Eli Drinkwitz grabs three more commitments in home stretch of portal window
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Mizzou football coach Eli Drinkwitz is still hard at work in the closing days of the January transfer portal window.
On Tuesday, the leader of Tiger football grabbed three more commitments out the portal, as former Michigan cornerback Elijah Dotson, former Houston edge Cavan Tuley and former UConn backup quarterback Nick Evers are all Columbia bound. The trio brings MU's number of transfer portal additions up to 18.
Dotson is the biggest of the three names that Drinkwitz brought on board, on Tuesday.
The former Michigan Wolverine showed some big flashes of potential through his freshman campaign. He got into 12 games and tallied 11.0 tackles (9.0 solo), as well as one interception. That season comes, as he left high school as a consensus four-star prospect and Rivals Top-100 recruit. According to 247Sports, he was the No. 2 prospect in the entire state of Michigan.
The Michigan native is Coach Drinkwitz's fourth addition to the secondary from the portal, joining former Oregon cornerback Jahlil Florence, former Notre Dame safety JaDon Blair and former Auburn safety Kensley Louidor-Faustin.
Tuley will come to Columbia to help bolster Mizzou's special teams unit.
The former Cougar got into 11 games for Houston in 2025, totaling 111 snaps on special teams, which ranked sixth-most on the team. Through his junior season, Tuley earned a Top-3 special teams grade, according to Pro Football Focus, in his final three games of the year.
Coach Eli also added more depth at the quarterback position with the addition of Evers, following a 2025 season where MU had two major injuries in that position group.
Evers has made made a few stops in his college career, starting off at Oklahoma, before transferring to Wisconsin and then UConn. In his time with the Huskies, the former blue-chip high school prospect actually won the starting job in Storrs in 2024. However, he was eventually passed up by quarterback Joe Fagnano, who ended up winning the starting job again in 2025.
In 2025, the quarterback got into a couple of games and through for 105 yards and one touchdown.
He will bring more experience into a quarterback room that now features former Ole Miss quarterback Austin Simmons, returning backup Matt Zollers and incoming freshman Gavin Sidwar.
You can find a list of all of the Tigers' portal additions below.
- Cornerback Jahlil Florence
- Wide receiver Caleb Goodie
- Linebacker Robert Woodyard Jr.
- Quarterback Austin Simmons
- Safety JaDon Blair
- Running back Xai'Shaun Edwards
- Safety Kensley Louidor-Faustin
- Offensive lineman Luke Work
- Wide receiver Horatio Fields
- Offensive tackle Josh Atkins
- Wide receiver Naeshaun Montgomery
- Defensive end Jaden Jones
- Offensive lineman Will Kemna
- Defensive tackle Donta Simpson Jr.
- Kicker Brunno Reus
- Quarterback Nick Evers
- Defensive end Cavan Tuley
- Cornerback Elijah Dotson
