Eli Drinkwitz Speaks on Transfers Kamauryn Morgan, Mark Hensley

Missouri football made two late transfer portal additions, signing edge rusher Kamauryn Morgan and defensive linemen Mark Hensley after the Tigers' spring practice sessions wrapped up.

Morgan spent his 2025 freshman campaign at Baylor, where he made an instant impact with the Bears. The former four-star recruit racked up six tackles and a quarterback hurry in just 125 snaps on the season. He entered the transfer portal and originally committed to Virginia Tech before re-opening his commitment, leading Eli Drinkwitz and Missouri to pounce on the second chance to land Morgan, which they soon did.

The transfer portal's ever-changing nature results in many first-time occurrences each cycle. Morgan's, although not one-of-one, was still unique in the sense that he committed much later than the rest of Missouri's transfer class with the exception of Hensley.

Despite Morgan's untraditional route to Columbia, Drinkwitz believes the program succeeded in acclimating Morgan with the program and school.

"Our front office did a great job figuring out that where he had kind of fallen through the cracks, and how we were able to figure out how to get him into school through an eight week session and really get him up to speed," Drinkwitz said. "I think the way our schedule sets and the way we're allowed to utilize walkthroughs have been really good to get his skills and knowledge of our scheme back to where it needs to be."

He'll be playing alongside a plethora of talented and young edge rushers at Missouri. Returning seniors Darris Smith and Langden Kitchen helm the room with experience, while impact transfers Malik Bryant, Jaden Jones, CJ May and DeMarcus Johnson look to breakout. Rising sophomore Daedan Hopkins boasts an impressive athletic profile as well.

It'll take some time to know exactly where Morgan fits in the talented group, but his first weeks on campus have been promising.

"We'll know more when we can put him in pads, but I think the early reports from (edge coach Brian Early) and (assistant coach Ryan Russell) have been positive," Drinkwitz said.

Who is Mark Hensley?

A few days before adding Morgan to the edge room, Missouri added former Northern Illinois standout Mark Hensley to the defensive tackle room. He logged 32 tackles and one sack in his 2025 redshirt sophomore season with the Huskies, and now makes the jump to Power Four to help fill a hole for Missouri: depth.

"With the injury that we had that occurred to (Elias Williams), it's just a position of need," Drinkwitz said. "This is a young man who's played a lot of football at Northern Illinois, from (Missouri) has an opportunity to come back home."

Hensley being a native of Washington, Missouri, allows him to follow the footsteps of recent Missouri transfers that have panned out.

"We've done particularly well in transfer portal with guys coming back home, Drinkwitz said. "Whether you're talking about Sterling Webb, Toriano Pride, Cayden Green... Kevin Coleman — it was easy to sell for us to bring, bring (Hensley) back."

Hensley will now play an important role for Missouri's depth on the defensive line, joining a room that lost its starters in Chris McClellan and Sterling Webb. Marquis Gracial and Jalen Marshall headline the group as returning upperclassmen, while Sam Williams, Jason Dowell, Donta Simpson and Tajh Overton will all look to carve roles in the new-look unit.

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Blue Sky and Instagram for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google