Welcome to the Morning Commute
Today we’re talking about two young former Tigers who are making their way into the NFL.
While the Tigers had a healthy number of players drafted a few weeks ago, Zion Young and Josiah Trotter made some noise going back-to-back in the second round to the Ravens and Buccaneers respectively. And while it’s not exactly a surprise to hear that teams are excited about high round picks, both Young and Trotter seem to be settling in well, impressing and giving hope to their new teams.
From the Buccaneers
camp:
“I also think that he can play in coverage. I think that’s a little bit of a misnomer. I don’t know if it’s the narrative the media is putting out, but he’s actually pretty good at it,” [Tampa Bay Vice President of Player Personnel Mike] Biehl said. “That being said, he’s an old school, downhill MIKE [linebacker] that can play the run which is hard to find nowadays. With the college game the way it has went, it’s all lateral and everybody is looking for the speed stuff. To us, he has enough speed to play in our league. Now, if you said he’s a better run defender than a pass defender, I would say yeah, that’s probably fair, but we think he has the capability to be a three-down linebacker.”
And from Baltimore’s GM on if the team will pursue veterans on the defensive line:
We feel really good about Zion, and we feel really good about Mike Green, not to mention Trey. It’s gonna be hard to get him off the field. So it becomes a matter of reps.”
This comes a week after Young was praised by teammates for his earliest days in purple and black.
Football season is still a few months away, but it’s looking likely Young and Trotter will see plenty of the field this fall/winter.
Yesterday at Rock M and Rock M+
We haven’t updated much outside of some other players committing, Missouri was connected to James White, a former Ole Miss and UAB player who played at New Orleans. We do expect Mizzou to take at least one more guard at this point.
If you don’t have the transfer tracker bookmarked at this point, what are you doing?
Q: What did you see on that final play of Friday’s portion of the game?
KJ: “Not much, it was foggy. When you look at it, I think people can argue and say whether or not based off Trackman it was a home run or if it wasn’t a home run. I find it difficult to believe that at the launch angle, and where he hit it in the park with heavy air that the ball actually got out.”
As an Arsenal fan, I’m used to controversy at the end of games. Apologies for the British soccer reference.
Under Lacey [Rubin]’s leadership, Mizzou beam has reached new heights. The beam team twice broke the program record, earning 49.575 scores on two occasions in 2025 — at Arkansas and in NCAA Semis — and twice finished the season ranked no. 11, which was the team’s highest ranking since 2021. They finished no. 22 in her first season.
If there’s a program currently at Mizzou that can withstand a loss like this, it’s Gymnastics. So let’s hope it happens!
[Lauren Larkin] spent her first two years with the Aggies, leading the team with 100 blocks in 2024. She was a weapon in the offensive rhythm as well, averaging 1.27 kills per set while hitting .408. Larkin’s biggest moment came in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Tennessee, racking up eight kills, two blocks and three digs.
The transfer portal isn’t just for basketball and football, and Volleyball is making good use of it.
- Over at Rock M+, Matt Harris is comparing some potential Mizzou commitments and we’re (still) talking through Mizzou Hoops’ NIL budget and if they’re making the best use of it.
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