On her latest Making Monsters podcast, Taylor Doll is joined by Eli Hoff, who covers the Mizzou Tigers for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. They chat about several Missouri prospects who fit the Chicago Bears’ needs, including defensive end Zion Young.
The 22-year-old Young (6’6”, 262) transferred to Missouri after two years at Michigan State, and while he had a solid 2024, his impact jumped in 2025 with 16.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks.
“His first season, the 2024 season, was one where you could see
the potential in him,” Hoff said. “He was seeing the field pretty regularly, and coaches really liked what they saw in practice. You look at his build, his athleticism, all of that stuff was present at that point. It just didn’t lead to a whole lot of production. Then you saw him come out in the 2025 season, where Mizzou needed him to be an anchor on whatever side of the field he was on on a given play, and the production just skyrocketed. I think he wound up with 57 pressures in like 570 snaps. It was about a pressure every 10 snaps. So, the production was crazy there, and he’d improved as a run defender.”
Hoff also discusses Young’s ability to play both sides and his prowess in one-on-ones before getting into several other Missouri prospects, including linebacker Josiah Trotter and defensive tackle Chris McClellan.
Give Taylor’s show a listen in either of the embeds below, and let us know if you’d like the Bears to draft any Tigers.
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Here’s Taylor’s full schedule for her NFL raft series.
