Mizzou had a big hole to fill with the departure of Armand Membou. Enter Keagen Trost
“Football is won in the trenches,” is one of those harrowing statements that is so unequivocally true that you almost can’t call it a cliche. How do you call something so factual a cliche?
Mizzou experienced what the difference between a “great” and a “good” offensive line can make in the 2023 and 2024 seasons. And as we round our heads toward fall of 2025, the potential drop off seems a bit frightening. Yes, the Tigers are returning two veterans in Cayden Green and Connor Tollison. But the loss of Cam’Ron Johnson and Marcus Bryant was already going to hurt before Armand Membou, the Tigers’ best lineman, announced his intentions to enter the NFL Draft. Replacing two linemen is tough. Replacing three is a nightmare.
As the transfer portal window opened, we knew the staff was going to go all out in pursuing veteran beefy boys to ease the transition to the next generation of Mizzou linemen. And even though it took a while, the fruits of their labor came to bear with the addition of Keagen Trost on December 17.
Trost is a seventh year graduate student — no, I’m not going to pretend to decipher his eligibility puzzle — who is making the fourth stop of his storied career after spending one year at Morgan State, four at Indiana State and one at Wake Forest. If you’d shown him that trajectory at the beginning of his college years, I imagine he’d be pleased. Not many guys go from the MEAC to the SEC. And even fewer go to the SEC as nailed-on starters.
Where He Fits: Trost started 11 games for the Demon Deacons this past season. In 10 of those starts, Trost started at right tackle (and the one game he didn’t, he had his worst performance according to Pro Football Focus.) Unless someone deeper on the depth chart steps in and blows away the staff during spring and fall camp, Trost fits perfectly as the new starting right tackle.
When He’ll Play: [copy, “He’s not transferring to sit on the bench,” paste]
But yeah, he’ll play right away.
What It All Means: Look, I’m not going to pretend like Keagen Trost is going to step in and fill Armand Membou’s shoes right away (or maybe ever!) Membou was an absolute unit on the right side of the line, and you don’t just replace those guys with a snap of your finger.
That being said, replacing Membou with a guy who has logged hundreds of snaps at a Power Four level is about as good a job as you can do. Trost is entering his seventh year of college football and is, by all accounts, a sturdy presence in the trenches. He’ll be a dependable addition to an offensive line that desperately needed a few.