The Tigers clinched bowl eligibility two weeks ago with a 29-27 win over Arkansas in the regular season finale, but the team Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz fielded two weeks ago and the team he will field on Dec. 23 against Wake Forest in the Gasparilla Bowl will be different.

A number of players have transferred, a couple of them have declared for the NFL Draft and some are battling injuries.

Starting with the transfers, wide receiver Dominic Lovett was one of 11 Tigers, nine of which were scholarship players, to have entered the transfer portal which opened on Dec. 5. He was joined by Travion Ford, LJ Hewitt, DJ Jackson, Zachary Lovett, Tyler Macon, Devin Nicholson, Davion Sistrunk, Jason Skivers, Jalani Williams and Isaac Zatechka.

Undoubtedly, Lovett's departure is the most significant since he was the only Missouri starter of the bunch to leave. He had a good season that saw him become the program's first 800-yard receiver since Emanuel Hall in 2018, and he finished fourth in the Southeastern Conference in receiving yards at 846 to go along with 56 receptions and three touchdowns.

Williams served as a reserve safety and recorded 11 tackles and an interception in limited action in 12 games (one start).

Nicholson started games for the Tigers at linebacker in the earlier portion of the 2021 campaign but has since been in a reserve role. He recorded 11 tackles and two pass deflections in 12 appearances this season.

Starting safety Martez Manuel has declared for the NFL Draft and said that he will not be playing in the bowl game. Manuel is one of four defensive captains on this team and started in all 12 games he played in and recorded 49 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, four sacks, one fumble and a pass deflection. Daylan Carnell who leads the team in interceptions with three (one returned for a touchdown) and fumble recoveries with two will be starting in place of Manuel. Carnell had 26 tackles, two tackles for loss and four pass deflections to go with the takeaways.

Drinkwitz said that everyone except Manuel, right guard EJ Ndoma-Ogar and defensive end Isaiah McGuire participated in the team's first bowl practice on Dec. 4.

Ndoma-Ogar had played well in his two starts at South Carolina in week nine and versus Kentucky in week 10 before suffering a lower leg injury in the second quarter of the latter game. Drinkwitz said after that game Ndoma-Ogar's status for the season was up in the air depending on if the team was bowl eligible. It has since been revealed that Ndoma-Ogar has had surgery and is out for the season. In his absence, Connor Wood has moved back to right guard which is the position Wood started at in the first three games of the season.

McGuire, who was also a defensive team captain this season and was Missouri’s Defensive Most Valuable Player a season ago, has also declared for the NFL Draft.

“Biggest concern for me right now is probably our guys who aren’t going to play because of their potential future in the NFL,” Drinkwitz said. “As of right now, Manuel and McGuire are the only ones that have addressed that situation. We’ll figure out the rest as we move forward, but everybody else practiced (on Dec. 4.).”

McGuire recorded 40 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks and a pair of fumbles this season and recorded five tackles, two sacks and two tackles for loss in week 13 with a separated shoulder.

Trajan Jeffcoat will likely replace McGuire in the lineup 一 that is if Jeffcoat himself doesn’t opt out of the bowl game and declare for the draft too. Jeffcoat had a strong 2020 season that saw him rack up 23 tackles, six sacks, six tackles for loss and a forced fumble in eight games. Since then, his numbers have declined in each of the last two seasons, with him recording 21 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack this season. Not to mention, he was replaced in the starting lineup by DJ Coleman for the last three games of the season.

If neither McGuire nor Jeffcoat plays, Josh Landry and Tyrone Hopper will probably fill the role. Landry recorded nine tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery this season while Hopper recorded five tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss. Hopper, like McGuire, suffered a shoulder injury in week 12 versus New Mexico State except he didn't play in week 13.

Starting safety Joseph Charleston, who has proven to be one of the Tigers' better defensive transfers, missed week 13 versus Arkansas due to an undisclosed injury.

Drinkwitz said that Charleston is trending toward playing. He also said that the safety group is probably the most depleted group on the team going into the game.

"I think the safety position is going to be (a concern)," Drinkwitz said. "The other thing that you got to battle is the four-game redshirt rule and (linebacker) DJ Wesolak and (defensive back) Ja'Marion Wayne have played four games, so they're unavailable for the bowl game. That's going to give guys like Isaac Thompson, Tyler Hibbler and Tyler Jones more opportunities at the safety position in this game."

Charleston has recorded 52 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, two pass deflections, one sack and an interception returned for a touchdown this season.

Wide receiver Barrett Banister had the best two games of his career in weeks 11 and 12, but he also missed week 13 due to an undisclosed injury. Drinkwitz said that Banister is not fully healthy as of this moment, but he believes he will be healthy enough to play in what would be his final collegiate game.

Banister was the team’s third-leading receiver this season with 36 receptions for 403 yards and will likely be replaced by Mekhi Miller if he can't play. Miller has experience filling into Banister's role having filled in nicely in the two games Banister has missed this season. He's caught six of his seven targets for 108 yards with no drops in 163 snaps across 10 games.

Mookie Cooper recorded 18 receptions for 225 yards and will likely help fill the role left by Lovett.

Cornerback Kris Abrams-Draine started in 11 games and recorded 40 tackles and an SEC-leading 13 pass deflections. He made the move from playing in the slot a season ago, to playing on the outside and was one of the better defensive backs in the league. If he misses the game, Texas A&M transfer Dreyden Norwood would likely be the one to replace him. Norwood has recorded 13 tackles, one tackle for loss, three pass deflections, an interception and a fumble recovery.

At 6-3, 205 pounds, safety Jaylon Carlies has prototypical NFL safety size and has the talent to back it up. He led the team in tackles with 72 to go along with four tackles for loss, four pass deflections, two interceptions and a sack.

Defensive tackle Darius Robinson had the best season of his career despite losing his starting gig for a couple of games in the middle of the season. He racked up 31 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. It’s likely that if he was to opt out of the game that Jayden Jernigan or Realus George Jr. will start at defensive tackle alongside Kristian Williams.

Overall, it looks like the Tigers will retain a lot of key starters and contributors for the bowl game, but it will be interesting to see how the depleted safety position group will fare and how the team will fare in general with the loss of Lovett, Manuel and McGuire.

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