Mizzou is Having Challenges Retaining its Running Back Depth, Per Drinkwitz

Two running backs have already announced plans to enter the transfer portal, and another could come soon.

Sep 6, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers running back Jamal Roberts (20) celebrates after a touchdown in the second half of the Border War against the Kansas Jayhawks at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. | Matt Guzman/MissouriOnSi

Missouri won't have to worry about Ahmad Hardy leaving, but the rest of the Tigers' running back room is a question mark entering the offseason.

Two of Missouri's running backs — true freshmen Brendon Haygood and Marquise Davis — have already announced plans to enter the transfer portal when it opens Jan. 2. Additionally, Missouri is having to work to keep redshirt sophomore Jamal Roberts with the program, head coach Eli Drinkwitz revealed in a press conference Tuesday.

Though Roberts was behind Hardy, who was recognized as a consensus All-American, the St. Louis native was a key part of the Missouri offense. He rushed for 697 yards and five touchdowns on 113 carries. He was also Missouri's top receiving running back, catching 17 passes for 139 yards and a touchdown.

In that role, Roberts proved he could thrive as a starter at the highest level of college football. Because of that, Missouri unsurprisingly has had some roadblocks in convincing Roberts to remain in a role and paycheck that would be secondary to Hardy's.

"You got a tough situation, because you got Ahmad Hardy, who is consensus All-American, but I think Jamal Roberts is as good a back as there is in the country," Drinkwitz said. "How do you how do you beg Jamal to take less to stay here? I mean, that's the that's the reality of it."

As for Hardy, he's shut down the possibility of leaving multiple times, and did so again Tuesday when asked if any teams have tried to contact him about possibly transferring.

"I think they know I'm a Tiger, so they ain't hitting me up," Hardy said.

Roberts has worked for three years to earn his role with Missouri. Him entering the transfer portal would not be him taking a shortcut to skip stages of growth — he's already gone through that development. Instead, it would be utilizing the transfer portal for what it should be celebrated for: giving players more opportunities to prove themselves. That utility is the only reason Hardy ended up at Missouri after a standout true freshman season at Louisiana-Monroe.

With the new salary cap placed on team's revenue-sharing budget, Drinkwitz is making a plea for third-party NIL in order to retain Roberts and other players. Especially people and/or companies from Roberts' hometown.

"But if anybody in St Louis has third-party NIL that they'd like to donate or work through to keep Jamal Roberts around, we'd love to talk to you about it, because he's a heck of a player and we'd love nothing more for him to be a Tiger for his career," Drinkwitz said.

With retention almost depending on the promise of immediate playing time, the transfer portal has made it nearly impossible to grow and develop from within. Roberts has been an exception in that way so far.

But, it's forced teams to build year-to-year. At running back, Missouri is already in that state with the two true freshman leaving. That will be intensified if Roberts decides to leave. Hardy has two more years of eligibility remaining, but will likely declare for the NFL draft after his junior season in 2026.

What the depth of Missouri's running back room will be in 2026 is in question at the moment, and certainly what the group will look like as a whole in 2027.