Beau Pribula announced he would be entering the transfer portal… again. After just one season with the Tigers.
The coverage links are downstream a bit but I wanted to spring my own takes to lead things off.
I’m not surprised Pribula is opting to enter the transfer portal after just the one year with Mizzou. If we’re
being forthright about Beau’s time under center, it was a bit of mixed results. He wasn’t as bad as some make him out to be, he wasn’t great either. He was solid, but even a downgrade from what Mizzou had in Brady Cook in most ways. Not as good of a runner, and a more inconsistent arm. But he was solid, then he got hurt, and then he was less solid.
But for what Missouri needed this year he was enough.
They needed a bridge from Cook to the next fixture, which is Matt Zollers.
Zollers has been next up for a while. Drinkwitz has touted him unlike any other quarterback addition because Zollers has a more natural talent than any one else yet to put on a Mizzou uniform under Drink. With one Bowl game to go, Zollers is also all they’ve really got. So he’ll take the field without two the Tigers top wide receivers, and their top tight end, and we’ll make grand judgements about what type of Quarterback he’s going to be.
But if you were around 10 years ago there was another freshman quarterback thrown to the wolves, he looked pretty terrible. Drew Lock threw 4 touchdowns and 8 interceptions in 12 games of action. He had stretches of good play, but some longer bad stretches also. Zollers hasn’t had the exposure Lock had as a freshman, but he’s had some impressive moments. He’s also looked bad for long stretches.
There’s going to be a lot of tempting names to hit the transfer portal. Guys will need big money to come to Columbia to take snaps under center, and that goes before you’ve even had a chance to land an offensive coordinator.
The temptation across football is to get the instant fix. A guy who was good somewhere else to be good for you. And Zollers hasn’t been good yet. But he’ll be cheaper than any portal addition, and the upside is likely higher than any portal addition. If you’re able to hit with Zollers, you can spend more money on other positions of need and bet on a guy you’ve already invested time, energy, and development in to be the guy. I still think you want to add a backup. Maybe go out there and find a guy like Trinidad Chambliss. An underrated lower level QB who can be your back up and step in if required.
Anyway, I say just stick with Zollers and develop him over the next 9 months into the guy you want.
Yesterday at Rock M and Rock M+
We’ll open with the Tiger Talk notes, Rory had the entire breakdown of the Radio window with Coach Gates:
It’s a big game for us and we’re excited about it. There’s no doubt about it in our minds. We do remember last season. It was a tough game. It started off a little rocky. Well, it started off well. It got a little rocky and then I think I picked up a technical foul and we ignited the crowd and we were able to get a lead and you know we weren’t able to close a game and I thought our guys played very very well. Well, we were able to get through the whistle, get through the environment, and settle in our nerves, and we almost tied it up with a three-point attempt by Jacob Crews on the right wing that hit the back of the iron, and I thought it was going in.
Braggin’ Rights was the primary focus of the talk, but it was good to hear Gates talk about Jacob Crews, and hear from Coach Nutt as well. He’s always a fun time when Coach Nutt steps up.
- Football stuff kicked off with Nathan who supplied grades on the regular season for the defensive side of the ball:
Mizzou’s defensive tackle group anchored the interior of the Tigers’ defense with strength and consistent production. Senior Chris McClellan was the centerpiece of the unit and one of the most effective interior defenders in the SEC. McClellan finished the 2025 season with 42 total tackles, seven tackles for loss, and excellent five sacks; production that consistently disrupted opposing run games and collapsed pockets from the middle.
I think the D-tackles were the more overlooked and underrated part of the defense, but McClellan was great nearly all season long. I think he’s got a chance to be a good NFL lineman. But then, what do I know?
The rest of the daily coverage was about Beau, and the impact of the transfer. True started with the news:
While it remains unknown truly whether Drinkwitz will be shopping quarterback in the future, that leaves Matt Zollers, Sam Horn, Brett Brown and 2026 commit Gavin Sidwar as the four quarterbacks in Missouri’s QB room.
Just maybe avoid the comment section on that one, lol. And then Josh’s five QBs to look at who have already said they’ll be available in the portal:
Occam’s Razor says that this suggests Matt Zollers is the incoming starter for Mizzou. After all, he looked decent in his few appearances in 2025, and should take a big leap in his sophomore season. He’s one of the highest-rated Mizzou QB recruits this century, and fits the mold of a Drinkwitz QB — athletic enough to hurt teams in the run game, but has the arm for the vertical passing game Drinkwitz is always publicly wishing for. There’s also the curious case of Sam Horn who still has a year of eligibility to his name and could choose to use it despite signing a professional baseball contract this past spring.
I think this is the correct view in that Zollers is likely the guy going forward, even past the Bowl game. Hopefully he’s earned it, and hopefully he takes the next step.
Rock M Radio: Talking about transition
Dive Cuts also went Live last night to talk Tigers Hoops.
Subscribe to Rock M Radio on Apple Podcasts. Or stream episodes through Megaphone or Spotify. Have a question for us? Leave a 5-star review with your question and that show just might answer it in an upcoming episode!
If you like Rock M Radio drop us a Review and be sure to subscribe on your preferred podcasting platform. Follow @RockMRadio on Twitter and if you haven’t already head over to our YouTube channel and click that subscribe button!
(** RockMNation has affiliate partnerships. These do not influence editorial content, though RockMNation may earn commissions for products purchased via affiliate links.**)
