Takeaways From Mizzou's Depth Chart For Week 1, Team Captains

Mizzou football released the depth chart for its Week 1 game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff set for 7 p.m. Thursday at Memorial Stadium. It also announced who its team captains were, three of which were voted on by players and three by coaches.

Here's the most important takeaways from each.

Mizzou Depth Chart Takeaways

Below is Mizzou's two-deep depth chart for Week 1.

#Mizzou’s week 1 depth chart. Biggest notes:

- Langden Kitchen Starting
- Naeshaun Montgomery contending with Caleb Goodie for WRX
- Tristan Wilson at LG
-Sione Laulea starting
- Jalen Marshall starting over Sterling Webb pic.twitter.com/PmVSGxn6IU
— Killian Wright (@byKillianWright) August 29, 2026

Offensive line

The offensive line is comprised of four returners — three of which started in 2025 — and one transfer. Drinkwitz previously told reporters that he felt confident with Luke Work as his starting right tackle and that Tristan Wilson was a starter in the Southeastern Conference, so the five-man unit shaking out the way it did comes as no surprise.

The main signifigance at offensive line, though, is the second unit. Jack Lange, a sophomore and former four-star prospect, is the backup left tackle. Green is out for Week 1 and wore a sleeve on his right leg at the press conference, leaving Lange to fill his shoes for the season opener. Veteran backup Whit Hafer is also expected to take snaps.

Offensive tackle prospect Jack Lange on an official visit to the University of Missouri. | @JackLange55 on X, Mizzou Athletics

"Have a lot of confidence in Jack and Whit and how they'll handle it, and that's their opportunity to prove their capabilities," Drinkwitz said.

Collin Sorensen, who'd previously only played tackle at the FCS level and is a first-time FBS player, is listed as the backup center. However, there's reason to believe that Wilson and Hafer are actually the second- and third-string centers, given both spent time at the position in camp — Sorensen did not.

Naeshaun Montgomery is a starter

Perhaps the biggest surprise on the depth chart is sophomore transfer wideout Naeshaun Montgomery being listed as the starting X wide receiver alongside Caleb Goodie. Goodie, a senior speedster, has back-to-back seasons with 400 or more receiving yards, the most recent of which was with a high-powered Cincinnati offense in the Big 12.

We previously wrote about Montgomery's breakout potential, but it seems he may be more of an immediate contributor than we initially thought.

Montgomery didn't play much in his true freshman season at Florida last year but impressed mightily in Missouri's fall camp, developing chemistry with quarterback Austin Simmons and growing his own skillset.

"Naeshaun's been one of our most improved players from spring to now," Drinkwitz said. "Just the consistency of the amount of work that he's put in, his commitment to the team. He slept in the locker room all camp, except for the night before off days, just being dedicated to his process to develop. He's made some unbelievable catches... he's been very consistent. I expect him to have a big role. I think he'll be one of the top four or five snap-getters in the wide receiver position, and he's got a good rapport with Austin right now, which has been fun to watch in those guys develop. He's still learning, still trying to improve, but you can tell he's playing with more confidence than he had when he first showed up than when he showed up in the spring."

Jalen Marshall is a Starter

Marquis Gracial felt like a surefire bet to be one of Missouri's starting defensive tackles in 2026. Marshall seemed primed for the other spot until late July, when Sterling Webb was granted a fifth year of eligibility and made a surprise return to the program.

Webb started many games last season while Marshall started zero, although he did play more than 200 snaps. Wether it's Webb still working on reacclimating to Missouri or Marshall taking a leap over the offseason, something shifted to allow Marshall to step into the starting gig.

Regardless, all three, along with a fourth in Jason Dowell, could see significant snaps this season.

Sione Laulea Wins Starting Cornerback Job

Ole Miss transfer Chris Graves Jr. is the only cornerback in Missouri's revamped room with starting experience in the last two seasons. The rest of the room is comprised of veterans looking to step into starting roles for the first time in seasons and young players looking to earn increased snaps.

One of those veterans is Oregon transfer Sione Laluea, who starred at the juco level in 2022 and 2023 but served as a backup with the Ducks in the last two seasons. Standing at 6 foot 4, Laulea is the tallest and lengthiest corner in the room and provides an interesting option for the Tigers in the seconadry.

Fellow Oregon transfer Jahlil Florence is listed as the top backup for both corner spots.

Competition at STAR

Kensley Louidor-Faustin and Elijah Dotson are listed as starting options for Missouri's STAR position, which was previously manned by Daylan Carnell from 2023-25. Louidor-Faustin is a junior transfer from Auburn that played 302 snaps in the SEC last season, many of which were at nickel. Dotson played 240 snaps at Michigan, many of which were on special teams and only 41 of which were in the slot.

Both have impressed during camp for their ball-hawking ability.

"He's on the smarter side, but he has elite athletic ability," Graves said of the Auburn transfer on Aug. 22. "He had a cover-two drop and he jumped probably like 10 feet in the air to get it."

"He's a guy that does an excellent job getting the ball out," Drinkwitz said of Dotson. "Whether that's intentionally punching at the ball or having interceptions. You know we need that on that side of the ball."

Langden Kitchen to Start at Edge

This isn't as big of a surprise now as it may have been in January, as Kitchen has grown into quite the leader and took nearly ever first-team rep the media could see during Missouri's fall camp.

Kitchen, a Huntsville native, played the fourth-most snaps in Missouri's edge room last season, which was impressive enough considering he started just three games in his previous two seasons at Northwest Missouri State (DII). He'll now start alongside Darris Smith in Week 1.

"He's really stepping to that role of you know getting onto the field more," Safety Santana Banner said Saturday. We had our little team meeting was it two days ago, and everybody you know had a heart to heart about how we expect the season to go, and he really is just like mature in the aspect of being more physical on the field, getting to film more, knowing the playbook more, and just honestly just being more consistent."

Quick-hitters

- Jamal Roberts is officially listed as the starter for Week 1 with FCS transfers Xai'Shaun Edwards and Malae Fonoti behind him. Ahmad Hardy is out.
- Matt Zollers is QB2, beating UConn transfer Nick Evers and true freshman Gavin Sidward for the job.
- Safety Jayden McGregory and offensive lineman Khalief Canty Jr. are the only true freshman listed on the two-deep depth chart.
- Malik Bryant is the fourth edge, listed as Smith's backup at Jack. We've heard that Smith, Kitchen and Hopkins were the top-three breakout candidates, so Bryant slotting in as the fourth man signifies how the room rounds out.
- DaMarion Fowlkes will handle both kick and punt returns.

Team Captains

Drinkwitz also announced Missouri's six captains. Dominick Giudice, Cayden Green and Nicholas Rodriguez were voted captains by the coaches. Those three were also named spring captains. Jamal Roberts, Blake Craig and Santana Banner were voted captains by their fellow players.

Although all six are returning Tigers, Green is the only returning captain. Craig said the race for special teams captain was close between himself and Brett Le Blanc.

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