One down, three to go.

Missouri football wrapped up its first week of preseason camp Sunday, which marked back-to-back days of practices open to the media. The Tigers are now just over three weeks away from their season opener on Thursday, Aug. 29 against Murray State on Faurot Field.

There are multiple ongoing competitions for spots across the team’s two-deep, although plenty of those will not come fully into focus until the team begins hosting live scrimmages. The Tigers, who are ranked No. 11 in the preseason US LMB Coaches Poll, had their first scrimmage Monday, but that was closed to local media.

That’s not to say there aren’t updates or clues to how MU’s depth battles are trending.

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Here are three observations from the end of the first week of camp:

Defensive depth beginning to take shape for Missouri football

During Sunday’s practice, Missouri ran a drill that offered context clues for who is running with the 1s and the 2s.

Let’s start with the presumed first string:

Returning defensive end Johnny Walker Jr. partnered with Michigan State transfer Zion Young as the Tigers’ edge rushers while returner Kristian Williams and Florida transfer Kristian Williams manned the interior of the defensive line.

At linebacker, Cotton Bowl starters Chuck Hicks and Triston Newson returned to their starting roles. At safety, the Tigers sent out three more returners in Joseph Charleston at free, Marvin Burks Jr. at strong and Daylan Carnell at the hybrid linebacker/safety, known as the star.

Corner is one of the more interesting depth questions in camp, but frontrunners Drey Norwood and Clemson transfer Toriano Pride Jr. took the observable first-team reps. Interestingly, Nicholas DeLoach also was on the field with the 1s. More on him later.

Here’s who lined up for the presumptive second team:

On the defensive line, senior Joe Moore III and redshirt freshman Jakhai Lang took the field at defensive end, and New Mexico State transfer Sterling Webb and Marquis Gracial, who Drinkwitz said “has really improved his game” on Saturday, lined up at tackle.

Also on the field, between the linebackers and defensive line and perhaps shadowing the action, were tackles Jalen Marshall and Sam Williams, who are among the competitors for the interior spots with Gracial.

The linebackers were South Alabama transfer Khalil Jacobs and Miami transfer Corey Flagg.

In the secondary, returners Shamar McNeil and Marcus Clarke were at corner while Sidney Williams Sr. took the backup star spot and Caleb Flagg and Tre’Vez Johnson completed the safeties.

Notably absent from the above list of players: Georgia transfer defensive end Darris Smith and Georgia Tech transfer defensive end Eddie Kelly. That could very well be an anomaly, as both players are expected to contribute. Five-star freshman defensive end Williams Nwaneri was seen working with what is presumed to be the 3s.

Drew Pyne ‘clearly’ No. 2 at QB

Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz didn’t beat around the bush: Drew Pyne is Brady Cook’s backup at quarterback.

“He's clearly the number-two quarterback,” Drinkwitz said. “There's no more competition than he's been really good. … Accurate with the football. (He’s a) battlefield commander as far as making sure the troops are lined up, knows where they're supposed to be.”

Pyne’s opportunity for starting reps, barring anything unforeseen, is at least a season away. He has three years of remaining eligibility after starting his career at Notre Dame and going through three seasons, one as a redshirt and one as the full-time starter. He then transferred to Arizona State in 2023 but was medically redshirted after an early season injury.

The Tigers have freshman Aiden Glover as well as walk-ons Brett Brown, JR Blood and Tommy Lock deeper down the depth chart.

But if the Tigers ever need to call on someone after Cook, that’s now Pyne’s job.

“He's really been everything we had hoped,” Drinkwitz said.

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Is Nicholas DeLoach emerging as the top backup corner?

One of the bigger questions facing Missouri this season is defensive depth, with 10 total players leaving the program this offseason to either the NFL or graduation.

One of the bigger questions facing Missouri’s defensive depth is who will step up at cornerback.

That could very well be DeLoach.

The redshirt freshman corner out of Cahokia, Illinois, made a tremendous tackle on who appeared to be freshman running back Kewan Lacy — jersey numbers can be hard to distinguish from the media viewing areas — during 1-on-1 drills Saturday.

Then, on Sunday, DeLoach lined up in the middle of all players during the team’s stretching period Sunday, often an indicator of the previous practice’s “players of the day,” before shadowing the presumed first-team’s corners during team drills.

DeLoach did not appear during his freshman season in 2023 but earned the praise of cornerbacks coach Al Pogue, who named him as the biggest defensive surprise during a university caravan stop in April in Sedalia, Missouri.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: 3 observations as Missouri football wraps first week of fall camp