NFL Draft Guide: Mizzou looks to continue streak of first rounders

GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - APRIL 24: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell reacts while speaking to the crowd during the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft at Lambeau Field on April 24, 2025 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) | Getty Images

“Thirty-two teams, seven rounds, 224 young men who, today, are about to become players in the National Football League. A day where lives are changed, fates are decided, dynasties are born, and the clock is always ticking. Of course, I’m talking about… Draft Day.”

Chris Berman opens the 2014 film Draft Day, starring Chadwick Boseman, Kevin Costner and Jennifer Garner, with these lines.

The plot, of course, it outlandish. Nobody trades three first round picks to move up to first overall and draft a middle linebacker, and then doubles down by trading three second rounders to get back the previous picks you traded away and turn those into a running back and punt returner.

And yet I somehow find myself watching it every year leading up to the draft, because as completely silly as the plot may be, it’s still an enjoyable movie to re-watch ahead of the real deal. This year’s draft takes place in Pittsburgh, not at Radio City Music Hall in New York, there are 257 picks instead of 224, and Fernando Mendoza, not Bo Callahan, is the slam dunk No. 1 overall pick.

But something both the movie and the real NFL Draft share is emphasizing the importance of those three days each year to both the young men fulfilling their dreams to play professional football and the teams whose future largely depend on their ability to select the right players for the future. And for a few Missouri Tigers, those three days will also be when they make the official transition from collegiate athletes to the NFL.

This draft guide will walk you through when you should expect to hear those Tigers’ names called up at the podium and why, MU’s long history in the draft, and how to make the most of your time in Pittsburgh if you’ve decided to attend the draft in person.

This Mizzou draft guide is now officially open. Our draft profiles are on the clock.

Mizzou Draft Profiles

Zion Young

It’s hard to overstate how important Zion Young was to the 2025 Missouri Tigers, both on and off the field. He teamed up with Damon Wilson II to form a devastating duo of edge rushers, giving MU arguably the best pair in the country.

Young led the team with nine sacks, also recording 9.5 tackles for loss, 37 quarterback hurries and 23 tackles. That effort earned him Second Team All-SEC honors in his second season as a starter, a major step up from his junior year where he recorded 2.5 sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss.

He’ll also be remembered for creating some iconic moments during his time with the Tigers, from his fumble recovery for a touchdown against Oklahoma in 2024 to his game-defining overtime performance last year at Auburn that made good on his energetic display during the OT coin toss at Jordan-Hare. That moment, alongside his status as a team captain, really drove home that Young was at the heart of last year’s team.

His importance in the locker room last season, alongside his status as an elite run defender at the edge position, have made him a popular choice to project in the late first round. It feels like a coin flip right now as to whether he’ll go on day one or early on day two, but either way, one team will get an impact defender and a possible fan favorite.

Projected range: picks 25-50 (late first to mid second round)

Josiah Trotter

Trotter joined the Tigers with high expectations after being named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year at West Virginia in 2024. Even so, I don’t think anyone expected him to be the absolute wrecking ball he was in his one season at Mizzou. The Philadelphia native wrought havoc on opposing offenses last year, recording 84 total tackles, 43 of them solo, with 13 tackles for loss.

That stat line was more than enough for him to earn First Team All-SEC honors and raise his draft stock to the level where it made sense to declare for the NFL Draft early. Trotter was an unstoppable heat-seeking missile when he was able to charge downhill, making life absolutely miserable for running backs before hitting his family’s famous Axe Man celebration.

Positional value and some questions about his experience in pass coverage make Trotter unlikely to become a first round pick. But he’ll be coveted by teams looking for a game-changer at the second level for their run defense (remind anyone else of a current Chiefs and former Mizzou linebacker?) and still has plenty of upside left after playing just 24 games in college.

Is it possible Trotter could fall to the third round? Sure it is; time has proven that just about anything is possible when it comes to the draft. But he is confidently a second round projection heading into this weekend, and that’s where almost everyone expects to hear his name called.

Projected range: picks 45-70 (mid second to early third round)

Chris McClellan

McClellan will be a prime example Mizzou can point to in the next few years of someone who elevated their play and turned into a pro-ready player over two years in Columbia, right alongside Young. After making nine starts and showing significant promise in 2024, McClellan had a true breakout season and led a strong defensive tackles group last year with the Tigers.

The North Tulsa, Oklahoma, native started every game in 2025 and recorded six sacks, eight tackles for loss and 48 total tackles in his senior season. Young and Wilson received a lot of the praise and attention on the outside of the line, but McClellan was consistently excellent and played in major role in MU’s suffocating run defense.

NFL teams are always in need of stronger depth along the offensive and defensive lines, and McClellan should be in high demand as someone who can provide that while also showing some versatility at his position. Expect him to come off the board somewhere late on day two or early on day three of the draft.

Projected range: third to fifth round

Keagen Trost

Trost became a key anchor of Mizzou’s offensive line in his one year in Columbia, being named a Second Team All-American by Walter Camp. He also became an analytics darling, holding college football’s highest overall offensive grade (91.5) and best run blocking grade (91.0) according to PFF.

The Wake Forest transfer allowed just two sacks and four quarterback hurries in his 864 snaps at right tackle, the culmination of a collegiate career that took him from the FCS to the Power Four conferences. He helped cover up some of the struggles faced by a new-look interior offensive line that featured two new starters and earned an SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week award against South Carolina.

Mizzou has had a good stretch of developing offensive lineman and sending them to the pros recently, including first-rounder Armand Membou and early day three picks in Larry Borom and Javon Foster. Trost seems likely to join Borom and Foster as someone valued in the middle rounds by a team looking to bolster their line with a solid depth piece at the tackle position.

Projected range: fourth to sixth round

Kevin Coleman Jr.

The St. Louis native led Mizzou in both receptions (66) and receiving yards (732) in his lone season with the Tigers, playing the crucial role of slot receiver vacated by Luther Burden’s move to the pros and filling some very big shoes effectively.

Combined with his Third Team All-SEC performance in 2024 at Mississippi State, where he also led the Bulldogs’ receiving corps, Coleman has proven his mettle over multiple seasons in the conference that consistently has the most NFL talent.

That should be enough for him to feel safe about hearing his name called in Pittsburgh. It’s possible his draft stock ends up getting hurt by his stats down the stretch, though, when the combination of quarterback injuries for Mizzou and Donovan Olugbode’s rising impact led to Coleman recording more than 50 receiving yards in just one of his final five games.

NFL teams saw the danger of undervaluing a Tigers receiver due to quarterback play last year, though. We’ll see if the same situation plays out again.

Projected range: fifth to seventh round

Toriano Pride Jr.

Toriano Pride Jr. never quite fulfilled the hopes of some Mizzou fans in his two years with the Tigers after transferring in from Clemson. He recorded 46 total tackles, two interceptions and 12 passes defended over his two seasons at MU, making 12 starts in 13 games last year with similar stats to his junior season.

He had limited draft hype throughout last year but opened enough eyes to receive an invite to the NFL Combine. Pride’s performance in Indianapolis likely secured him a place in this year’s draft class after he ran a 4.32 second 40-yard dash, the fastest among all cornerbacks at the combine.

NFL teams will likely want to take a chance on the Pride’s combination of speed and the moments he showed playmaking potential as an SEC cornerback in the later rounds.

Projected range: sixth to seventh round

For more on each of these players, check out our very own Josh Matejka’s Mizzou-focused NFL Draft primer.

Mizzou Draft History

Jack Frye became Mizzou’s first-ever draft selection when he was chosen, appropriately enough, by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fifth round of the 1937 NFL Draft. Since that moment, hundreds more Tigers have followed in Frye’s footsteps and heard their names called by NFL teams.

MU’s first second round draftee came in 1941, when the Chicago Cardinals chose quarterback Paul Christman (who went on to lead them to an NFL Championship after returning from World War II), and two years later Bob Steuber became the first Mizzou player to be selected in the draft’s opening round when he was chosen by the Cardinals’ crosstown rivals, the Bears.

Steuber was the first of 22 Tigers to become first-round draft picks, a list that includes Justin Smith, Kellen Winslow and most recently Armand Membou. If Young is selected Thursday night, it will mark the first time MU has had a player chosen in the opening round of the draft three consecutive years since the 2009-11 seasons. Mizzou had five players — Jeremy Maclin, Ziggy Hood, Sean Witherspoon, Aldon Smith and Blaine Gabbert — selected in the first round over those three years.

The Tigers had a strong track record of sending players to the pros during the second half of Gary Pinkel’s tenure as head coach, but that pipeline to the NFL dwindled from 2017 to 2020. Eli Drinkwitz has helped turn Mizzou back into a consistent producer of draft picks, with MU having three or more players selected in three of the past five seasons — a number that is likely to become four of the last six this weekend.

Steel City Travel Guide

Since moving out the draft out of Radio City, the NFL has chosen some picturesque locations to host the event: Grant Park in Chicago, Union Station in Kansas City and Broadway in Nashville, to name a few. This year’s edition of the draft might have all of them beat.

The draft stage for this weekend is set up outside of Acrisure Stadium near the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela (pronounced Mo-non-ga-HEY-la and simply called the Mon by some locals) rivers where they form the Ohio. That main location will be connected to the fan festival at Point State Park (where the rivers meet) by both the Roberto Clemente Bridge and ferries running between the two spots.

The setup chosen for this year’s draft embraces a big part of what makes Pittsburgh such a unique place: the rivers, and its many bridges, that allow a thriving city to exist in an area that still remains naturally beautiful. Pittsburgh is one of my favorite cities in the entire country, and between the town itself and its diehard sports culture, there are few places I can think of that would make a better host for the NFL Draft.

If you happen to be in Pittsburgh for the draft, here are a few places that could enhance your time in the Steel City and help you make the most of the weekend.

Things to Do

Andy Warhol Museum

The Andy Warhol Museum holds the world’s largest collection of the famous pop artist’s works. Warhol was born and raised in the South Oakland neighborhood, also where Dan Marino grew up, near the University of Pittsburgh.

The museum is North America’s largest dedicated to one single artist. It features seven stories of gallery and exhibition space in a building right by the Allegheny River.

Carnegie Museum of Natural History

The Carnegie (pronounced Car-NAY-gee by Pittsburgh natives, lovingly known as Yinzers) Museum of Natural History was founded by the famous industrialist in 1895 and has been a Steel City cultural institution ever since.

It is one of the best natural history museums in the country and is especially well-known for its collection of dinosaur fossils. Dippy the dinosaur, on display at the museum, is considered by many to be the world’s most famous dinosaur due to Carnegie gifting plaster replicas of the fossil to museums across the globe. The Diplodocus carnegii has been a Pittsburgh celebrity for over 100 years and gave the museum the nickname ‘The House That Dippy Built.’

Cathedral of Learning

The Cathedral of Learning is the main landmark on the University of Pittsburgh campus and can be seen throughout much of the city. At 535 feet tall, the Gothic Revival skyscraper is the second-tallest educational building in the world after the main building at the University of Moscow.

The skyscraper is known for its Nationality Rooms on the third floor, which are designed to honor the various cultural heritages of the communities in and around Pittsburgh. There are 31 rooms that have been built over time, starting in 1938 and as recently as 2015, receiving updates to change along with the city. The key rule with the construction of the rooms is that their design must pre-date 1878, when the U.S. Constitution was signed and the university was founded.

Duquesne Incline

The Duquesne Incline travels 794 feet up the slope of Mount Washington from its base near the Monongahela River to the neighborhood on top of the hill, providing a fantastic view of the city’s downtown (known as the Golden Triangle) along the way.

It has been in operation since 1877, when its main function was to ferry residents to and from the Mount Washington Neighborhood. The incline, more commonly known as a funicular, is a popular tourist destination and has an observation deck next to the station at the top of the hill that provides arguably the best place in the entire city to take photos.

Strip District

Called the Strip District (or just ‘The Strip’) because of its location on a narrow strip of land between the Allegheny River and the Hill District, the area was originally full of warehouses and factories. Now, its streets are lined with shops, vendors, grocery stores and restaurants of all kinds.

Highlights of this area include the Pennsylvania Maraconi Co. and Wholey’s Fish Market, alongside a significant number of gift shops and t-shirt vendors that embrace the city’s culture and sports teams. The Strip is also home to the next, and final, thing to do on this list.

Senator John Heinz History Center

The Heinz History Center is an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and Pennsylvania’s largest history museum. It was also named the nation’s top history museum by USA Today’s Readers’ Choice Awards each of the past three years.

The museum includes extensive displays about the history and culture of Western Pennsylvania through six floors of exhibits, including famous artifacts from the set of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”. It also contains the Franco Harris Sports Museum, which honors and chronicles the city’s sports history.

Places to Eat

Church Brew Works

Located north of the Strip District, Church Brew Works is pretty much what it sounds like: a microbrewery and pub located in a former church. A lot of its features remain, making it an interesting spot to grab a bite (or a few beers).

I can’t speak to the beer aspect, but the food was excellent and the menu had a good variety. Most of the places on this list are a little bit lower in price range, but the quality of the food and the novelty of the experience still make it a good value.

Kelly O’s

Kelly O’s is your classic American diner: great food that’s served quickly at an affordable price. The Italian toast comes with most breakfast meals and was a small detail that made the diner stand out from the many other breakfast spots in the area.

The diner has three locations around Pittsburgh, but the one closest to the draft will be in The Strip. If you’re going to do some exploring in that area, this is a great spot to start your day.

Peace, Love and Little Donuts

But if you’re looking for more of a sugar rush, make the trek a few blocks south in The Strip to Peace, Love and Little Donuts. They specialize in a huge variety of mini donuts, which allows you to try out a little bit of everything.

The donuts may be small, but they’re some of the best you’ll find anywhere. It also makes for easier transport and eating if you’re on the go, so there’s another added bonus, too. Peace, Love and Little Donuts can now be found in 12 states, but it got its start in The Strip back in 2008, and that’s the location that remains open and popular today.

Primanti Bros.

Primanti’s is THE culinary institution in Pittsburgh. Founded in 1933, the restaurant has been serving its iconic sandwiches throughout the region ever since. They include your choice of meat, provolone cheese, French fries, cole slaw and tomatoes, all stacked between two slices of Italian bread.

It’s a full meal in a sandwich, and I’d dare anyone to find that much food being served at affordable prices anywhere else. A pro tip: order the sandwich with double meat to get a better ratio of meat to bread to everything else.

The restaurant now has more than 30 locations across five states, but the original in the Strip District is still a must for someone making their first stop.

Schenley Heights Market and Deli

If you look up Schenley Heights Market and Deli, pretty much the only thing that pops up is a couple of photos on Google Maps. The deli has no website or social media presence, just a few photos of the menu.

But luckily enough, I found my way to this place a few years ago when it was the only stop for food within a short walking distance of where I was staying while covering Mizzou Volleyball. The cheesesteak was probably the best I’ve had outside of Philadelphia itself, and they made it the authentic way with the proper roll and cheese whiz.

The deli is also both affordable and generous with its portions. If you’re looking for some great food that’s a bit off the beaten path, look no further.

S&D Polish Deli

Pittsburgh is known for its strong Polish-American culture, and S&D Deli is a great place to experience it. The deli isn’t a sit-down restaurant and doesn’t have much available seating, but it does have really good food.

They’ve got the dynamic duo of pierogi and polish sausage alongside other culinary staples, plus other Polish goods you can take home. And the deli is located on the northern end of The Strip, making it yet another great spot in that area.

We’re going to have plenty of draft coverage over these next few days. Make sure to check Rock M Nation throughout this weekend to stay updated on each Tiger’s move to the pros.