Missouri’s offseason roster turnover continued following the Gator Bowl as the Tigers lost a key starter and a promising developmental player to the NCAA transfer portal, adding new challenges for head coach Eli Drinkwitz heading into the next season.
Kicker Robert Meyer and offensive tackle Johnny Williams have both entered the portal, becoming two of Missouri’s latest departures during an already active transfer cycle. While their roles differed on the field, both exits leave noticeable gaps on the roster that will need to be addressed this offseason.
Meyer served as Missouri’s starting kicker for a stretch of the season after Blake Craig went down with an injury. He finished the year converting 10 of 14 field-goal attempts, but inconsistency—particularly on shorter kicks—eventually led the coaching staff to turn to walk-on kicker Oliver Robbins. Despite the uneven season, Meyer’s departure leaves Missouri without an established scholarship kicker, making special teams an immediate area of concern for Drinkwitz and his staff.
Williams’ exit impacts Missouri’s future plans along the offensive line. The 6-foot-7, 320-pound lineman transferred in from West Virginia and played just 52 snaps during the season, never cracking the starting rotation behind Cayden Green and Keagan Trost. However, Williams was widely viewed as a developmental piece with upside, especially with Trost moving on and Green weighing a potential NFL decision. A former three-star recruit and the No. 25 offensive tackle in the 2023 class, Williams still has two years of eligibility remaining.
Together, the departures strip Missouri of both short-term experience and long-term depth. With key positions now unsettled, Drinkwitz is expected to be aggressive in the transfer portal while also leaning on player development and incoming recruits to stabilize the roster.
How Missouri fills these holes will be a major storyline of the Tigers’ offseason as they look to maintain competitiveness in the SEC amid continued roster turnover.
