebraska. 

His entrance to Missouri would not only shift Zollers to the backseat, but likely send him on his way out the door, as the pairs timelines overlap significantly. Raiola would be both the short and the long-term answer for the Tigers. 

Everything said about Raiola can also be said about Lagway. Lagway started games in his true freshman season for Florida, as well as his sophomore season before it was cut short from injury. He saw slightly less success than Raiola, throwing for 4,179 yards and 28 touchdowns to 23 interceptions between his two seasons. 

The advantage Lagway has over Raiola, however, is SEC experience. Although he didn't perform to the highest standard, Lagway still knows what it looks like to matchup against the best defenses in the nation on a weekly basis. 

Lagway was the No. 1 quarterback recruit in the class of 2024, but Missouri did not offer the five-star prospect. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound sophomore would make for a long-term answer as Missouri's signal-caller and would also likely send Zollers out the door. 

Houser enters the portal out of East Carolina with one final season of eligibility remaining in search for a Power Four starting gig. Should Missouri decide Zollers isn't ready to be a full-time starter, Houser could use that final year while Zollers sits for a true full season of backup development, given he didn't get that due to injuries above him in 2025. 

Houser, a former three-star recruit, threw for 3,300 yards and 19 touchdowns to just six interceptions in his senior season with the Pirates while leading them to the AAC's fifth-highest scoring offense. 

He has four seasons of experience and 6,438 career passing yards under his belt, and would make for a viable, experienced signal-caller to compete with Zollers for the starting job. 

Craig enters with one final season of eligibility remaining after spending his last four seasons at Harvard. He threw for 48 touchdowns and 5,299 yards to just 10 interceptions between his 2024 and 2025 seasons as a full-time starter. He also showcased a short-range, dual-threat ability in his 2023 season, punching in seven rushing touchdowns.

The former unranked recruit is now a three-star transfer with one season of eligibility remaining and could provide a newfound sense of experience to Missouri's quarterback room that its 2025 options lacked. 

Jackson, a former three-star recruit was initially offered by Missouri in its 2022 recruiting class before choosing to commit to Tennessee instead. He played minimally in his freshman season with the Volunteers before transferring to Indiana for the following two seasons, where he struggled in 2023 before bouncing back in 2024, throwing for four touchdowns and one interception to land a full-time starting gig at Central Florida. 

In his first season as a full-time starter, he threw for 2,151 yards and 10 touchdowns to eight interceptions — likely not enticing enough numbers to land another starting gig. He's got two options: return to the SEC to be a backup with a slim chance to start in his senior year, or transfer down to a G5 school and have a stronger chance to see the field there.