Spring football is officially here. We have spring practices starting up all over the country, and with that, it's the first time we get to see what some teams look like up close. One of the more interesting teams in the country this season will be Missouri, and how they match up with the rest of the country. However, with spring starting, they recently suffered a big injury to their defense.
On3's Pete Nakos was the first to report that Missouri football lost Elijah Dotson due to tearing his labrum. He underwent successful labrum surgery, and all signs point to him being available for OTAs in the summer. The Michigan transfer did not suffer any big injury and will be good to go sooner rather than later.
Dotson was a four-star prospect coming out of Belleville High School in the Class of 2025. He was ranked the No. 12 corner and No. 94 overall player in the class when he arrived at Michigan.
The 6-foot-1, 192-pound corner played right away with the Wolverines in 2025. He had 11 total tackles and one interception as a true freshman. His interception came against Central Michigan in his second game, while he had four tackles against Nebraska in his third game. He played 94 total snaps on defense, almost evenly split between outside corner and slot corner.
“I think there's been a lot of really good transfers,” Drinkwitz said on March 18. “I thought Caden Lee obviously has a really big day today for us. But, you know, I think all of them have had moments of flashing. Elijah Dotson has been really good for us on the secondary.”
After the Tigers lost multiple players in the secondary, bringing in Dotson was a huge boost because it was necessary to reload the talent there. They lost many high-usage players over the offseason. They also brought in transfers like Chris Graves, Kensley Louidor-Faustin, Jahlil Florence, Sione Laulea, and Jadon Blair to join Dotson as potential contributing newcomers, adding to a group that could be one of the best in the country.
The offense needs to find a new quarterback, but Ahmad Hardy's return makes this Tigers team very intriguing.
