The early warning signs suggest the Missouri football offense can pack a punch.

Brady Cook is entering his third full season as the starter. All six of the QB's top wide receivers from last year are back for more. A Doak Walker Award semifinalist, Marcus Carroll, transferred in at running back. Freshman tight end Brett Norfleet is coming off a stellar rookie year. To boot, 60% of the Joe Moore Award semifinalist offensive line is back and was bolstered with two top-ranked, power-conference transfers.

All in all ... the pickings seem good.

Mizzou is a little more than two months from beginning its 2024 campaign against Murray State on Thursday, Aug. 29, on Faurot Field in Columbia. Expectations are high. If the Tigers are able to put up a second straight double-digit win regular season, they’d be firmly in the conversation for a spot in the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.

The schedule, on paper, appears to be set up favorably. The tools to make a run are in place.

But who has the most mettle to stop Mizzou?

The Columbia Daily Tribune takes a look at what may be the top five defenses Missouri will face in the 2024 season:

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1: Alabama may have the best defense Missouri football faces in 2024

Shock, horror — a bunch of Tide talent departed for the NFL in April.

Alabama needs to find a way to replace six defensive NFL Draft picks from the team that ranked 18th in total defense in the nation in 2023. You can add the SEC Newcomer of the Year from last season, safety Caleb Downs, to that list, too, as he transferred to Ohio State.

Sound like an opportune time to play the team in Tuscaloosa?

Sure, but the Crimson Tide still shape up to be among the nation’s best defenses under new defensive coordinator Kane Wommack, who formerly was the head coach at South Alabama.

Wommack’s defense will look somewhat similar to the way Missouri lines up, starting in a base 4-2-5 with a star safety, like Mizzou, and a premier emphasis on hounding the passer, like Mizzou.

Senior safety Malachi Moore and linebackers Deontae Lawson and Jihaad Campbell shape up to be the next group of Alabama-made draftees, with Lawson a candidate to be one of the nation’s top linebackers in his fourth season.

The big question facing the Tide is how they’ll line up in their secondary, with a seemingly shallow pool to work with. Beyond its starting core, Alabama is working without a wealth of experience at safety and corner.

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2: Texas A&M

If new hire Mike Elko produces the way he did at Duke, the Aggies’ defense could be a tough customer next season. The coach keeps offenses on their toes by being extremely multiple and by mixing looks on similar designs. There's a not-so-complex reason Duke allowed the fewest points per game in the ACC last season: Elko.

Texas A&M has hit the portal since the coach took the head gig in College Station, Texas, luring experienced Vanderbilt safety De’Rickey Wright, Kansas State corner Will Lee and dominant Purdue defensive end Nic Scourton to play in Aggieland in 2024.

Tack on returners in standout defensive tackle Shemar Turner and linebacker Taurean York, each of whom had stellar seasons for the Aggies last season — remember, the defense was seldom the issue under the previous staff — and Texas A&M appears to be in a good spot.

Like ’Bama, the Aggies have had some turnover in the secondary and the team will have some new schemes to learn, but A&M has the tools to be a top defensive unit in the league.

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3: Oklahoma

The Sooners’ main strength shapes up to be on offense this season, which should set up a fun contest on Faurot Field in November as the former Big 12 rivals reunite.

But don’t discount OU’s defense from being a threat.

Brent Venables’ team brings back star linebacker Danny Stutsman and safety Billy Bowman. The Sooners have added TCU transfer defensive tackle Damonic Williams despite a chase from Mizzou and Miami-Ohio edge rusher Caiden Woullard.

Pass-rushing shapes up to be a strength, but an inconsistent secondary from 2023 enters the new season with similar questions. Oklahoma’s Achilles heel showed when the ball was in the air last season, giving up 250.8 yards per game, which ranked 10th in the Big 12.

If Missouri is still in the CFP hunt come the Nov. 8 matchup, this could be the game that signals its impending invitation or, conversely, dooms its run.

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4: South Carolina

Last season was rough more often than not for the Gamecocks, but coach Shane Beamer’s team has stocked up on transfers.

Georgia Tech edge rusher Kyle Kennard and Pittsburgh linebacker Bangally Kamara make up two of the eight defensive players USC grabbed out of the portal.

The Gamecocks also have solid pieces in place at each level, with defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway, linebacker Debo Williams and safety Nick Emmanwori all likely to be in preseason All-SEC consideration.

But South Carolina’s defense was inconsistent in 2023, with a solid month of November probably keeping defensive play-caller Clayton White in Columbia, South Carolina. Missouri coasted to an easy-as-you-like 34-12 win in CoMo last season, and the burden of proof is still on the Gamecocks, who ranked outside of the top half of the FBS last season in total defense, to prove something has changed entering 2024.

5: Auburn

When Auburn arrives in Columbia in October, there’s every chance it deserves a higher ranking than this. There’s also every chance it shouldn’t have made the list at all.

True to Auburn fashion, a lot has changed in the past six months.

Auburn went 6-7 last season, although a top-50 defense was not the lone cause of that. The Tigers lost their defensive coordinator Ron Roberts to Florida and replaced him with DJ Durkin in January. Auburn then lost five defensive starters to the NFL Draft and two more as undrafted free agents.

Eight defensive players have transferred to the Plains over the offseason, headlined by Indiana edge rusher Philip Blidi and Texas safety Jerrin Thompson.

With the high volume of turnover and seeming inexperience across the board in the two-deep, there appear to be quite a few questions facing Auburn in the new season. Time will tell how many the Tigers answer, and if they can answer any against a seemingly solid Mizzou.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Ranking the top 5 defenses the Missouri football faces in 2024