Mizzou football's Green, Le Blanc named to preseason watchlists

Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz has a lot of trust in Green, evidenced by choosing him as one of three players to make the trip to Tampa, Florida, for Southeastern Conference Media Days. There, Green spoke about how the Mizzou strength-and-conditioning staff has made workouts more, "vet friendly."

"They've altered our workouts a little bit because our O-line's pretty old," Green joked. "But we're (still) getting after it. We have gotten a lot stronger."

Green's strength has been evident his whole career, but his adaptability is a key trait. In 2024, he started every game at left guard, but he shifted to left tackle two weeks before the 2025 season. Green proved he could hold down the new position.

Le Blanc has been with the Tigers since 2023. In his first year with the program, he received Freshman All-America honors from the College Football Network. He has played a big role in all three of his seasons as Mizzou's starter.

Mizzou lands at No. 25 in coaches' poll

Missouri slotted in at No. 25 in the preseason AFCA Coaches Poll. The Tigers received 158 voting points, just edging out Louisville (153).

Ohio State starts at No. 1, while Oregon ranks No. 2 and Georgia No. 3. Texas and Notre Dame round out the top five. Outside of Mizzou, Georgia and Texas, six other teams in the top 25 are in the SEC: No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 9 Oklahoma, No. 10 Ole Miss, No. 11 Alabama, No. 13 LSU and No. 18 Tennessee.

Mizzou's highest finish in the poll under Drinkwitz came in 2023, when it finished at No. 8.

Observations from Day 2 of fall camp

Drills in the media's brief viewing period on Tuesday gave some more insight into a depth chart and potential lineups.

The first group to run out, starting on the defensive line, consisted of fifth-year player Darris Smith and senior Langden Kitchen on the outside and fifth years Jalen Marshall and Marquis Gracial on the inside. This was the same front four as on Monday.

MU’s second group of defensive linemen looked a little different Tuesday. Fifth year Jaden Jones and sophomore Daeden Hopkins were still coming off the edge, but Sterling Webb had moved up from the third to second team. He joined sophomore Jason Dowell in the interior.

The only other changes to the first unit came in the secondary. Fifth-year cornerback Chris Graves Jr. was not on any of the units Tuesday and was replaced by fifth-year Oregon transfer Sione Laulea. Laulea was joined by senior Nick DeLoach Jr.

The STAR in the first group was junior Auburn transfer Kensley Louidor-Faustin, replacing Michigan sophomore Elijah Dotson. Junior Trajen Greco and senior Santana Banner rounded out the first unit for the second day.

Dotson was in the second group, joining freshman safety Jayden McGregory, Oregon fifth-year cornerback Jahlil Florence and junior Cameron Keys as the rest of the secondary players.

Freshman linebacker JJ Bush, who had two felony traffic charges dropped in May and was indefinitely suspended by the team, was rolling with the third unit. He was joined by junior Brian Huff.

Notre Dame transfer and sophomore safety JaDon Blair also rolled in the third unit. Freshman cornerback Jaxson Gates and sophomore linebacker Jason King were other notable names in the third group.

Missouri’s fall camp practices go through the end of August, with its first game of the season coming against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sept. 3.