Undrafted Mizzou rookie Durant earns spot with the Chiefs, as team prepares for Houston opener

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With the NFL season opener scheduled for Thursday night, as the Houston Texans visit Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Super Bowl champion Chiefs, this past weekend marked cut-down day, with teams finalizing their rosters for the opening of the regular season.  As it pertains to former Missouri Tigers, offensive lineman Yasir Durant got great news.  Durant, moving two hours down the road from Columbia to Kansas City, made the Chiefs final 53-man roster.  He is the only undrafted rookie from Mizzou in 2020 to earn a spot on a roster.  

Durant’s teammate on the offensive line at Mizzou, Tre’Vour Wallace-Simms, failed to make the roster in Jacksonville, with the Jaguars announcing that cut on Saturday afternoon.  Waived on Saturday by the Tennessee Titans was Kearney native and former MU linebacker Cale Garrett, while kicker Tucker McCann, a four-year starter for Coach Barry Odom at Missouri, also cut by Tennessee.

The Los Angeles Rams announced tight end Kendall Blanton, a former Tiger, as a weekend cut, with offensive lineman Paul Adams failing to make the final roster for the Washington Football Team.  Linebacker Terez Hall was released by New England, with wide receiver J’Mon Moore released by Cleveland.

By Sunday night, a number of former Tigers had grabbed spots on practice squads, which will be larger in size this season due to the potential of roster upheaval due to COVID-19 concerns.  Former center Trystan Colon-Castillo is with the Ravens, with McCann kept as a security blanket on the practice squad of the Titans.  The Jaguars ended up keeping Wallace-Simms on that practice squad.

Veteran offensive lineman Evan Boehm, a former Missouri Tiger going back to Gary Pinkel’s years in the early 2010’s, was picked up by Buffalo’s practice squad, joining, in that same position, running back Damarea Crockett in Green Bay, linebacker Terez Hall in New England, and tight end Kendall Blanton with the Rams.

Photo credit – Yanchen Liu / Columbia Missourian / Columbia, MO