Florida State transfer OL Jaylen Early commits to Missouri

Florida State Seminoles transfer offensive lineman Jaylen Early is takings his talents to Missouri via Transfer Portal, according to On3’s Hayes Fawcett. The 6-foot-4, 305-pound lineman started seven games and appeared in 17 during his time in Tallahassee, and he’ll have two years of eligibility remaining.

He played high school football at Duncanville (Duncanville, TX), where he was a three-star prospect. He was the No. 373 overall recruit in the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Moving forward, Jaylen Early is set to join a Tigers squad that is coming off consecutive 10-win seasons for the first time since 2013-2014. Head coach Eli Drinkwitz is set to begin his sixth season as head coach of the program. 

Missouri will begin its season at home against Central Arkansas on Aug. 28, with a special Thursday kickoff inside Memorial Stadium. They will begin conference play in the SEC against the South Carolina Gamecocks at home on Sept. 20. 

The transfer portal wire provides a real-time feed of player activity, including basic player profile information, transfer portal ranking and original On3 Industry recruiting ranking, as well as NIL valuation (name, image and likeness).

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

More on the Missouri Tigers, NCAA Transfer Portal

Meanwhile, former Illinois State wide receiver Xavier Loyd has signed with Missouri out of the NCAA transfer portal, On3 has learned. He began his career playing for Kansas State.

Loyd appeared in one game for Kansas State as a true freshman in 2023, a 45-0 win against SEMO in September. He would transfer at the end of that season, finding a temporary home at Illinois State where he’d go on to have a breakout season in 2024.

He caught 66 passes for 912 yards and six touchdowns during his lone season with the Redbirds. His best performance came against Murray State on the road. He caught five passes for a whopping 148 yards. Surprisingly in that game, he didn’t score a touchdown despite his career-high receiving numbers.

That performance capped a three-week stretch where Loyd amassed 334 receiving yards and a touchdown — his best stretch of the season. He also ended the year scoring in three straight matchups, including the team’s first-round FCS playoff game against, ironically, SEMO, the one team he played against during his time as a Kansas State Wildcat. 

Before college, Loyd was rated as a three-star recruit according to the On3 Industry Rankings, which is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. He was slated as the No. 2,507 overall recruit, as well as the No. 361 wide receiver in the 2023 recruiting cycle.

— On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this article.