It appears Missouri’s depth on the defensive line will soon be taking a hit as senior defensive lineman Markell Utsey has made the decision to enter the NCAA transfer portal.

Missouri has already removed Utsey from the team’s online roster following this news. News of Utsey’s decision to enter the portal was first reported by Matt Zenitz of AL.com.

Utsey made 19 tackles last season after making made nine tackles with a single tackle for loss in 2019.

The Little Rock native signed with Mizzou as a member of the program’s 2016 recruiting class.

Here is the bio provided for Utsey (comes from the 2020 season) listed on the Missouri team site:

2019 SEASON
Played in all 12 games as a redshirt junior and made nine tackles (five solo) with 1.0 tackle for loss … Matched his career-best with two tackles at Kentucky (10/26), while also forcing a fumble … Had one tackle in seven of the remaining 11 games on the year … His lone tackle against Southeast Missouri (9/14) went for a loss of four yards.

2018 SEASON
Saw action in three games, making one tackle and adding a quarterback pressure … Ended up preserving a redshirt season, however, as he fell under the four-game threshold to take a redshirt, after playing in his first two seasons on campus.

2017 SEASON
Run-stuffing tackle who saw his most extensive action as a Tiger, playing in 11 contests overall, including six starts … Likely wasn’t ever fully 100 percent comfortable as he was still working to come back from a season-ending knee injury suffered as a freshman, but still made solid contributions for the defensive line … Made two tackles on the road at Georgia (10/14), and added single-tackle games in road outings at Kentucky (10/7) and Vanderbilt (11/18) … Also recorded one tackle against Purdue (9/16) and again versus Auburn (9/23) … Also lobbied his way into getting a carry as a short-yardage fullback late in the season, and he came through with a two-yard run good for a first down on a third-and-one situation from the MU 46-yard line in the fourth quarter of Mizzou’s win at UConn (10/28) … Sat out from full contact during the spring, as he continued recovery from his injury.

2016 SEASON
Played in seven games during his true freshman season and totaled five tackles before his season was cut short by injury at Tennessee … Made his Mizzou debut against Delaware State (9/23) … Tallied a pair of tackles at LSU (10/1), the first stops of his career … Recorded a tackle against Kentucky (10/29) as well as one at South Carolina (11/5) … Has appeared in five games for Mizzou this season … Racked up a solo tackle against Tennessee (11/19).