The 2026 NFL Draft, held from Thursday to Saturday in Pittsburgh, will likely include a handful of former Mizzou football players hearing their names called.
There are many draft-eligible players from Mizzou, but only some of them are expected to be selected. The Missourian will only have projections for the following players: edge rusher Zion Young, linebacker Josiah Trotter, defensive tackle Chris McClellan, wide receiver Kevin Coleman Jr., offensive tackle Keagen Trost, cornerback Toriano Pride Jr. and linebacker Khalil Jacobs.
This story will frequently mention Top 30 visits. A Top 30 visit is an official pre-draft meeting between NFL teams and prospects at a team’s facility that usually involves interviews, medical checks and film study. Teams can invite up to 30 draft-eligible prospects.
Predicting where these players will wind up is an extremely tough task. But we’ll give it our best shot.
Zion Young: Kansas City Chiefs
Young, who took 11 top 30 Visits, didn’t visit Kansas City. However, the Chiefs need to bolster their defensive line, which struggled to get consistent production last season outside of long-tenured defensive tackle Chris Jones and 2022 first-round pick George Karlaftis off the edge.
The Chiefs may not use the No. 9 overall pick on an edge rusher, as they also have roster needs at cornerback, wide receiver and right tackle.
Plus, there are plenty of prospects worthy of the No. 9 pick who could immediately fill a need outside of edge rusher, including LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane, Miami offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa and a handful of wide receivers, namely Ohio State’s Carnell Tate, Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson and USC’s Makai Lemon.
The Chiefs also hold the No. 29 overall pick, which they netted from trading star cornerback Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams, and the No. 40 overall pick. Young has widely been projected to be taken in either the late first round or early-to-mid second round.
Josiah Trotter: Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals could use a lot of help on defense. They allowed 5.2 yards per rush attempt last season, the second-most in the NFL. They also gave up 6.2 yards per play, which ranked dead last. The defense, which has often nullified the efforts of an elite offense, wasn’t just an issue in 2025: improbably, Cincinnati is 5-8 over the past two seasons when scoring at least 34 points.
The Bengals added reinforcements with a handful of free agent signings, but no addition has been bigger than former New York Giants All-Pro nose tackle Dexter Lawrence, whom Cincinnati traded for on Saturday in exchange for the No. 10 overall pick in this year’s draft.
Still, the Bengals could target a linebacker with their second or third-round pick.
Trotter, an excellent run defender who led Mizzou in tackles this past season, took a Top 30 visit with Cincinnati. He also had visits with the Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants.
Speaking of Big Blue …
Chris McClellan: New York Giants
McClellan and Trotter both visited the Giants on Wednesday, and the former could provide immediate help to a team that just lost their top interior defensive lineman.
Recent reports indicated that the Giants and Lawrence were unable to agree on a contract extension. A cornerstone of New York’s defense since his rookie season in 2019, Lawrence requested a trade earlier this month, and that was granted on Saturday.
Even with Lawrence, the Giants’ defensive line depth chart behind was uninspiring. Plus, the Giants need to improve their run defense, which has been an issue for several seasons. The Giants haven’t allowed fewer than 4.5 yards per rushing attempt in a season since 2020. Last season, they gave up a league-worst 5.3 yards per attempt.
The Giants likely won’t take an interior defensive lineman with either of their first-round picks, as none are expected to be taken within the first 20 picks of the draft. McClellan is widely projected to be a mid-round pick.
Kevin Coleman Jr.: New York Jets
The Jets have a lot of roster holes, but wide receiver is an especially major one. In 2025, the Jets became the first team in NFL history to play 16 or more games in a season without a player reaching 400 receiving yards.
Part of that had to do with star wideout Garrett Wilson only playing seven games due to a nagging knee injury he suffered in early October — he finished with 395 receiving yards and four touchdowns. But the depth chart behind Wilson could use some reinforcements. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Jets, who have nine draft picks (including four in the top 50), used at least two on wide receivers.
Should he be selected by the Jets, Coleman Jr. would join a pair of former Tigers in quarterback Brady Cook and offensive tackle Armand Membou.
Keagen Trost: Denver Broncos
Predicting a landing spot for any projected Day 3 pick is almost impossible, including with Trost.
That being said, Trost only took one Top 30 visit, and that was with Denver. Before last year, the Broncos had used a Day 3 pick on an offensive lineman in three consecutive drafts.
Toriano Pride Jr.: Buffalo Bills
Pride Jr. literally ran into the national spotlight at the NFL Scouting Combine, as his 4.32-second 40-yard dash was the fastest among all cornerbacks at the event.
The Bills could look to add depth at cornerback behind Christian Benford, Dee Alford and Maxwell Hairston, Buffalo’s 2025 first-round pick. The Bills have also spent at least one Day 3 pick on a defensive back in every draft since 2019.
Khalil Jacobs: Indianapolis Colts
While Jacobs isn’t expected to be a high pick in the draft, the two-year Tiger has still received a good bit of interest from NFL teams during the pre-draft process, as Jacobs has taken top 30 visits with the Colts, Jets and New England Patriots.
Under general manager Chris Ballard, who’s held the position since Jan. 2017, Indianapolis has a hugely successful history of turning mid-to-late round linebackers into at least playable starters. That includes former Tiger Jaylon Carlies, a fifth-round pick in 2024 who could reportedly be in line for a good bit of playing time this fall after dealing with injuries for much of last season.
Plus, the Colts traded longtime starter Zaire Franklin to the Green Bay Packers in March, so linebacker is a position the Colts could target in the draft.