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 in June 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 take a look at Auburn defensive line transfer Ian Matthews.
Ian Matthews
Position: DT
Height: 6-4
Weight: 302
Year: Redshirt freshman
Last School: Auburn
The advent of the one-time free transfer waiver has led to a new breed of transfer. In the past, most graduate transfers (those who were immediately eligible) served as one- or two-year Band-Aids. And while Missouri still targeted several such players, the coaching staff also brought in a few underclassmen who are essentially high school prospects, but who have used up their one free move.
Matthews falls into the latter camp. The defensive lineman never played a snap during his lone year at Auburn. But he impressed as a high school prospect. Matthews logged 32.5 tackles, including 18.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks, as a senior at Pacelli Catholic high in Georgia. He also forced two fumbles. Plus, if his athleticism was in doubt, Matthews also earned All Bi-City honors on the basketball court.
The Tiger staff is betting on Matthews developing into a contributor as he continues to spend more time in an SEC program. At 6-foot-4 and more than 300 pounds, he already has the size.
The question, really, is how soon he will be able to see the field. As we’ve documented multiple times in this series, Missouri’s defensive line room is crowded. Matthews is one of nine newcomers added to the defensive front since the end of last season, six of them being transfers. There’s a chance he’s able to work his way into the regular rotation at defensive tackle (Matthews was listed as a defensive end at Auburn, but his size suggests he’s more likely to play on the interior of the line), but he will have to beat out a few other players in order to do so. Even if he’s not a regular contributor this season, however, Matthews still has all four seasons of eligibility remaining, and he looks to have been brought in with an eye toward the future.
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