The Missouri football roster in 2022 will look drastically different than a season ago. Eli Drinkwitz and his staff have added a whopping 34 scholarship newcomers to the team since last season ended, thus turning over more than one-third of the roster. Nineteen of those newcomers arrived on campus earlier this month to begin summer conditioning.
As we continue to count down the days to fall camp, PowerMizzou is going to profile each of those 20 newcomers who have arrived since the end of spring practices in order to help fans get to know all the new faces on the roster. Today, we profile Jacksonville State graduate transfer defensive end DJ Coleman.
DJ Coleman
Position: DE
Height: 6-5
Weight: 245
Year: Redshirt Senior
Last School: Jacksonville State
No position group on the Missouri roster has seen more reinforcements added since last season ended than the defensive line. The Tiger staff has brought in nine newcomers to the defensive front, including six transfers — despite the fact that the unit returns three players with starting experience in Trajan Jeffcoat, Isaiah McGuire and Darius Robinson.
The overhaul of the defensive front suggests the coaching staff was in search of more depth on the defensive line. One player who looks like he could serve as a valuable depth piece is Coleman.
Coleman, who will use his COVID year to play his final season of eligibility at Missouri, twice earned FCS All-America honors during his four seasons at Jacksonville State. He emerged as a starter as a sophomore in 2019 and recorded 59 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss and five sacks. That earned him a spot on the All-American third team. The following season, he jumped to the second team by racking up 55 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and nine sacks. Last fall, his numbers dipped a bit to 5.5 tackles for loss and three sacks.
Coleman figures to have a good shot to earn a spot in the regular rotation behind Jeffcoat and McGuire. If he’s able to translate his edge-rushing success from the FCS level to the SEC, it would benefit a Missouri defense that struggled to create negative plays without sending extra blitzers a season ago.
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