Mizzou OL Jaylen Early intends to enter transfer portal

Missouri will lose even more offensive line depth.

Redshirt junior Jaylen Early disclosed his intentions to enter the transfer portal with one year of eligibility remaining. The Florida State transfer spent one season with the Tigers after joining the program in the spring window.

Early appeared in three games, recording his last snaps against Massachusetts in Week 5, the final non-conference game of the season. The Duncanville (Texas) product recorded all 52 of his offensive snaps at left guard.

This past spring, coach Eli Drinkwitz noted Early brought experienced versatility to the Tigers. Early never broke through in the rotation, though, while battle for the left tackle job broke out between Jayven Richardson and Johnny Jones IV.

“We can add a guy who’s got a lot of career starts at both guard, tackle,” Drinkwitz said April 29. “We’re still in the search of our best five. So we’re going to throw him in that mix and see who shakes out the best five.”

Junior Cayden Green ended up taking over the position. Richardson started two games in response to Green suffering a right foot injury early into the 2025 season. Both Richardson and Jones now intend to transfer, On3 reported Wednesday.

Early has been removed from the Missouri roster on the official team website. He marked the fifth expected transfer from the offensive line, joining Richardson, Jones, Henry Fenuku and Brandon Solis.