Here’s how many former Mizzou Tigers football players made active NFL rosters
The NFL opens its season in two days with the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans kicking off at Arrowhead Stadium. And once the rest of the league follows suit, there will be plenty of Mizzou representation as numerous Tigers dot the rosters of the NFL’s 32 teams.
Thirteen former Mizzou players made the cut for initial 53-man rosters, with others on practice squads. Alabama led the SEC with 57 players on active rosters, while the league has more than 350 former players in the NFL.
The Tigers are well-represented at quarterback, where three former players are at varying stages of their careers. Lee’s Summit grad Drew Lock enters his second season with the Denver Broncos as their starting quarterback, hoping to build off his successful 2019 season. Lock reunites with former MU tight end Albert Okwuegbunam, who was a fourth round pick by the Broncos.
Fan favorite Chase Daniel is going into his 12th season in the NFL, his first as a quarterback in Detroit after signing a three-year contract with the Lions this offseason. Former first round pick Blaine Gabbert, also a QB, will back up legend Tom Brady with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Plenty of former Mizzou defensive linemen are making noise at the next level. The Cleveland Browns feature two Mizzou players in the trenches: Jordan Elliott and Sheldon Richardson. Elliott was a third-round pick in the draft this year.
Former top pick and Lincoln Prep grad Charles Harris is with the Atlanta Falcons after being traded by the Miami Dolphins.
But perhaps the most noteworthy of the D-Line Zou bunch is Raytown High product Aldon Smith, who’s hoping to build a comeback season with the Dallas Cowboys after years of off-the-field issues.
There are multiple MU offensive linemen in the league, too, including the Buffalo Bills’ Mitch Morse (a former Chief), the New York Jets O-lineman Connor McGovern and Yasir Durant, the undrafted free agent who made it onto the Chiefs’ 53-man roster.
Linebacker Markus Golden is back with the New York Giants, re-signed after posting a 10-sack season in 2019. Rounding out the list of former Mizzou players now on active, 53-man NFL rosters is long-snapper Beau Brinkley, who’s with the Tennessee Titans.
Mizzou also has six players who made practice squads around the league, which were expanded to 16 spots this fall because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That list includes center Trystan Colon-Castillo (Ravens); center Evan Boehm (Bills); running back Damarea Crockett (Packers); guard Tre’Vour Wallace-Sims (Jaguars); tight end Kendall Blanton (Rams); and linebacker Terez Hall (Patriots).
Some other former MU players are still in the league but won’t play in 2020. Cornerback EJ Gaines opted out of the season with the Bills because of the pandemic. And Washington wide receiver Emanuel Hall is on the team’s reserve/non-football injury list after tearing his Achilles’ tendon over the summer.