The talent the Missouri Tigers have in the edge rusher room has been talked about a lot.
But returning leader Zion Young had a special word for a lot of members of the group.
“Freaks.”
After joining the Tigers out of the the transfer portal going into the 2024 season, Young became the second half of the one-two punch in the edge rusher group alongside Johnny Walker Jr.
But Walker is gone and a lot of new faces joined Young in the room for the 2025 season.
Damon Wilson?
“He’s a freak,” Young said. “He’s a freak of an athlete.”
Nate Johnson?
“Same type of guy, man, he’s a big freak,” Young said.
Langden Kitchen?
“Big, strong, Iron Man, Hulk type of guy,” Young said.
Javion Hilson?
“Oh my God,” Young said. “... I know I’ve used this word a lot, he’s a freak athlete, too. Coach Brian Early, he looks for those type of guys, length guys, just kind of twitchy and freaky off the ball.”
Add on the return of Darris Smith, who joined the Tigers going into last season but missed the year because of an injury in camp, and Missouri is packed with strong pass rushers.
And with all those freaks in the room, Young said he’s been working hard just to keep up.
“They’re working hard, we’re working hard, they’re pushing me,” Young said. “Just working hard, they’re pushing me. If I see them doing something, I want to do it as well. I want to keep my role on the depth chart.”
Last season, that role led Young to 42 total tackles with 5.5 for loss, 2.5 sacks, three passes batted, one forced fumble and one incredibly-memorable fumble recovery for a touchdown that put the Tigers in front in the end against Oklahoma.
“I think I did pretty good last season,” Young said. “But I felt like my eyes, my hand placement, there were a lot of things I had to work on. … Coach (Eliah Drinkwitz) emphasized the day before spring started that it was like a player-development spring ball. So we (were) working on ourselves. Those were just the main things.”
And as he enters his second season with the Tigers, Young said he’s learned a lot in his time with the team. Especially from Walker, who is now with the Denver Broncos, as Young attempts to become the leader in the edge rusher room like Walker was last year.
“I took everything from Johnny man,” Young said. “I took the way he walked in the building, all his on-the-field actions, his off-the-field actions, just the way he eats his food. I watched Johnny. I love Johnny. I’m Johnny’s little bro.”
Now he enters a season surrounded by guys he describes as freaks, excited about the opportunity to play alongside so many talented athletes.
He said Drinkwitz is pretty excited about the room, too.
“He’s just more excited about the length that we’ve got,” Young said. “We’ve got a lot of big players in the room, 6-(foot)-5, 6-6 guys. We had a couple last year, had about two or three last year. He wanted to multiply that times two. So it’s been pretty good.”
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