Mizzou Re-Signs Jamal Roberts for 2026 Season

The Tigers managed to retain the St. Louis native.

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 started off the new year by setting itself up for what could be one of the best running back duos in the country for the 2026 season, announcing it has re-signed running back Jamal Roberts for the upcoming season.

Roberts shared the backfield with Ahmad Hardy, a Doak Walker Award finalist, in the 2025 season. Even while Hardy set Missouri's single-season rushing record with 1,649 yards, Roberts managed to add another 753 yards and six touchdowns on 124 carries. Missouri was the only SEC team to have two different running backs in the top 10 of rushing yards in the conference.

Hardy had publicly commented on his plans to stay with the program on Dec. 16, creating a tough situation for Missouri to retain Roberts after the St. Louis native had proven to other schools he was capable of being a starter, not just a counterpunch.

"We 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," head coach Eli Drinkwitz said in a press conference on Dec. 16. "And how do you beg Jamal to take less to stay here? I mean, that's the reality of it."

Sept 13, 2025; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers running back Jamal Roberts rushes during a play in the second quarter at Faurot Field. | Cal Tobias

Drinkwitz went on to plea for a St. Louis-area to help retain Roberts with a third-party NIL deal, explaining the limits of the cap brought on by the revenue-sharing model.

"We just have a pot of money and got to divide it amongst everybody in here to try to create the strongest team possible," Drinkwitz said. "So that's what we're trying to do, and we'll do the best we can. 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 than for him to be a Tiger for his career.”

Roberts has two seasons of eligibility remaining. He's spent his first three with Missouri and broke out in 2024, earning a role as a pass blocker and third-down runner behind the duo of Nate Noel and Marcus Carroll. He rushed for 216 yards and three touchdowns on 53 carries that season.

Missouri secured the new deal with Roberts one day before the transfer portal officially opens up. Three Missouri running backs — Tavorus Jones and redshirt freshmen Brendon Haygood and Marquise Davis — have announced their plans to enter the portal when it opens.