One question facing every position group on Missouri football's offense in 2024

Missouri football is bringing back a significant core of the offense that helped the team go 11-2 and win the Cotton Bowl last season. That’s a good building block for the 2024 season, when the Tigers are expected to be among the contenders to reach the expanded, 12-team College Football Playoff.

Mizzou has a third-year starter at quarterback. All of the Tigers’ most productive receivers and tight ends return. Mizzou secured some blockbuster transfer portal additions along the offensive line and brought in some experience to replace its consensus All-American running back.

That's getting some widespread attention, too, as the Missouri offense is ranked among the top 10 offenses in the EA Sports College Football 25 video game that will be released later this summer.

The highly-anticipated group will be put to the test beginning Thursday, Aug. 29, when the Tigers face Murray State on Faurot Field in Columbia to open their season.

Before then, with about a month until players report for fall camp, here is one question facing every position group in 2024:

Missouri football’s offensive line

Question: How will Missouri replace lost experience at left guard, tackle?

If Javon Foster was shoving, running back Cody Schrader was typically coming. It was an outside-zone combo that worked wonders for Missouri last season.

This year, Missouri must replace the All-SEC left tackle and the ever-dependable left guard Xavier Delgado who helped Schrader hit tremendous heights but have moved on to opportunities in the NFL.

The Tigers have done the first part of the task, securing two promising pick-ups out of the transfer portal over the offseason in Oklahoma offensive guard Cayden Green and SMU’s All-AAC first-team left tackle Marcus Bryant.

Now comes the second part, which is figuring out who goes where.

Fall camp will reveal a little more about the starters. The most likely starting five, from left to right tackle, looks to be Bryant; Green; Connor Tollison; Cam’Ron Johnson; and Armand Membou. It’s also possible Green plays left tackle, or that Johnson moves to left guard, where he took reps during spring before Bryant’s signing.

All things considered, MU has the tools to field one of the better O-lines in the league. But if a playoff run is the goal, the newcomers will need a fast start to supplant the experience lost with Foster and Delgado.

Quarterback

Question: Can Brady Cook lead Mizzou to a season-defining – and potentially career-defining – victory?

The next step in Cook’s rise to Missouri football stardom is taking down a college football behemoth in the regular season.

The now-three-year starter came close twice last season. The Tigers took Georgia down to the wire in Athens, but a potentially game-tying drive in the fourth quarter was abruptly halted after an ill-advised pass that ended in a game-sealing interception. Against LSU, a pair of picks first let the visitors back in the game and then iced the contest late.

If either one of those games go Cook’s way, like most of the other matchups in 2023 did, Mizzou is potentially looking at a game in December in Atlanta.

There’s no questioning Cook’s ability or leadership or quality. He played his way into the conversation as one of the top QBs in the league last season and showed he could get it done against the best by leading MU to a win over Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl.

Now, with a spot in the 12-team playoff there for the taking, bagging a win against, say, Oklahoma at home or Alabama or Texas A&M on the road would greatly buoy the cause and potentially take Mizzou to parts unknown.

Running back

Question: How are the Tigers going to recoup 1,627 yards of ground production?

Schrader, and his Mizzou single-season record 1,627 rushing yards, are now with the San Francisco 49ers, where he signed as an undrafted free agent in April.

But Mizzou has options at running back, and seemingly isn’t in any hurry to commit to the future of the room.

Marcus Carroll transferred to MU from Georgia State after averaging 113.3 rushing yards and a little more than a touchdown per game last season. Nate Noel moved to Mizzou from Appalachian State with 3,047 yards and 18 touchdowns over four years as a Mountaineer. Missouri running backs coach Curtis Luper said during the spring to expect both to be involved.

That’s the same position, however, that the Tigers were in this time last year, when Schrader and Nate Peat, who signed as an UDFA with the Dallas Cowboys in April, entered preseason on equal footing before Schrader played his way to the top of the pecking order.

Missouri could split the running back reps up or one of the two transfers may take the bulls by the horn. The Tigers got more than 100 yards on the ground per game with Schrader last season, so however they move forward, they’ll need to find a way to recoup that.

Wide receivers

Question: Can Missouri’s wide receivers really be among college football’s best?

Missouri’s wide receivers set a clear goal during spring camp: They want to be the best in the country.

The group is in a good spot to challenge for that title. All six receivers who caught a pass in 2023 are back in 2024. Last season’s promising freshman class now has a year of experience under its belt. Two more four-star prospects have arrived on campus.

Most teams didn’t have a sufficient answer for the tandem of Luther Burden III and Theo Wease Jr. last season. Marquis Johnson added another dynamic to the offense. That’s a good spot to be for offensive coordinator Kirby Moore.

On paper, it’s the most talented top-to-bottom group of receivers Mizzou has had in a long time, if not ever. From Burden’s yards-after-the-catch ability to Wease’s contested-catch dominance to Johnson’s blistering speed and on, and on, there’s versatility and options.

Now, it’s over to Moore and Co. to make that count by scheming the offense up correctly.

Tight ends

Question: What does Missouri football have behind freshman standout Brett Norfleet?

Brett Norfleet was a major boon for Mizzou last season — so much so that he might be among the team’s most valuable players in 2024.

Sixth-year senior Tyler Stephens has been dependable over the past two seasons but has never truly been a factor as a pass-catcher. Jordon Harris was a useful special teams member in 2023. The Tigers have three-star signees Whit Hafer and Jude James on campus.

But Norfleet took the MU offense up a notch last season, both as a threat in the passing game — remember the two touchdowns in a dozen seconds versus Arkansas? — and as a pass protector by way of his 6-foot-7, 235-pound frame.

If he takes another step forward in Year 2, that’ll bode well for the Tigers. Perhaps even better would be if they can find a productive second option, either as a receiver or as a blocker.

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This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: One question facing every position group on Missouri football's offense in 2024