Saturday’s open practice offered a 6-foot-2, 231-pound reminder of just what Mizzou football needs to replace.

Walking along the perimeter at Faurot Field, an arm’s length from the white lines he commanded for two years in Columbia, was former linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper, visiting after appearing at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

He’s far from the only Tiger in Indy.

Five of MU’s defensive starters from 2023 have participated in the combine: Hopper; defensive end Darius Robinson; cornerbacks Ennis Rakestraw Jr. and Kris Abrams-Draine; and safety JC Carlies.

In total, ten key players from the 2023 Missouri football defense are either Draft-bound or out of eligibility. Defensive coordinator Blake Baker and defensive ends coach Kevin Peoples, Missouri’s nomination for the Broyles Award last season, are both now coaching at LSU.

New defensive play-caller Corey Batoon faces no small challenge replacing lost production in his first year in Columbia.

Here’s an early look at who may headline the depth chart for Missouri’s defense in 2024:

Defensive tackles

The starters: Kristian Williams, sr.; Chris McClellan, jr.

The reserves: Sterling Webb, jr.; Marquis Gracial, so.; Sam Williams, r-fr.

Kristian Williams is the lone returner from the four tackles that frequently rotated in and out for MU in the 2023 season. A likely team captain, Williams’ spot in the lineup is all but carved in stone.

Chris McClellan, a new Florida transfer, took reps alongside Williams on Saturday during a special teams drill, perhaps offering a clue at the starting partnership next season.

But interior defensive line coach Al Davis will likely bring a group of four players to share the load in live action. New Mexico State transfer Sterling Webb and St. Louis sophomore Marquis Gracial are likely candidates for that nod.

Defensive ends

The starters: Johnny Walker Jr., sr.; Williams Nwaneri, summer enrollee

The reserves: Zion Young, jr.; Austin Firestone, so.; Joe Moore III, sr.

New defensive ends coach Brian Early’s first and perhaps most important task will be to replace Robinson, who is looking more and more like a first-round draft pick by the drill.

Johnny Walker Jr. is likely a starter next season after a productive 2023 campaign. Williams Nwaneri isn’t on campus yet, but the No. 3-ranked recruit in the Class of 2024 comes with the billing to slot straight into the lineup.

Zion Young joined Missouri from Michigan State, where he made 20 career appearances in two seasons. Joe Moore III played 12 times for Missouri last season after transferring from Arizona State.

On Saturday, Walker lined up frequently on the left edge, while Young took several reps with the presumed ‘1s’ on the right.

Linebackers

The starters: M: Chuck Hicks, sr.; W: Triston Newson, sr.

The reserves: Darris Smith, jr.; Corey Flagg, sr.; Brayshawn Littlejohn, r-fr.; Brian Huff, fr.

With Hopper watching from the sidelines, it was a pair of his old teammates that took the majority of the starting reps at linebacker.

Triston Newson was Hopper’s direct replacement at will linebacker when the starter sat out with an injury toward the end of the 2023 season and in the Cotton Bowl.

Hicks is back for a seventh season of college football, and is likely to take the starting reigns at middle linebacker.

Darris Smith, a Georgia transfer, has the size to move up to defensive end, but is currently listed at linebacker on the MU roster. Corey Flagg, a Miami transfer with 43 career appearances and 179 college tackles, will surely figure in some capacity, if not as a starter come the new season.

Brayshawn Littlejohn earned praise from Hicks, who said the redshirt freshman has “grown tremendously.” The senior also is impressed with true freshman Brian Huff in his first cam.

“He's so young,” Hick said, “but he’s gonna be crazy good. He’s already, what, 6-3? Boy looks crazy, he can play. I promise you. Just watch, give him a year — he’s gonna be playing.”

Cornerbacks

The starters: Drey Norwood, sr.; Toriano Pride, jr.

The reserves: Shamar McNeil, r-fr.; Marcus Clarke, sr.; Ja’Mariyon Wayne, so.

Eli Drinkwitz said Drey Norwood, who filled in frequently for an injured Rakestraw in 2023, has the lead in the race to start at corner next season.

But who will join him?

Both Rakestraw and Abrams-Draine spoke highly of Shamar McNeil during his true-freshman year, and the returner was working with what appeared to be the second team during Saturday’s practice.

Ja’Mariyon Wayne, like Abrams-Draine before him, has moved to cornerback from wide receiver, and could be in a fight with Clemson transfer Toriano Pride Jr. and Marcus Clarke to partner Norwood in the secondary.

Pride was the high school teammate of star wide receiver Luther Burden III at East St. Louis. The corner played 26 games over two seasons for Clemson.

Safeties

The starters: Free: Joseph Charleston, sr.; Strong: Marvin Burks Jr., so.; Star: Daylan Carnell, sr.

The reserves: Tre’Vez Johnson, sr.; Sidney Williams Sr., sr.; Phillip Roche, so.

Returners Joseph Charleston and Daylan Carnell, who slotted into Missouri’s hybrid star-safety role last season, are as close to sure-fire starters in September as there are on the Tigers’ defense.

The task for Batoon, who also will coach safeties, will be to replace league-bound JC Carlies, who was MU’s leading tackler for each of the past two seasons.

That job, Carnell mentioned during media availability Saturday, is likely to fall on the shoulders of sophomore Marvin Burks Jr., a second-year player out of St. Louis who impressed in his rookie year.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: How will Mizzou football replace departed defensive talent? Depth chart projection from camp