Mizzou Football Position Preview: EDGE

Missouri's edge room has been helmed by stars in recent seasons, ranging from Damon Wilson II and Zion Young in 2025 to Johnny Walker Jr. in 2024 to Darius Robinson in 2023 to Isaiah McGuire in 2022. While Wilson and Young were the most recent stars of the room, both are gone for the 2025 season, meaning it'll be up to a collective of first-time starters and youthful transfers to hold the elite standard in Missouri's edge room.

Darris Smith and Langden Kitchen, who made their Missouri debut's in 2025 and ranked third and fourth at the position in snaps, helm the room as potential starters. Veteran transfers like Jaden Jones and Malik Bryant are fighting to make an instant impact while younger transfers like Kamauryn Morgan and CJ May could be viable long-term options. And you can't forget about redshirt freshman Daeden Hopkins, who looked stellar to close his true freshman campaign, and 6-foot-6 juco transfer Demarcus Johnson.

Here's everything you need to know about Missouri's edge room for the upcoming season, including the depth chart, coach and biggest questions.

Depth Chart

Starters: Darris Smith, Langden Kitchen

Backups: Daeden Hopkins, Jaden Jones

Depth: Kamauryn Morgan, Malik Bryant, Cavan Tuley, Demarcus Johnson, CJ May

Players lost: Zion Young, Damon Wilson II, Javion Hilson, Nate Johnson

The Coach

Mizzou DE Coach Brian Early and Zion Young at the Senior Bowl | @coachbrianearly on X / Twitter

The line of excellent position coaches on Missouri's staff continues with Brian Early, who's served in the role since the 2024 season. Under his two seasons of guidance, five edge rushers have reached a career-high in single-season sacks: Wilson, Young, Smith, Walker and Jahkai Lang.

Early was a key factor in Missouri racking up 36 total sacks, helping Wilson and Young to breakout seasons. Both pass-rushers ranked in the top-15 in the nation with total pressures and ranked in the top-10 of the Southeastern Conference in total sacks.

Early has also helped recruit quite the slew of big-name prospects, including Wilson, who was the No. 3 player in the 2025 transfer portal cycle, four-star recruit Javion Hilson and a four-star transfer in Smith.

Before coaching at Missouri, Early served as the defensive line coach at Houston from 2019-23, coaching four NFL Draft picks and seven all-conference honorees. Before Houston, Early coached defensive line at Arkansas State, where edge rusher Ja'Von Rolland-Jones won two consecutive Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year awards.

Early also coached at the FCS level with Central Arkansas, Division II level with Minnesota State-Mankato and Arkansas-Monticello and coached at three high schools.

The Starters

Vanderbilt's quarterback Diego Pavia (2) throws while being chased by Missouri's defensive end Darris Smith (19) during their game at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Missouri's edge room in 2025 revolved around the star duo of Young and Wilson, who started each game and tallied over 500 snaps each. Smith's 347 snaps were the next-highest played among all returners and transfers in Missouri's edge room, as were his four sacks and 15 tackles.

Head coach Eli Drinkwitz said it himself at SEC Media Days: with Wilson and Young out the door, "it's his turn now." Drinkwitz also believes Smith has the tools to lead the edge room.

"He's got a tremendous explosion. He plays the game physical and violent," Drinkwitz said at SEC Media Days. "He's got ability to stop the run, rush the passer, and we can't wait to see his skill set come to fruition."

Kitchen, who transferred to Missouri from Northwest Missouri State (DII) before the 2025 season, surprised and emerged as the fourth edge by many accounts in 2025. He logged 14 tackles, posted a run-defense grade of 74.8 and logged 13 quarterback hurries wile playing just 171 snaps, per Pro Football Focus.

While Kitchen and Smith are poised for expanded roles, and previous evidence indicates they're ready for it, it's hard to imagine both — or any pair of edge rushers on the roster — reach the production that Young and Wilson did last season. Missouri's edge group in 2026 may be much more committee-oriented and rotational, with plenty of faces having opportunities to contribute regulalary.

The Backups

It may not appear as top-heavy as it did a season ago, but Missouri's edge room runs deep with potential in 2026.

Among the most intriguing options is redshirt freshman Daeden Hopkins, who received the redshirt for all the right reasons in his 2025 true freshman campaign — he impressed Drinkwitz to the extent that the head coach opted to sit him the final stretch of the season to preserve long-term eligibility.

"Daeden Hopkins, I thought, played really, really well," Drinkwitz said following the Mississippi State game. "He's a guy that's really benefited from his time with the ‘show’ (scout) team, but also his time — we bring him up every Wednesday for third downs, and brought him up last week because we knew Langden (Kitchen) was dinged up. And he really loves his craft, he works on his craft, he's got a really bright future."

Hopkins, perhaps more than the rest of the backups, has a shot at starting this season, despite his youth. Redshirt senior Jaden Jones also seems to have a solidified role, according to Drinkwitz at SEC Media Days.

Jones logged six pressures and five tackles in 170 defensive snaps at Florida State last season, which was fresh off recovery from a torn ACL he suffered that kept him sidelined for the entire 2024 season. Jones played 63 snaps in 2023, logging two pressures and two tackles. Standing at 6-foot-5, 257 pounds and being the oldest member of the edge room, Jones' veteran experience could lead for a breakout final season of college football.

Even if Jones, Kitchen, Hopkins and Smith pan out the way Missouri envisions, Drinkwitz is still in search of one more contributor to the edge room, which he believes is entirely possible.

"It's going to be about who is that next guy who can step up," Drinkwitz said at SEC Media Days. "We have plenty of candidates between (Kamauryn Morgan), Malik Bryant, Cavan Tuley, Demarcus Johnson. There's plenty of guys in that room. With Coach Early's coaching, I think we'll be just fine there.”

Two more second-year players join Hopkins in the room in Baylor transfer Kamauryn Morgan and Louisville transfer CJ May. Both were four-star prospects in the 2025 class and transferred to Missouri following the 2025 season. Morgan played 125 snaps last season, logging six pressures and seven tackles in the process. May did not play a snap.

Along with the trio of youngsters is a trio of veterans in Jones, senior Cavan Tuley and junior Malik Bryant. Tuley was primarily a special teams guy during his four seasons at Houston but has a prior relationship with Early because of it. Bryant, a redshirt junior transfer from Miami, dealt with injuries for the majority of the 2025 season and played just 25 snaps but was a solid member of the Hurricanes' defense the season prior. The 6'4, 257-pound Florida native logged 11 pressures, one sack and eight tackles in 2024, serving a rotational role on Miami's defense.

Last but certainly not least intriguing in the edge room is juco transfer Demarcus Johnson. Johnson stands at 6'6, 271 and was rated the No. 2 juco player in the nation by 247sports. While he barely played in the 2025 season, it'd be a crime to rule out a player of his stature and potential as an immediate contributor, especially in Corey Batoon's defensive scheme.

Biggest Question Entering Fall Camp: What's Darris Smith's Ceiling?

Smith shined as the third-string edge last season, providing a quality complement to Young and Wilson as the next man up. But he'll serve an entirely different role in 2026, now set up to be the top guy in the edge room. If Smith can produce similar numbers to recent top Missouri edges, it takes the pressure off many of the younger talents in the room to be immediately ready. However, the same could easily be said for the other way around — a couple breakouts from younger talents would take pressure off Smith.

The Final Word

“I feel good about the position our edges are in with Darris Smith and Langden Kitchen, Jaden Jones, Daeden Hopkins. It's going to be about who is that next guy who can step up. We have plenty of candidates between K3, Malik Bryant, Cavan Tuley, Demarcus Johnson. There's plenty of guys in that room. With Coach Early's coaching, I think we'll be just fine there.”
Eli Drinkwitz at SEC Media Days

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