One of the premium positions for Mizzou’s offense in 2026 is going to need some extended patchwork.

We knew earlier this spring that projected starting right tackle Josh Atkins would miss some time during the regular season due to injury. But at the top of the week, we learned that his absence would extend deeper into the season than originally projected.

Atkins transferred from Arizona State with over 2,000 career snaps at left tackle between the Sun Devils and Hawaii, but was projected to be a replacement for Keagan Trost, who was drafted to the Los Angeles Rams.

Right tackle is one of the most important positions entering 2026 as the Tigers have a left-handed quarterback in Austin Simmons, who has just 259 collegiate snaps. Drinkwitz noted the importance of the position earlier this week.

“Another player is our right tackle, whoever emerges,” Eli Drinkwitz said at SEC Media Days. “We got a lot of really good candidates, but that position is going to be important, just for the security of the offense.”

As mentioned above, Mizzou is entering this year with a void at right tackle, but options are available until, or if Atkins returns.

Configuring the offensive line, who could be up next up? And what would it mean?

There’s a few candidates that can fill the right tackle position in 2026. At the SEC Media Day’s Drinkwitz highlighted a few names when talking about who could fill that role. I’ve separated these candidates into two different tiers. The first being the more experienced options, arrivals from Mississippi State, Zach Owens and Luke Work.

As for Owens, he is the most experienced portal addition outside of Atkins on the offensive line. In a full-time role with Mississippi State, he played 564 snaps (319 on the right, 200 on the left). The caveat is that this was at guard. He was recruited as a tackle, but there are plenty of differences when it comes to playing both positions in terms of timing, technique, etc. But this was something the Tigers had Cayden Green do not too long ago, and it worked out just fine.

It Owens moves to right tackle, it creates another issue because who would then go to the then vacant guard position as the configuration would look like this: Green-VOID-Guidice-Peagler-Owens. Moving Owens solves a more important issue, but then we would be discussing options at guard.

Work has been a more versatile player the past two seasons at Mississippi State, and is someone Drinkwitz highlighted at Media Days. He has collected snaps at every position on the offensive line aside from center, including 241 at left tackle, 145 at right tackle, 76 at left guard and 19 at right guard.

His snaps at right tackle came in 2024 against Mizzou and Mississippi where he received PFF grades of 63.5 and 46.3. Not ideal grades for what you want to see from the position, but PFF grades aren’t everything. Works sample size is larger at right tackle, making him an experienced candidate for the group.

Now, the developmental guys.

Missouri has successfully recruited the tackle position well in-state under Drinkwitz. Armand Membou is a prime example, but recently that trend continued with:

• Logan Reichert (2024). A former 4-star recruit who has been with the program since 2023.

• Jack Lange (2025). A former 4-star who was the No. 1 player in Missouri coming out of high school.

Both have an extremely small sample size collegiately. Reichert played one snap at center against Arkansas in 2025 and 56 snaps at left guard in 2024. As for Lange, he played one snap against Louisiana in 2025.

With how highly both were recruited, Lange and Reichert offer a wide range of outcomes long-term. If Missouri elects to go younger at the position, it will give the team the data they need to see if these guys are ready to play earlier than anticipated.

There isn’t a clear right or wrong answer on what direction the team decides. They can go with options that have already seen high level play, or attempt to get the most out of their recruits now.

How can Missouri schematically protect whoever wins the job?

Not being naive to the situation, the Tigers have found themselves in, there will be growing pains with whoever plays at right tackle in 2026. Having Atkins at the position was supposed to be an immediate short-term fix at the position following Keagan Trosts’ departure to the NFL.

So, the next question is what can Missouri do to help mitigate potential disasters with a lesser experienced quarterback and players that are more inexperienced at the position?

Well, maintaining a run-first identity is key, and we shouldn’t expect the Tigers to shy away from that anytime soon. The Tigers have been one of the more run dominant rushing attacks in the SEC, and we do know Ahmad Hardy is 5-8 weeks from returning. It keeps the team out of clear passing situations and limits how often a tackle goes against pass rushes.

In the passing department quick game and RPOs are going to be important as well. I’ve spent the early parts of the summer saying how Mizzou needs to attack more vertically, they still will, but Atkins’ absence could make it more difficult. As for Austin Simmons in 2025, he had a 87.3 PFF offensive grade when the pocket was kept clean and 28.5 grade when under pressure. Two vastly different outcomes.

Simmons comes from a RPO system at Mississippi and also, Lindsey comes from a Michigan team that utilizes tight ends, meaning chipping will be key, and releasing some burden from whoever is at right tackle.

Conclusion: Weather the storm

Losing one of the most important pieces on offense for an even larger extended period of time sucks, and there will be an impact. But the Tigers aren’t without answers. There are multiple options at right tackle, personnel-wise and schematically.

Owens and Work have experience, while Reichert and Lange provide upside. It will take a combination of someone stepping up and some scheme adjustments until, or if, Atkins returns.