Welcome back to Rock M’s series of position previews for the 2025 edition of Missouri Tigers football. We’ve wrapped up our previews on the defensive side of the ball and are moving on to the offense, which began Monday with True Deck’s look at the offensive line.
Previous Previews: LINEBACKERS | CORNERBACKS | SAFETIES | DEFENSIVE ENDS | DEFENSIVE TACKLES | OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
It’s not very often that a program needs to replace a trajectory-altering talent. But with Luther Burden off to the pros, that’s
exactly the situation Mizzou Football finds itself in entering the 2025 season. Though the St. Louis native’s numbers were slightly down last year, likely leading to a slide to the second round in the NFL Draft, his rare talent and ability to make things happen on the football field was always obvious. Burden has quickly made that special talent apparent to Chicago Bears fans, too, showing the potential to easily outplay his draft slot.
Replacing not just Burden, but two other multi-year starters in Theo Wease (who’s also making some waves of his own with the Miami Dolphins in preseason) and Mookie Cooper, makes the task far more challenging. The trio combined for over half of the team’s receptions, 1,795 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns in 2024. Those last two numbers accounted for 72.9% of Mizzou’s yardage among receivers and all but two of the touchdowns by wide receivers wearing the black and gold last year.
But this day had to come eventually, and Eli Drinkwitz has been preparing for it by hoarding blue chip wide receivers like doomsday preppers hoard canned vegetables.
There are 13 wide receivers listed on the MUTigers.com online roster. Let’s begin by listing their names, height, weight, class and hometown:
- Daniel Blood, 5-10, 191, Junior, Destrehan, LA
- Jayden Bolton, 6-3, 193, Senior, Frisco, TX
- Kevin Coleman, Jr., 5-11, 180, Senior, St. Louis, MO
- Noah Flaskamp, 6-1, 203, Junior, Collierville, TN
- DeMarion Fowlkes, 5-9, 184, Freshman, Montgomery Village, MD
- Marquis Johnson, 5-11, 185, Junior, Dickinson, TX
- Xavier Loyd, 6-2, 196, Graduate, Blue Springs, MO
- James Madison II, 6-3, 210, R-Freshman, Kansas City, MO
- Joshua Manning, 6-2, 213, Junior, Lee’s Summit, MO
- Logan Muckey, 6-0, 199, Graduate, Lee’s Summit, MO
- Donovan Olugbode, 6-2, 207, Freshman, Chicago, IL
- Cameron Pitts, 6-0, 160, Freshman, Chicago, IL
- Shaun Terry II, 5-11, 175, Freshman, Ironton, OH
The Tigers have four preferred walk-ons in the wide receiver room: Jayden Bolton, Noah Flaskamp, Cameron Pitts, and grad student Logan Muckey, who’s seen action in 41 games on special teams and snagged his first career reception last season in the Music City Bowl against Iowa.
Muckey was recently named a team captain and revealed yesterday that he battled and defeated papillary thyroid cancer this spring. The receiver is now cancer free, and stood out as an energetic presence during fall camp. I’d expect the Tigers to try everything they can to get him in one of the nonconference buy games, and don’t be surprised when the sideline erupts if he’s able to make a catch. Muckey is unlikely to show up consistently on the stat sheet outside of special teams, but it’s clear he has one of the largest overall impacts of any receiver on the team.
Outside of the PWO’s, the room consists of nine receivers: six homegrown, and the other three transfers. Only four of those nine are returning players, and that quartet combined for 46 receptions, 625 receiving yards and two touchdowns in 2024.
There’s no question this receiver room has SEC-caliber talent. But a lack of SEC experience alongside losing all three starters makes a step back from the last two seasons likely.
KEY RETURNERS
Marquis Johnson — After two seasons of making his name as a vertical threat, ‘Speedy ‘Quis’ is ready to take the next step. And following back-to-back years of double-digit receptions alongside over 350 receiving yards per season, the breakout may have already begun. Johnson recorded seven receptions for 122 yards and scored a touchdown in the Music City Bowl against Iowa with Burden out and Wease only playing one half, quickly establishing himself as one of the Tigers’ go-to options for this season. The Dickinson, Texas, native should continue to serve as the team’s top choice on go routes, but also add more short and intermediate routes to his arsenal as he takes a much bigger role in the offense.
Joshua Manning — The Missouri native and former blue chip recruit began to see playing time as a receiver last year with seven starts, 13 receptions for 192 yards and one touchdown. The role was a step up from his freshman season, when he was a special teams regular but buried down the depth chart. Manning brings versatility to the receiver room, playing over 100 snaps in the slot and over 300 out wide in 2024, alongside a solid 6-2, 213 pound frame. The Tigers will need him to take another step forward in 2025, when he’s expected to move further into a starting role. Manning certainly has the talent, and Drinkwitz will hope the Lee’s Summit grad is the next in an increasingly long line of KC-area standouts to shine in Columbia.
Daniel Blood — The Louisianan may see an increased role as a receiver, but special teams are where Blood is expected to make the biggest impact. The former three-star out of Destrehan High School has seen frequent work in the preseason as a punt returner and should be see lots of playing time on special teams this season. He also adds solid depth at slot receiver after recording eight receptions for 81 yards in 2024.
KEY NEWCOMERS
It’s essentially impossible to replace a guy like Luther Burden, but Mizzou came pretty darn close by adding Kevin Coleman, Jr., from Mississippi State in the transfer portal. The St. Louis native had a great 2024 by any measure: regular statistics (74 receptions for 932 yards and six touchdowns), the eyeball test (All-SEC Third Team) or analytics (78.9 PFF grade: higher than Burden or Wease). Coleman is the clear WR1 on this team and will not only take over Burden’s position in the slot, but also his number. Also expect him to have an impact at punt returner (sound like someone else we’ve mentioned in this paragraph?). For the Tigers offense to thrive this season, they’ll need Coleman to be at his best.
Xavier Loyd was a late, but valuable, addition to the 2025 team after committing out of the portal on Apr. 19. The 6-2, 195 pound receiver hauled in 46 receptions for 685 yards and three touchdowns last year at Illinois State, ranking fifth in the Missouri Valley Football Conference – one of the best in the FCS. Loyd also has D-I experience, spending his first three collegiate seasons in the Little Apple at with K-State. He saw very limited action with the Wildcats, with nearly all of his collegiate production (outside of one reception for 16 yards) coming last season. The Blue Springs native saw over 80% of his snaps last year out wide, and that’s likely where he’ll be used most in Columbia.
Donovan Olugbode was one of the crown jewels of Eli Drinkwitz’s 2025 high school recruiting class as a top-75 recruit in the country out of national powerhouse IMG Academy. The highly touted four-star chose the Tigers over blue bloods including Florida, USC and Oregon, among others, and has been hailed by our very own Josh Matejka as the team’s most college-ready receiver commit since Luther Burden stepped on campus. Olugbode was an Under Armour All-American and the wide receiver MVP at Rivals Camp in high school, and he’s quickly impressed on the field in Columbia. If the Chicagoland area native sees a healthy share of snaps and provides some solid production, that’s going to be a very good sign for this offense.
YOUNGSTERS
Let’s start by talking about The Prez, James Madison II. The consensus four-star recruit out of Florida powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas redshirted his first season at Mizzou, seeing very limited action on special teams. Madison’s 6-3, 210 frame makes him an ideal candidate to play out wide and serve as an eventual successor to Theo Wease as a go-to receiver on 50/50 balls and throws near the boundary, but he seems likelier to see a moderate increase in playing time this season.
Shaun Terry II isn’t going to wow anyone with his measurables or star rating out of high school, but he could end up being a major name in Mizzou’s receiver room just a year or two from now. The three-star out of Ironton High School in Ohio, where he won a state title, has blazing speed and elusivity to pair with it. He’s not likely to see the field much in 2025, needing at least a year to prepare his 5-11, 175 pound frame for the grind of the SEC. But Terry was a Notre Dame commit before flipping to the Tigers and was also seriously pursued by Michigan, two national name brands in close proximity to him, indicating far more talent and potential than a cursory glance might reveal. Bookmark Terry’s name for the future, because he could become a very exciting player to watch just a few seasons from now.
DeMarion Fowlkes has also flown slightly under the radar as a valuable piece of the team’s 2025 recruiting class. That’s not because he lacks flashy accolades, but due to the timing of his commitment: Dec. 2, just two days before National Signing Day last year. Fowlkes was a four-star and top-300 recruit nationally, which got him offers from Boston College and Indiana alongside Pitt, the school he was committed to until Drinkwitz gave Tigers fans an early Christmas present. The Maryland native (our own Quentin Corpuel would want us to mention that) is a bit undersized like Terry at 5-9, 184 pounds, making him unlikely to see significant playing time this season as he gets his first work in an SEC weight room. But he brings more blue chip talent to the receiver room and should be an intriguing puzzle piece for Drinkwitz in the future.
WHO’S GONNA PLAY?
Kevin Coleman will run the show at slot and serve as the top option at receiver, doing his best to replace Burden as the receiving corps’ alpha. He should also step into the fellow St. Louisan’s shoes nicely as a punt returner, serving as a threat to opposing defenses on multiple fronts. The Tigers also have a clear second option in Marquis Johnson, who should stretch the field alongside Coleman and see a major jump in production from 2024.
The picture becomes slightly murkier outside of the top two, though Joshua Manning has the early lead on the third receiver spot after serving as a starter for part of last season. He’ll have to fend off Xavier Loyd, who should see most of his snaps out wide and therefore directly compete with him. The real wild card in the battle, though, is true freshman Donovan Olugbode. The blue chipper is unlikely to start over Manning early in the season, but has the potential to push him as he gets more comfortable playing at the collegiate and SEC level.
