The defense looks a little different in Columbia from this time last year.

Missouri football enters the 2024 season with a realistic opportunity to make the expanded College Football Playoff. BetMGM has the over/under for the Tigers’ win total next season at 9.5. If Eli Drinkwitz’s team can hit double-digit regular-season wins for the second year running, they’d be firmly in the conversation for a berth to the 12-team playoff.

With a schedule that seemingly sets up favorably, MU has some questions to answer, mostly based on the unfamiliarity on one side of the ball.

More: Who will be Missouri football’s toughest opponent on 2024 schedule? Ranking all 12

Mizzou lost five starting members of its 11-2, Cotton Bowl-winning defense to the NFL Draft. Five more players, combining starters or key reserves, were either picked up as undrafted free agents or exhausted their collegiate eligibility.

Corey Batoon was hired as the MU’s next defensive coordinator, replacing Blake Baker, who left Columbia for the same role at LSU. Missouri is expected to run the same 4-2-5 base formation, providing an element of consistency, but the finer details of Batoon’s scheme haven’t been battle-tested in black and gold.

So, who will lead the defense in 2024?

Here are three candidates — two returners, one newcomer — who could be the Tigers’ Defensive MVP in the 2024 season:

Johnny Walker Jr., defensive end

The Cotton Bowl Defensive MVP has the floor.

Walker had a breakout 2023 season, staying the course behind past starters for three seasons before taking his opportunity when it was presented last fall. He finished the campaign with 43.5 total tackles, 9.5 of which were for loss and five for sacks. He forced three fumbles, led the team with nine QB hurries and was a force as MU held Ohio State to 3 points for a New Year’s Six Bowl win.

Walker shapes up to be Missouri’s premier pass rusher under Batoon. With quarterbacks like Alabama’s Jalen Milroe, Oklahoma’s Jackson Arnold, Texas A&M’s Conner Weigman and Auburn’s Payton Thorne on the schedule in what look likely to be swing games, that’s going to be an essential role in MU’s CFP chase.

Mizzou lost that player in Darius Robinson, who was a first-round pick by the Arizona Cardinals in April. The standard now turns to Walker.

“Something that (Walker) communicated to me when I met with him one-on-one when I first got here was the fact that he looked up to (Robinson) when he was here,” new Missouri defensive ends coach Brian Early said in March. “I think D-Rob was the alpha in this room, and that person is gone and someone else has to move into that role. 

“So, those standards that have been set here and upheld by players in the past like D-Rob — it’s Johnny’s turn now.”

More: Ranking opposing quarterbacks on Missouri football’s 2024 schedule

Daylan Carnell, star safety

In a secondary that looks a little different from last season, Carnell is a welcome constant.

The star safety has improved each of the past two seasons, first carving out a role alongside starter Martez Manuel in 2022, when he registered three interceptions on the season, and then earning the starting job in 2023. Carnell finished last season with 51 total tackles, eight for loss and three sacks. He forced two fumbles and was second on the MU roster with eight pass breakups. 

Mizzou lost both of its starting cornerbacks to the NFL. The Tigers return Joseph Charleston with plenty of experience at safety, where he’ll partner up with promising sophomore Marvin Burks Jr., who replaces Indianapolis Colts-bound JC Carlies.

More: Recruiting snapshot: Eight Class of 2025 recruits who will visit Missouri football this month

Carnell is a steady hand in the hybrid safety/linebacker role that seems to fit his strengths so well. He hurried Ohio State’s quarterbacks a game-leading three times in the Cotton Bowl. Few MU fans will soon forget his pick-six against Tennessee that put the result beyond any doubt.

Another good season as the Tigers’ starter, and Carnell is likely to start picking up some serious draft chatter.

Toriano Pride Jr., cornerback

You could have picked any number of the nine new transfers to the Missouri defense as the newcomer who could have the most immediate impact. Defensive ends Zion Young and Darris Smith, defensive tackle Chris McClellan and linebacker Corey Flagg Jr. all figure to immediately jump into important roles.

More: How Toriano Pride has made case to start in Missouri football’s secondary

But Pride, a Clemson transfer and East St. Louis product, might be the cog Missouri needs to hit the ground running most.

One: Because the experience around him in the cornerbacks room is somewhat thin. 

Returner and Cotton Bowl starter Drey Norwood has put together a spring camp that earned plenty of plaudits from the MU coaching staff. Marcus Clarke is back for his third season in Columbia but has spent all of the past two campaigns as a backup. Behind them, there’s a promising group of underclassmen but scant in-game reps.

With Ennis Rakestraw Jr. and Kris Abrams-Draine off to the league with Detroit and Denver, respectively, there’s a lot of production to fill. Pride played 26 times for Clemson over two seasons, registering nine pass breakups, an interception and 30 solo tackles.

Two: Missouri needs Pride to impress quickly because it comes up against some top-of-the-line receivers.

From Oklahoma returner Nic Anderson to Auburn freshman Cam Coleman to Mississippi State newcomer Kelly Akharaiyi to Alabama transfer Germie Bernard, Mizzou won’t get much of a breather once the SEC slate kicks in.

Pride is almost certainly going to pair with Norwood in the starting lineup. If he hits the ground running, that’ll answer a big — perhaps the biggest — question facing the Missouri defense.