Eli Drinkwitz Evaluates Jayven Richardson's Performance at LT

The Tigers fell back on a tackle with minimal experience, who ended up having an impactful performance in Missouri's win.

Sept 20, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers left tackle Jayven Richardson lines up in the first quarter against South Carolina. | Sam Simon/MissouriOnSI

COLUMBIA, Mo. — On the eve of Missouri's conference-opener against South Carolina, it was announced that starting left tackle Cayden Green would miss the game due to injury.

Green's injury status was unclear until head coach Eli Drinkwitz addressed it following Missouri's 29-20 win against the Gamecocks.

"He underwent a minor medical procedure on Friday morning," Drinkwitz said. "He should be back as soon as he possibly can. It's not end of season. It could be three weeks. It could be five weeks."

The details of Green's injury are still unclear, outside of a potential time-table. The injury happened during the week of practice leading up to Missouri's battle against South Carolina.

"Cayden got injured in Wednesday's practice," Drinkwitz said. "We thought it was going to be okay. He actually was a full participant in Thursday's walk-through, but just didn't feel right about it."

Former JUCO prospect Jayven Richardson started in his place, marking his first career start as a Missouri Tiger. Richardson had a minimal amount of snaps in his two-season career with the Tigers before making his first start against South Carolina.

Considering the situation Richardson was thrown into, the redshirt junior handled himself well. He didn't allow a single sack to standout defensive ends Dylan Stewart and Bryan Thomas Jr., among others.

Despite the lack of experience, there were never any doubts that Richardson wouldn't perform well given this opportunity.

"We have a ton of confidence in Jayven Richardson, because he's a great young man who works hard," Drinkwitz said. "When his moment showed up, he was there for the Brotherhood, and that's what this thing's built on."

For most of the spring and around half of fall camp, it was thought that Richardson would end up being the Day 1 starter at the left tackle spot. Things changed late into fall camp when Green was bumped outside.

What may have been a tough decision to face for some ended up being nothing to Richardson, who continued to prepare like he was going to receive significant reps.

"He could have done a lot of different things," Drinkwitz said. "He could have pouted. He could have been disappointed. He could have came in and demanded a trade. He could have done a lot of other stuff, and he didn't."

Richardson was one of multiple reasons that the Tigers managed to pummel their opponents in the ground game. They achieved 285 rushing yards, 138 of which came from Ahmad Hardy, which helped keep their offensive momentum.

The left tackle position is an important one on the offensive line and Richardson did more than enough to make sure his quarterback and star running back could perform at a high level.

"I love him. He's a great dude, and I'm so proud of him and what he's done tonight," quarterback Beau Pribula said following the win. "Staying locked in and even when he didn't get an opportunity to start so far this year, got his opportunity tonight, made the most of it."

From everyone on the offense, the job that Richardson did to protect Pribula and everyone else in the backfield was impressive. Even Hardy, who was arguably the most dominant player on the field at all times, walked away impressed with Richardson's performance.

"We had a guy step up. He did his job and the guys knew what they were supposed to do," Hardy said.

With Green out, Richardson will likely take over the starting position for the foreseeable future. In his first big test playing against SEC competition, he absolutely delivered.