Mizzou looks to the future at the STAR position with this latest commitment.
After a four-month hiatus from high school recruiting, the Mizzou football Tigers have finally added a second member to the 2026 recruiting commitment list in the form of three-star safety D’Montae Tims. Despite being modestly ranked a composite three star, gaining Tims’ commitment is a win on a few fronts.
First, it is yet another player the Tigers have plucked from the fertile grounds of Florida, further establishing their roots in that state. Second, Tims’ offer list, while not elite, does feature a bevy of P4 schools which Mizzou beat out, including Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech, Kansas State, Michigan State and Wisconsin. And third, the Tigers have got themselves a defensive playmaker to line up behind fellow 2026 commitment Anthony Kennedy, Jr.
Where He Fits: Sims spent basically his entire junior season at Armwood (FL) playing as a box safety. In fact, minus just a couple highlights playing as the cover 1 free safety, all of his recorded plays have him lined up within 5-7 yards of the line of scrimmage. When thinking about what that means for where he’ll fit at Mizzou, it screams STAR to me.
Mizzou has become accustomed to, if not reliant on, Daylan Carnell’s run defense and ball hawkish ways playing in the box, defending tight ends in pass coverage and diagnosing short routes to jump for potential pick sixes. Watching Tims’ tape, you see that exact same type of player. Tims looks to have excellent instincts with his ability to diagnose plays early, and then the ability to attack those plays. This includes jumping slants and out routes, shedding blocks to blow up screen passes, and generally serving as a menace for offenses trying to execute in the quick game. While he doesn’t have the size (yet) that you’d really like to see in a box safety, Tims looks to have all the intangibles already.
When he’ll play: Sims will step foot on campus either in the spring or summer of 2026, which means Daylan Carnell will have already graduated. With that STAR shaped hole left in the starting line up, there will be fierce competition for that open spot. My early guess is that Virginia Tech transfer Mose Phillips III will have the best shot at winning that spot in 2026, but Tims could impress enough to win a spot on the two-deep his freshman year. However to do that, he’ll probably have to add 10-15 pounds in the next 18 months to hold up against SEC offenses.
What it all means: While Tims’ commitment is exciting enough on it’s own merits (he could have a very successful career as a Tiger), it’s perhaps even more exciting to know that the Florida-to-Columbia pipeline remains open and productive. After bringing in five players in 2024 and two more in 2025, Jacob Peeler’s inroads into the Sunshine State continue to pay dividends. While Tims most likely isn’t an immediate impact-type of player, he will serve as a nice depth piece in the secondary early on and could develop into solid-to-great defender before his time in Columbia is done.