The Biggest Question Facing Mizzou's Wide Receiver Room

Five Missouri wide receivers logged two or more receptions in the 2025 season. Only one returned.

Kevin Coleman, who led the Tigers with 66 receptions for 732 yards, graduated and exhausted his eligibility. Fellow former senior Xavier Loyd, who caught two balls for 21 yards, also graduated — he's headed to the NFL alongside Coleman.

Rising seniors Marquis Johnson and Josh Manning combined for 67 catches and 668 yards in 2025 entered the transfer portal anyways. Daniel Blood caught five balls for 51 yards as a backup to Coleman. Johnson is now at Mississippi State, while Manning headed to Kansas State and Blood followed offensive coordinator Kirby Moore to Washington State.

Plenty of incoming transfer and freshmen talent were brought in to replace the production lost, but the biggest question surrounding the room is about the only notable returner in the group.

How big will Donovan Olugbode's Year-2 improvement be?

Olugbode was one of the best freshman wideouts in recent Missouri history last season, racking up 30 receptions for 401 yards — both of which ranked second on the team despite playing the fourth-most snaps of Tiger wideouts.

While Coleman logged more receptions and yards than Olugbode, the senior operated almost exclusively in the slot, while Olugbode spent over 80% of his time out wide. Essentially, Olugbode was the Tigers' best boundary wideout.

He'll find himself in a similar situation the upcoming season as Ole Miss transfer Cayden Lee will be projected by many as Missouri's top wide receiver. However, Lee, like Coleman, is primarily a slot receiver — he's played almost 75% of his snaps in the slot over the last two seasons, logging a combined 101 receptions, 1,509 yards and five touchdowns in the process.

That leaves Olugbode as the clear top option to be the No. 1 boundary wideout in 2026.

Olugbode's 401 receiving yards were the most for a Missouri freshman since Jalen Knox (419) in 2018. Unfortunately for Knox, that would be the most receiving yards for a season in his career, as the number dwindled in each of the following three seasons. A better example to turn to may be Luther Burden III, who logged 375 yards in his 2022 freshman season before exploding onto the scene for 1,212 in 2023 despite the Tigers bringing in capable transfer wideouts like Theo Wease Jr.

It'd be surprising for Olugbode to not see statistical improvement — be it minor or major, he'll be a weapon for transfer quarterback Austin Simmons either way. If it's a small improvement and Lee remains the best wideout, the receiver corps may operate in a similar capacity that the 2025 group did. But if Olugbode's improvement is anything like Burden's, he can emerge as both the top boundary receiver and the top receiver overall, giving the Tigers a true No. 1 out wide to fully unlock the offense.

He's one of the ultimate ceiling-raisiers on the 2026 roster.

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