Missouri Lands Defensive Lineman Zion Young from Transfer Portal; Isaiah Hastings Switches to Syracuse
Missouri landed former Michigan State defensive lineman Zion Young from the transfer portal on Monday.
The 6-foot-5 226-pounder out of Westlake High School in Atlanta, Ga., was the consensus No. 77 edge rusher in the 2022 class and the No. 108 prospect in the state.
Young is the 11th incoming Missouri transfer and joins Chris McClellan (Florida) and Sterling Webb (New Mexico State) as the third defensive lineman. He will have to battle the remaining members of the position plus the incoming transfers and recruits for a higher placement on the depth chart. That said, Missouri lost starting defensive lineman Darius Robinson to the 2024 NFL Draft.
Young would've been the fourth addition at the position, but Isaiah Hastings, who transferred to the Tigers on Jan. 9, decommitted on Monday and announced he was going to Syracuse less than an hour later.
"After careful consideration, I’ll be decommitting from the University of Missouri," Hastings wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). "Thank you to coach Drinkwitz and coach Peoples for recruiting me and the whole Mizzou staff."
The Tigers have had now 13 players enter the transfer portal thus far, but none of them except Hastings were defensive linemen.
The reason for Hastings' departure isn't officially known, but edge rushers/defensive line coach Kevin Peoples—the latter person he commends in the quote—followed former Mizzou defensive coordinator Blake Baker to LSU on Jan. 12.
Nevertheless, Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz and company seem to have an eye for talent when spotting new staff members as they're likely searching as this is written.
