Using Hindsight to Rank Eli Drinkwitz's Best Freshman Class: The Extra Point

High-school ratings aside, which of Drinkwitz's freshman classes ended producing the most for Missouri?

Aug 29, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Missouri Tigers head coach Eli Drinkwitz on field against the Murray State Racers during the game at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images | Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Watch the video below as Missouri Tigers on SI football reporter Joey Van Zummeren evaluates which of Eli Drinkwitz's recruiting classes with Missouri has ended up being the most productive.

Welcome to Missouri Tigers On SI's "Extra Point," a video series featuring the site's Missouri beat writers. Multiple times a week, the writers provide analysis on a topic concerning the Tigers or the landscape of college sports.

Eli Drinkwitz now has a handful of the top-20 classes in the nation behind him, but which of those classes have actually led to on-field results for the Missouri Tigers?

The 2022 class featured two players who ended up being selected in the top-40 picks of the 2025 NFL draft. The 2023 class featured six starters on the 2024 team. The 2020 class featured five multi-year startes cruical to the program's turnaround, but Drinkwitz's staff wasn't around for most of that recruiting cycle. However, they do deserve credit for beng able to re-recruit those players after taking over from the previous staff.

Though it's too early to tell for the two most recent classes, the 2024 and 2025 groups are shaping up to be two of the best Drinkwitz has recruited. Although, four of the top-five highest-rated players from the 2024 class transferred out after one season with the program.

There's no doubt Drinkwitz can recruit at a high level. The next question for he and his staff to answer though is whether or not that recruiting can be turned into on-field production. How the careers of the 2023-2025 classes end up playing out will be a significant factor in answering that question.

Eli Drinkwitz's freshman recruiting classes with Mizzou:

2020
Composite class ranking: 51st
Top-rated players: WR J.J. Hester, RB Elijah Young, OL Drake Heismeyer
Players who started a season at Missouri: Seven
Finished career at Missouri: Nine out of 15

2021
Composite class ranking: 26th
Top-rated players: C Connor Tollison, WR Dominic Lovett, Edge Travion Ford
Players who started a season at Missouri: Three
Finished career at Missouri: Two out of 21

2022
Composite class ranking: 15th
Top-rated players: WR Luther Burden III, RB Tavorus Jones, Edge DJ Wesolak
Players who started a season at Missouri: Two
Finisher career/still at Missouri: Eight out of 19

2023
Composite class ranking: 35th
Top-rated players: WR Joshua Manning, TE Jordon Harris, TE Brett Norfleet
Players who started a season at Missouri: Six
Still at Missouri: 12 out of 19