Eli Drinkwitz holds DaMarion Fowlkes accountable, praises intensity of Mizzou freshman

COLUMBIA, Mo. — In high school, DaMarion Fowlkes possessed “SEC speed.”

But it took the conference time to actually come around to it.

Fowlkes, a four-star in the 2025 class, flipped from Pittsburgh to Missouri a few days before the Early Signing Period in December. The Olney (Md.) Our Lady Good Counsel wide receiver officially visited the Tigers for the season finale against Arkansas, jumping late into the recruiting class as a speedy slot option.

Fowlkes has emerged on the depth chart early on for Missouri. He’s found snaps late into blowout games while also contributing on special teams. And in a 42-6 victory over Massachusetts on Saturday, Fowlkes totaled 74 yards as a kickoff and punt returner, logging a career-best 44 yards on his lone kickoff run.

Yet even with that total, Fowlkes bobbled both of his punt returns.

“Well, he showed me that two balls ended up on the ground today,” Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “So let’s not crown anybody when they put two balls on the ground. First, that’s gonna be the most important thing is catching the ball. But I love the way he attacks practice. He’s fearless, and I like the speed that he plays with. He plays really fast, but you can’t do the ‘ole okey-doke’ and drop the ball, pick it up and think that’s real football.”

After his first punt-return bobble, Fowlkes bursted for 34 yards. His second muffed punt resulted in a loss of four yards.

“He’s an aggressive guy,” said veteran wide receiver and punt returner Kevin Coleman Jr. “He had some good returns today. I told him, with that left-footed punter, it was gonna be a different type of ball that’s harder to catch. So just lock in, eyes to the tuck, be calm, but he did good out there. I just told him, ‘Just do you.’ He practices hard, so I knew he was gonna have some good returns.”

Through five games of his freshman season, Fowlkes burned his redshirt Saturday. While primarily seeing snaps on special teams, the 5-foot-9, 184-pounder has returned three kickoffs for 78 total yards and three punts for 29 total yards.

“He is as good of a punt returner as I’ve ever seen,” Our Lady Good Counsel coach Andy Stefanelli said in December. “And Stefon Diggs went to our school.”