Eli Drinkwitz Provides Updates on Mizzou's Cornerback Room

The Missouri Tigers, along with the entireity of college football, are inching closer to Week 1. With less than three weeks to go, one of the Tigers' deepest rooms is at cornerback, a unit filled with former starters and a variety of transfer experience. Due to that depth, the order of the unit is relatively unestablished.

In a press conference on Saturday, head coach Eli Drinkwitz gave his thoughts on the unit and one player that is leading the way. When going through the positions' players, the first person he mentioned was Ole Miss transfer Chris Graves Jr.

Graves started nine games for the Rebels last season and earned more snaps than any Missouri cornerback in 2025.

"We've got quite a bit of depth," Drinkwitz said. "Obviously, Chris Graves has played a ton of football, he's probably got the best grasp of what we're trying to do on one side."

After naming Graves, Drinkwitz mentioned Sione Laulea, Jahlil Florence, Nick DeLoach Jr, Jaxson Gates and Cameron Keys as guys who could contribute. Naming nearly all of the Tigers' cornerback room is a telltale sign of this unit's strength in numbers.

"There's a lot of ability there and it's just about who's going to make plays on the ball," Drinkwitz said. "Who can cause incompletions and then force takeaways. And so every day we're just continuing to try to get reps and stack fundamentals and see who's going to be a guy for us."

Alongside Graves, two standouts at the position have been the two Oregon transfers. Laulea and Florence each bring something different to Missouri, but have both made a mark on Drinkwitz early.

"Sione and Jahlil have been exactly what we had hoped," Drinkwitz said.

Oregon defensive back attempts a tackle. — Oct 11, 2025; Eugene, Oregon, USA; Indiana Hoosiers wide receiver Elijah Sarratt (13) runs with the ball against Oregon Ducks defensive back Sione Laulea (3) during the second quarter at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The fifth year Laulea worked his way up from San Mateo College, where he was ranked the No. 2 junior college transfer, then played two seasons at Oregon before transferring to Missouri. If given starter-level snaps, he will have to take the biggest jump of his career.

Last year he recorded seven tackles on 116 snaps and a 76.7 grade in pass coverage with the Ducks. In zero official snaps with the Tigers, but many in practices and scrimmages, Laulea has stood out to the coaching staff. During Saturday's scrimmage, in specific, he impressed Drinkwitz.

"I was proud of Sione today," Drinkwitz said. "He had a couple of really big tackles on a duo play where he was the unblocked guy. He fit pretty good."

The 6-foot-1 Florence is shorter than the 6-foot-4 Laulea and also had a much different path to Missouri, despite sharing the Oregon origin. Florence was a four-star recruit that started for Oregon in his sophomore year, but after two seasons plagued by injuries, he chose Missouri to rekindle his career. Much like Laulea, Florence had some big plays on Saturday as well.

"Jahlil had two big time plays, one in the red zone, one backed up (and) forced an incompletion. So it's good stuff," Drinkwitz said.

The rest of the unit offers different looks for the Tigers, with DeLoach bringing starter experience from his second season at Missouri, Keys putting forward raw potential in limited 2025 snaps and Gates with his sheer upside and speed.

As the Tigers inch closer to Week 1, it's not clear who will be the starters at cornerback, but it's obvious that Drinkwitz is impressed with the transfer-heavy unit.

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