Huntsville, Missouri’s own primed for breakout season on Mizzou defense
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Being a part of the Mizzou football team has always been a dream for defensive end Langden Kitchen, as he grew up just 50 minutes away from Columbia in Huntsville, Missouri.
That dream became a reality in 2025, when he transferred in from Division II Northwest Missouri State and became a reliable rotational piece on head coach Eli Drinkwitz's team. In his first year as a Tiger, Kitchen ended up with 14.0 total tackles, 7.0 solo stops, 1.0 tackle for loss and 0.5 sack, working in a position group with stars like Zion Young and Damon Wilson.
However, heading into his second season in the Southeastern Conference, the consensus among coaches seems to be that Kitchen is primed for a big season.
"It's been a crazy journey, but it's been awesome," Kitchen said. "I'd say my confidence definitely rose a lot. I feel like, at first, I was like kind of hesitant about going to make some plays, but now Coach [Brian] Early is like, 'hey, don't be a robot, go make plays, be a ball player.' I feel like right now I'm at the top of my level game where I've ever been."
You can watch the full press conference with Kitchen in the video player below.
Over the course of the offseason, the Westran alum has been a player that Coach Drinkwitz has consistently said he's been impressed with, taking massive steps from his first season in the black and gold. And now, he has plenty of opportunity to breakout, this year, as the Tigers lost some key players in that room in the offseason.
Of course, Mizzou fans got used to seeing defensive ends Zion Young and Damon Wilson wreak havoc on opposing offenses in 2025, but now it's a changing of the guard. That comes after Young was drafted in the second round by the Baltimore Ravens and Wilson opted to transfer to Miami. They were just about the most disruptive pass-rush duo in the nation last year, combined for 97 quarterback pressures, 15.5 sacks and 26.0 tackles for loss.
But now, it's time for guys like returning defensive end Darris Smith and Kitchen to fill those roles.
"[I learned] from Zion, just be the same person every single day and just be the most physical player out there," Kitchen said. "Like, no one in the nation should be able to block you. You got to act like you're the best player out there every single day."
Joining the SEC from a Division II program was definitely not an easy transition, but it's one that Kitchen tackled head-on.
"I feel like the biggest adjustments I've had to make is just the pace of the game, speed of the game and just how athletic the tackles are," he said. "Going against Cayden Green every day just makes me a better player."
His connection with guys like Smith have helped his growth this offseason, though, as the two defensive ends have spent quite a bit of time together.
"Darris and I, we were weight room partners and then we're running together every morning, so we are just making each other better every single day. You can definitely tell he's gotten a lot stronger on the field and off the field to," Kitchen said. "[We] just talk about life and then sometimes just checking in on each other, making sure that everyone is good. It's not just football here, we're a brotherhood and got to make sure everyone's good personal life too."
Kitchen and company hope that the bond that 'Death Row Defense' has grown over the course of the offseason, and in fall camp, can result in them creating more havoc on the field, this season.
