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Coming and Going: Mizzou 2024 Offseason Roster Tracker

Originally posted on Missouri Tigers on SI
By Christopher Walsh | Last updated Dec 4, 2023 4:25 PM ET

It's the tricky thing about playing in a New Year's Day bowl, but not being in the College Football Playoff. Teams and coaches want to go out on a high note, but it can be tricky for some of the players who are looking to turn their attention to what's next.

Consequently, Mizzou football head coach Eli Drinkwitz made a point of saying in a press conference that he plans for the Tigers to be at full strength when it faces Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl, and that anyone transferring out could stay play as part of the team. However, don't expect everyone to do so, an opt-outs are obviously still a possibility.

Meanwhile, Mizzou has to start thinking about its future as well as the transfer portal opened Monday.

"Our roster’s a little bit crunched right now," Drinkwitz told 247Sports. "And so we’re having to be very judicious in how we go about building it back."

He added: "We do have some real needs. Obviously, we’re losing a couple of corners to the NFL with Ennis Rakestraw and Kris Abrams-Draine, so obviously going to be doing a little portal shopping at the cornerback position. And defensive end, we’re going to have Darius Robinson, I think, will be a first-round pick. We’ll have back-to-back defensive ends drafted. We are going to be looking for a couple of defensive ends."

Meanwhile, the Buckeyes and Tigers have to get ready to play at AT&T Stadium on Dec. 29, just days after the early-signing period gets under way in football.

As for how he'll be approaching the month-long roster juggling, it won't be easy.

"It's all about building trust and respect," Drinkwitz said. "If you get people to buy into your culture, the quicker they'll trust you and trust each other. The only way to build trust is to be honest with each other in the good and the bad. Also, you need to build respect based off of mutual interactions. That's who we've been. It's not always been pretty or easy, but we've worked really hard to build that trust within the brotherhood and coaching staff. In this day and age with recruiting and NIL, there are all kinds of ways for people to manipulate the truth. We try to be as truthful as we can be in all of our interactions and to build that trust."

Here's a look at the Mizzou football roster, which players are leaving, and who might be added. The following will be frequently updated:

This story was updated Dec. 4, 2023

This article first appeared on Missouri Tigers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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