Castillo committed way back in April, when only 247 had a ranking on him. Now the 6'4, 285-pound lineman is rated a 3-star by ESPN, 247, Rivals and was being pursued by Minnesota and Iowa State. Castillo sticking with Mizzou helps after Royce Newman recently flipped to Ole Miss and JUCO OL Breontae Matthews decided on Kansas State.
Castillo looks to be the foundation of future Tiger lines and will likely start along the interior at guard or center. It's unlikely a freshman will come in and compete no matter how poorly the line performed last season, but adding depth to the position group is a priority for Barry Odom in his first year as head coach.
As it stands right now, here's a tentative look at Mizzou's offensive line, taken from previous released depth charts and with current 2016 commits in italics.
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #70 Malik Cuellar 6'5 300 Sr. | #55 Nate Crawford 6'5 300 RS Jr. | #57 Alec Abeln 6'3 290 Jr. | #71 Kevin Pendleton 6'4 315 RS So. | #77 Paul Adams 6'6 290 RS So. |
| Tyler Howell 6'9 305 Jr. | #52 Jordan Hill 6'2 270 RS Jr. * | #56 Sam Bailey 6'5 270 RS So. | #66 Adam Ploudre 6'4 295 RS Jr. * | #72 Clay Rhodes 6'5 290 RS Jr. |
| #65 Tanner Owen 6'5 275 Jr. | Trystan Castillo 6'4 280 FR | #69 AJ Harris 6'4 285 RS Fr. | Tre'Vour Simms 6'3 315 FR | Andy Bauer 6'3 310 RS So.^ |
| *non-scholarship | ^still recovering from hip-injury |
Mizzou football is currently in a similar situation as basketball - in need of big men and very late in the recruiting cycle. To put it another way, Mizzou's offensive line is very big around the middle and in search of balance.
| Pos | Seniors | Juniors | Sophomores | RS Freshman | Class of 2016 |
| OL | Malik Cuellar 6'5 295 | Alec Abeln (RS) 6'3 290 | Paul Adams (RS) 6'6 290 | A.J. Harris 6'3 297 | Trystan Castillo |
| Nate Crawford (RS) 6'5 290 | Sam Bailey (RS) 6'5 265 | Tanner Owen 6'6 265 | Tre'vour Simms | ||
| Clay Rhodes (RS) 6'5 280 | Andy Bauer (RS) 6'3 310 | ||||
| Tyler Howell 6'9 305 | Kevin Pendleton (RS) 6'4 295 |
There is currently only one senior on the offensive line and Malik Cuellar barely saw the field last year before he was suspended for a week. Two of the four juniors started at various points last year but Alec Abeln struggled at guard and an injury sidelined Nate Crawford briefly before he was moved inside to shore up the left guard position Abeln vacated. Sophomores Kevin Pendleton and Paul Adams looked to compete for time last year but only saw the field late in the season as the staff sought to find a working combination.
Tyler Howell, the massive JUCO transfer who was originally supposed to be on campus last fall may be able to shore up the depth at either tackle position. Perhaps this is the year Andy Bauer is healthy enough to contribute at guard and maybe Clay Rhodes develops enough to be an option somewhere on the line but Mizzou's coaching staff still has more questions than answers with the biggest problem from last year's offense.