Fall camp continues: Players highlight the potential up and down Mizzou’s roster
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
After one full week of fall camp, it's clear that the Mizzou football team believes this group has the potential to achieve great things. But now, the focus is about turning all of that potential into production, once the season arrives.
The Tigers are entering this highly-anticipated 2026 season with quite a bit of intrigue surrounding them, as this unit features a revamped offense with first-year offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey, a new-look defense and a rejuvenated special teams unit under first-year coordinator John Papuchis.
There's a lot of moving parts in making all of that new-ness come together before the season opener on Thursday, Sept. 3, however, there's confidence exuding from coaches and players. In fact, tight end Brett Norfleet and receiver Cayden Lee both met with local media members after practice, on Tuesday, and spoke on what they believe is the potential of this year's offense is.
"[This] offense has been fun," Norfleet said. "It's really an explosive offense. We're able to run the ball, we're able to stretch the field with the pass, so yeah, I'm just really excited to be a part of it."
"We just have so many talented playmakers that I feel like anybody can make a play at any moment, kind of like Austin [Simmons] said the other day," Lee said. "But, just from the running game to the passing game, it just goes hand-in-hand. We can run the ball, which means we can throw the ball and then vice versa."
You can watch the full press conferences with Norfleet and Lee in the video players below.
Lee, who transferred to Mizzou from Ole Miss in the offseason, was a critical addition for head coach Eli Drinkwitz, as MU looks to take that unit to the next level in 2026.
After a 2025 campaign where he caught 44 passes for 635 yards and three touchdowns, Lee decided to hop into the transfer portal and find a new home. Luckily for Tiger fans, one of his longtime mentors - former NFL quarterback Cam Newton - played a big role in him landing on joining Coach Drinkwitz's program.
"He's just been an amazing mentor to me. Just helping me just make this decision. I was on the phone with him several, several times. He was just like, just what are all the options? What are the different plays? And kind of just helped me way out the pros and cons," Lee said. "He felt like this was a good decision for me, as well as I did."
The senior receiver said that the way Mizzou has shown that it can develop slot receivers, like Luther Burden III, under the guidance of receivers coach Jacob Peeler was a major reason he decided to come to Columbia.
"I don't know if a lot of people know this, but Coach Peeler, the receivers coach, was actually at Ole Miss and they developed a lot of the guys there from Elijah Moore to AJ [Brown] to DK [Metcalf]," Lee said. "He recruited me out of high school, as well, so I kind of had a relationship with him."
Lee is a part of a receiving corps that starting quarterback Austin Simmons said has the potential to make explosive plays, each and every play. However, it's not just the wideouts that have that playmaking ability, as Coach Drink emphasized that the tight ends need to be involved, as well.
Of course, senior tight end Brett Norfleet has already shown MU fans what he can through the air and in run-blocking, but he said that fellow senior Jordon Harris has put in a tremendous amount of work, too.
"We came in at the same time. I'm really, really proud of him. All the hard work that he's put in, he's a hell of a football player, but he's also a phenomenal human being. too. So I'm really excited for the year that he's about to have and I'm just glad that he's one of my good friends," Norfleet said. "I've been rooming with Jordon for this is will be my for fourth year now and some things that he's really taught me is just to be a better human being. I look up to him."
After Coach Eli challenged his coaching staff to utilize the tight ends more down the field, Mizzou has been playing around with some 12-personnel in fall camp, which features a pair of tight ends on the field. Norfleet said being in that 12-personnel opens up different options, as opposed to 11-personnel.
"It's good good for the run game, but then you can also get in 12 and pass the ball, too. So it opens up a whole new dynamic for our offense and I'm just really excited for the year," he said.
On the other side of the ball, the Tigers believe there is a lot of potential to make 'Death Row Defense' even better than it was last season, when it was ranked No. 8 in the nation in total defense.
Although coordinator Corey Batoon's unit has been tabbed as a 'new-look' group, it's not completely new faces. The interesting thing about Mizzou's 2026 defense is that it's a lot of guys who have been on the team, but just hadn't gotten their chance to start yet. Now, that opportunity has arrived.
It takes an exceptional amount of patience, especially in this day and age of college football, to wait your turn for your shot. That patience is something that defensive tackle Marquis Gracial has demonstrated over the years, as he enters his fifth season in Columbia.
Tiger fans have seen the St. Louis native grown exponentially over the years, going from a highly-touted four-star recruit to a guy that needed to wait his turn to mature to finally a veteran anchor on 'Death Row Defense.'
"Just more so, like the mental part, like growing up, maturing and taking things more serious and knowing like, you know, you ain't got time to be messing around," Gracial said, when asked where he's grown the most as a person in his time at Mizzou. "When I was younger, not going to lie, like there was times where I was just not really serious. So, I would just say more so, like my maturity."
You can watch the full press conference with Gracial in the video player below.
Although there are a lot of guys getting their first opportunities to make an impact, Gracial said the amount of experience in this group, specifically on the defensive line, is exciting.
"We got an experienced group, older group with me and Jalen [Marshall], the interior d-lineman. Darris [Smith] on the edge, Langden Kitchen on the other side, so we got a good group."
The special teams unit also has high expectations for the 2026 season.
Under the guidance of first-year special teams coordinator John Papuchis, kicker Blake Craig said he believes that their group may surprise some people this season.
"I mean, [Papuchis is] great. He's definitely loud and he'll tell you exactly what he needs to get done. He has high standards and that's exactly what we need in the specialist room. For me, coming back off the injury, especially like you don't want to set the bar too low for yourself. So, I'm looking at the sky," Craig said. "We kind of talked about it, and I was just like, I told him, I'm like, 'coach, I think we're going to surprise some people.' Like, I think we'll be really good this year and he has full belief in every single specialist in that room. This is the most talented room I've ever been around, and every specialist is ready to compete."
You can watch the full press conference with Craig in the video player below.
There's some new faces on that side of the ball, as well, including kicker and punter Brunno Reus, who transferred to Mizzou from Florida State in the offseason.
"Brunno is a talented athlete and he's a great friend of mine, too. I'm excited to see him get out there and punt this year and hold for me on field goals. I mean, I think you're going to be very surprised with how skilled he is and how talented he is."
The Tigers are, undoubtedly, happy to have Craig back in action, after missing the entire 2025 season with a torn ACL that he sustained in the season opener. On Tuesday, the Kansas City native said there's not limit to how far he's allowed to kick now, as he's back at full strength.
He said the last 12 months have been really difficult for him, personally, but he wouldn't trade it for anything.
"I would do it all over again if I had to because I had become a better man because of it. I'd say emotionally it was tough, like watching from the sidelines when you want to play for your university or whatnot. But, you know, you kind of grow from those situations," he said. "You support your teammates better, you get a new perspective and understanding of how much this game means to you. I think that I wouldn't trade that for the world going into the season. Like, I just think the main thing for me is I'm going to take it day by day, game by game. I just want to enjoy every moment of it because that's how important it is to me. Like, I just want to be back out in front of the fans again, you know? And I know my ability, I'm confident with that."
The Tigers hope that all the ability and potential this group has will lead to result on the field, this season.
