Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz landed a key addition for his 2023 defense in the transfer portal with Jackson State defensive end Nyles Gaddy joining the ranks on Saturday, May 6th. Gaddy, a redshirt junior who started his college career at Tennessee, committed to the Tigers over the weekend.

Drinkwitz spiced up the weekend Twitter timeline by dropping his commitment bat-signal, and the discerning viewer would note the “#Zou23” hashtag and not the 2024 high school class tagline, “Chase2Dre4ms.”

Gaddy, who checks in at 6’4” and 230 lbs, was unranked by 247sports.com as a prospect out of the 2018 recruiting class, and walked on in Knoxville. He transferred to Jackson State prior to the 2021 season, and played two full years on Coach Prime’s excellent defenses at Jackson State, alongside former Missouri Tiger Aubrey Miller, Jr. According to PFF charting, Gaddy compiled 77 quarterback pressures and 12 sacks in his two seasons at FCS. He was named both first-team All-SWAC and first-team All-HBCU by BOXTOROW Media.

The late bloomer still has two years of eligibility remaining, and will factor immediately into Missouri’s defensive end rotation. The Tigers lost their top five players by snap count at EDGE from last season, and Gaddy is the third transfer at the position, along with Arizona State’s Joe Moore and Austin Firestone from Northwestern.

As our own Nate Edwards and Brandon Kiley discussed this week on the football edition of Rock M Radio, “Beyond the Box Score,” the Tigers position groups are mostly set for the upcoming season. More depth at running back and tight end would be appreciated, and the staff has been aggressive in chasing offensive line and defensive end transfers to help raise the level of competition in those rotations. In Gaddy, Drinkwitz has landed a veteran player whose career is still on the upswing, and will add key depth as a position in need of it.

Get to know: Nyles Gaddy

Hometown: Nashville, TN

High School: Father Ryan

Position: DE / Edge Rusher

Ht/Wt: 6-4, 230

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