Eli Drinkwitz excited by Missouri's offensive line additions

While everyone is raving over the commitment of Five-Star+ Plus EDGE rusher Williams Nwaneri, Missouri has silently built a four-player deep offensive line class that Eli Drinkwitz can’t wait to get on the practice field.

The Missouri head coach, who has the No. 24 overall recruiting class in the current On3 Industry Rankings after national signing day, explained why he’s thrilled about the class he put together — particularly in the offensive trenches.

“Yeah, we’re really excited because all of them, everybody that we signed with the offensive line class will be here in January,” Drinkwitz revealed during an appearance on the SEC Network on Wednesday. “They get an extra cycle with Coach (Ryan) Russell and our athletic performance staff. Obviously with the offensive line, we needed to back up our center position and so we felt like we did that with Talan Chandler from Nevada, Missouri.

“Obviously, we had a couple more in-state players with Ryan Jostes, were able to go into the JUCO ranks and add some depth at the tackle position, then went into Omaha, Nebraska and got Caleb Pyfrom right there. So, very excited about — you’ve got to be strong up the middle. You have to win in the trenches.”

The JUCO talent Drinkwitz is referring to is Jayven Richardson, and is the No. 3 OT from the JUCO ranks and No. 9 player overall. Chandler, Jostes and Pyfrom were similarly recruited as three-star recruits.

Excitingly, Missouri has landed a commitment from former Oklahoma offensive tackle Cayden Green — a former four star recruit and top 100 player in the 2023 recruiting class — out of the transfer portal earlier this week. At nearly 6-foot-5 and weighing 315 pounds, Green has the making to be a plug-and-play offensive lineman for the Tigers in 2024.

For Pyfrom, while he wasn’t a top-rated recruit at his position, Drinkwitz believes he can be a difference-maker at Missouri to the point where he put enough effort into his recruitment that when the three-star prospect de-committed from Illinois in October, Drinkwitz was right there ready to pitch him on Mizzou.

While each of these incoming offensive linemen are expected to be on campus for January’s winter workouts, Drinkwitz and the Tigers have their focus shifted toward a program-changing matchup in the Cotton Bowl against Ohio State if they were able to win. The opening kickoff is scheduled for Dec. 29 at 8 p.m. ET.