Notebook, Observations from Mizzou's Fall Camp Practice 8/4

Everything I observed and what it means for Mizzou going forward.

JJ Bush at Mizzou's fall camp practice 8/4 | Killian Wright/Missouri Tigers On SI

Media was invited to attend a roughly 40-minute window of Mizzou's second fall camp practice Tuesday morning, one of over a dozen instances that will occur in the month of August. From depth charts, to drills to players, here's everything I noticed at Mizzou's Aug. 4 fall camp practice.

Marquis Gracial kicks it off

Redshirt senior defensive tackle Marquis Gracial lead the rally to begin practice, making him the second redshirt senior lineman to do so in two practices — starting right guard Curtis Peagler lead the chant Monday.

It's fun to get a glimpse of which players are on the more energetic side, and watching these seems like a solid way to tell.

Marquis Gracial kicks off #Mizzou’s second practice of fall camp pic.twitter.com/lnInzNLwC8

— Killian Wright (@byKillianWright) August 4, 2026

Edge rotation

Heading into the 2025 season, Missouri's starting two edge rushers were clear: Zion Young and Damon Wilson II. Heading into 2026, it's a little more up in the air, but the first two practice of fall camp, along with some words from edge coach Brian Early, seem to have given us a strong indicator.

Redshirt senior Darris Smith led most drills, followed by senior Langden Kitchen then redshirt freshman Daeden Hopkins. Those three, in that order, logged the most snaps of returning edge rushers on the 2026 roster, with Smith and Kitchen serving as the third and fourth-string members of the room a season ago and Hopkins contributing but ultimately preserving his redshirt.

Noticed this: In #Mizzou’s edge drills at practice, the first three up always seem to be Darris Smith, Langden Kitchen and Daeden Hopkins, in that order.

Demarcus Johnson and Jaden Jones are the guys I’ve seen next up: pic.twitter.com/9HtGBT6oTD

— Killian Wright (@byKillianWright) August 4, 2026

"Langden Kitchen, Daeden Hopkins, Darris Smith, any one of those three players could have a breakout type season," Mizzou edge coach Brian Early told Missouri On SI in a one-on-one interview. "There's open competition going into camp. It's going to be really interesting to see how this thing shakes out in the next 30 days, 25 practices. Who's going to be our top four guys?"

Mizzou is still searching for the fourth member in the rotation. I've seen 6-foot-6 juco transfer Demarcus Johnson and redshirt senior Florida State transfer Jaden Jones take fourth-string snaps.

Quarterback Drills

When observing the quarterback drills, it didn't seem like the group went in a particulary order after Austin Simmons. Returning sophomore Matt Zollers, redshirt senior transfer Nick Evers and three-star true freshman Gavin Sidwar were in any order following the QB1. It should be a competitive battle between the trio to see how the depth chart behind Simmons shakes out by Week 1.

Some work from backup #Mizzou QB’s Gavin Sidwar and Nick Evers pic.twitter.com/wqiZyhNZla

— Killian Wright (@byKillianWright) August 4, 2026

Special Teams

We saw Blake Craig back in action today, as the redshirt junior went 4-for-4 on field goal attempts, including nailing one from 40 yards out. Craig missed the majority of the 2025 season after tearing his ACL against Central Arkansas in Week 1, but is projected to be back in the starting lineup for 2026.

Craig went 24-for-34 on field goals in the 2024 season, including 10-for-10 from 30 to 39 yards out and 1-for-7 from 30 to 39 yards out.

Brunno Reus, who transferred to Missouri from Florida State by following special teams coordinator John Papuchis, took first-team reps at punter. Connor Wesselman, who started all of the 2025 season, exhausted his eligibility at the end of the season.

JJ Bush is at practice

Four-star freshman linebacker JJ Bush was at practice today and wore No. 33. Bush was indefinitely suspended from the team in May after he was arrested on a Class D felony charge of aggravated fleeing a stop or detention of motor vehicle and a Class B misdemeanor charge of carless and imprudent driving. Bush's charges were dropped shortly after.

Bush is primed to be a long-term piece of Missouri's linebacker unit but could see some early action in 2025 — true freshman Dante McClellan played 136 snaps in 2025 and logged a pick-six.

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