COLUMBIA - You might not expect the Missouri receiving corps to look much different this season, considering the Tigers lost just one senior receiver from the 2015 season.
But with a new offensive coordinator, a new position coach and a handful of new faces, the group could be in for a makeover.
And given their output last season, change might not be a bad thing. Missouri was 112th among 127 qualifying Football Bowl Subdivision teams last season in passing yards, with just 165.5 per game. Plus, the Tigers were tied for eighth-worst in the nation with just 10 touchdowns through the air.
That means spots are there for the taking as the Tigers finish up spring camp.
"Coach (Barry) Odom let us know that, "Hey, anybody's job is up to go,'" Justin Smith said. ""So just be ready.'"
Smith is part of a group of receivers ditching the redshirt and itching to contribute after sitting out last season, an experience Smith called "excruciating."
At 6-foot-7, Smith is by far the tallest member of Missouri's receiver group, which also gains Johnathon Johnson, Richaud Floyd and Ronnell Perkins as redshirt freshmen.
"We've all got our own individual aspects," Smith said, "but at the end of the day, we've got a lot of built-up pressure from being in that red shirt. So we're just going to do as much as we can for the team."
The 5-foot-10, 175-pound Johnson looked ready to contribute as a true freshman last season before suffering a season-ending ankle injury in an August scrimmage.
Wide receivers coach Andy Hill, who previously coached quarterbacks for Missouri, said it was hard to say whether Johnson would've played last season if not for the injury.
"We felt pretty good about it, I know," he said. "But you really need probably more sample size, I'd say."
One receiver sure to play in his first year at Missouri is Alabama graduate transfer Chris Black. Black, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound senior, will likely start for the Tigers at slot receiver.
"Me, I've got one shot," Black said. "One shot to go out and prove myself, and this is a perfect fit more me."
Black was hindered last season by an ankle injury, recording just two catches and playing in only two games. He was sidelined by injuries during Alabama's national championship victories last season and in 2012. Still, his time with the Crimson Tide has bought him some respect from teammates.
"I mean, you play at "Bama, you're going to see some stuff," junior J'Mon Moore said. "... So having somebody like that on the team, you want to really take into account everything that he's saying."
An clear-cut leader has yet to surface among the receivers, but Black remains a likely contender, despite being a newcomer. He and Eric Laurent are Missouri's only two scholarship senior receivers.
"He makes me more comfortable," Moore said of Black. "Just having a guy who's seen probably more talented guys and just experienced more things than me. He brings experience, and if I'm down or I need to work on something or just something that I need to work on that I can't see myself, he sees it."
Moore and Nate Brown, both juniors, are Missouri's leading returning receivers and will likely be leaders among the group as well - though that process has been slowed, Hill said, by them having to learn new terminology. Moore hauled in 29 receptions and 350 yards last season, both best on the team, with three touchdowns. Nate Brown had a team-best four receiving touchdowns and 326 yards on 27 catches - both second behind Moore.
Moore said he has "a little decision to make in the next week or so" regarding his left shoulder.
Does that mean surgery?
"Something like that," said Moore, who played through the injury last season.
Missouri's receivers have been bit by the injury bug this spring, as Black and Johnson were out with right ankle sprains and junior Oke Akushe has missed time with a right hamstring strain.
The additions of Black and Johnson will likely allow Brown to move from slot receiver to wideout, where he'll be in the mix with Moore and sophomore Emmanuel Hall. Floyd and Laurent will likely figure in at the slot.
And now that all of them have returned to the field, there's plenty of work to be done.
"I've seen improvement, but we haven't seen consistent improvement," Hill said. "But we've got a long ways to go. It's been encouraging, though. I will say that.
"If we're on the right track and we're sitting still, we're going to be getting run over. So we're moving forward, we're making strides and today's practice and hopefully tomorrow's practice we can continue to do that."
Notes: Wesley Leftwich was Missouri's lone senior receiver last season. He caught 22 passes for 285 yards and a touchdown. ... Then-freshman Cam Hilton accounted for nine catches and 129 yards last season, but has moved to safety this spring.