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COLUMBIA, Mo. — Spring practice has raised the curtain on Missouri’s brewing quarterback competition, but don’t expect a resolution during the first act — this battle is likely to continue into summer camp.

The Tigers are replacing three-year starter Brady Cook and have four quarterbacks on the roster vying for the starting job. They’ve been rotating practice repetitions significantly during Mizzou’s first few spring practices, with any given day’s hierarchy sometimes determined by which signal-caller wins a round of rock-paper-scissors games.

MU coach Eli Drinkwitz, entering his sixth season, is in no rush to choose his starter for a season that is nearly six months away from starting.

“There is no timeline, no timetable,” Drinkwitz said. “When the starting quarterback makes himself known to the rest of the team, we’ll announce the starter. But I told these guys, there is no plan to try to name a starter through the spring. I don’t really believe in that because I think it puts too much pressure on the team and everybody involved. … It’s about player growth and not having the pressure of performance right now. That’ll come, but it’s about these guys making plays.”

The quarterback and linebacker rooms are on track to have the toughest competitions for starting jobs and playing time, and the program seems to be trying its best to keep the QB battle quiet. During the 25-minute period of Saturday’s practice that took place with media in attendance, coaches didn’t put the quarterbacks through any throwing drills.

In terms of skill set and experience, the four quarterbacks on the roster offer vastly different directions for Missouri and third-year offensive coordinator Kirby Moore. Mizzou’s options are:

• Beau Pribula, who transferred from Penn State and into pole position for the starting job. As a backup and gadget QB, he played sparingly in two seasons with the Nittany Lions.

His largest body of work game in a win over Wisconsin last year in which Pribula completed 11 of 13 passes for 98 yards and a touchdown. His rushing ability — 38 attempts for 242 yards and four scores last season — is clear. But his arm and capacity for going through progressions are open questions because of his lack of playing time.

• Drew Pyne, who arrived via the portal a little less than a year ago after stints at Notre Dame and Arizona State. As Cook’s backup, he struggled when called into action last season.

Pyne was passable in relief against Auburn, threw three costly interceptions against Alabama, then threw for 143 yards and three touchdowns to help the Tigers beat Oklahoma. He lacks the rushing upside of Pribula and, based on last season, wouldn’t offer the most consistency. But he does bring experience and familiarity with the MU offense.

• Sam Horn, who was the No. 2 in 2023 but missed all of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his elbow. As a baseball and football player at Missouri, Horn has undeniable arm talent.

The last time he was healthy, managing an offense and correctly reading a defense seemed to be concerns — though he was able to work on those skills while on the shelf. Rust and general inexperience could be a problem: Horn has thrown eight in-game passes in his career, with the last one coming on Nov. 24, 2023. When the 2025 season kicks off, it’ll have been 21 months since he last played.

Horn has stepped away from the Mizzou baseball team to participate in spring ball, in which he has no injury-related limitations.

“Sam looks great,” Drinkwitz said. “Fully cleared, throwing the ball, so no concerns with him. It’s been fun to watch him see how much he can apply his growth from watching last year.”

It’s difficult to sort out at this point who would have the leg up between Pyne and Horn. The former has experience, but the latter’s ceiling likely is higher.

Also in spring practice as an early enrollee is true freshman Matt Zollers. The four-star recruit from Royersford, Pennsylvania, is a highly touted prospect, but it’s tough to chart a path for a first-year player to start on a team with College Football Playoff aspirations. Zollers suffered a leg injury during his senior season of high school football but looked good to go during Saturday’s practice.

As far as what Drinkwitz is looking for out of his quarterbacks at this point — it’s not about the in-practice highlights that could emerge from media viewing periods. Mizzou wants to find a signal-caller who can reflect some of the traits of Cook, who finished his career with 27 wins.

“My biggest thing with a quarterback is really about what’s his growth and learning potential,” Drinkwitz said. “The thing about Brady Cook is he didn’t make the same mistake twice, right? We lost a lot of one-score games in his first year. And in the last two years, we won a ton of them because he learned from those situations.

“What we’ve got to force these quarterbacks to go into is, we got to put you in the red zone, you got to make a mistake and then not making it again. We got to put you in a two-minute drill, you make a mistake and make it again. That’ll be the growth that we’re trying to see. Somebody making a great throw (in a practice drill), we’re not going to get real excited about that. It’s going to be about how do they respond to the mistakes they make, and that’ll put us on the right path.”