As Tigers fans bide time until Sept. 5, thrilled to watch the program strive for a third consecutive SEC East title, the coaching staff likely is looking further into the future.

With spring ball complete and fall practice still months away, the coaches will try to bolster the team’s lagging 2016 recruiting class. After evaluating the current roster and projecting the Tigers’ on-field needs in ’16 and ’17, here are Missouri’s top three positions of priority for the current recruiting cycle.

INTERIOR OL

Losing after 2015: Evan Boehm, Taylor Chappell, Mitch Hall and Brad McNulty

The offense’s biggest strength in 2015, the interior offensive line, also represents Mizzou’s biggest need.

Counting Chappell as a guard, where he currently projects for this fall — he played right tackle last season and practiced at left tackle for a large portion of this spring — the team will lose three of its five scholarship players at the position. Redshirt freshman Kevin Pendleton and true freshman A.J. Harris, who has yet to practice with the Tigers, are the only two scholarship guards projected to return.

The team also will lose Boehm, a four-year starter and likely one of the top centers in the ’16 draft.

Granted, Missouri has trained its offensive linemen to be versatile, and several players on the roster could work at all five positions if absolutely necessary. But, as of this month, there’s no doubt about Mizzou’s top priority in the next recruiting class.

CORNERBACK

Losing after 2015: Kenya Dennis, David Johnson

Excluding redshirt freshman Raymond Wingo, who is a receiver for now, Mizzou claims seven scholarship cornerbacks.

Five of those seven will get nearly all the playing time this fall, barring more than one injury. Of those five, just one, sophomore Logan Cheadle, will retain eligibility into 2017.

The Tigers need to bring in multiple cornerbacks in the ’16 class and develop them next year in preparation for that.

RUNNING BACK

Losing after 2015: Russell Hansbrough, Tyler Hunt

The team will return as many as six scholarship running backs. On the surface, that’s plenty. But there are questions about many of them.

Morgan Steward has missed about nine months due to a hip injury, and it’s unclear if he’ll be the same player. Trevon Walters, who never has carried in college, tore his ACL this spring. Three of the six have yet to enroll at Mizzou: JUCO transfer Chase Abbington and a pair of true freshmen in Marquise Doherty and Ryan Williams.

Considering this coaching staff prefers to play three running backs extensively, and the amount of unknown within the potential six returning, the Tigers want to add at least one quality back in the ’16 class.

Other positions Mizzou should target: QB, TE, ILB, K

CURRENT RECRUITING CLASS

Missouri’s official 2016 recruiting class includes just one official commitment — three-star projected right tackle Trystan Castillo from Webb City, Mo.

However, safety Greg Taylor and running back Natereace Strong, both non-qualifiers out of East St. Louis High School currently attending Hinds Community College, recently reaffirmed their intentions to be part of Mizzou’s ’16 class.

MIZZOU NOT YET ON TRACK TO FILL NEEDS

If Strong indeed qualifies academically, enrolls and joins the Tigers, it takes care of the team’s need at running back in this class. A four-star player out of high school in ’15, Strong was one of Mizzou’s best commitments after defensive tackle Terry Beckner Jr. and quarterback Drew Lock. He could make an impact in the backfield immediately.

Beyond that, the team has done little thus far to address its ’16 class needs.

According to 247Sports, the Tigers have offered eight offensive guards, all three- or four-star prospects, and zero centers. None of the offered players seems particularly close to selecting Mizzou.

OUTLOOK

Under the current rules, the college football calendar dictates that the Tigers won’t be able to sign any players for nearly nine months. It’s not time to panic.

Still, it would be nice to see the team further along in its recruiting efforts for ’16. Recruiting rankings aren’t the be-all, end-all in terms of gauging talent, but Missouri definitively lags behind the elite SEC programs.

After back-to-back division titles, coach Gary Pinkel and company secured a borderline Top 25 class in February, but recent success on and off the field has yet to translate to recruiting inroads within this cycle. That’s a disappointment, albeit a minor one that could dissipate.

If Pinkel and new athletic director Mack Rhoades push forward on the South end zone facility for which the coach has lobbied aggressively, and the team continues to win conference games in bunches, the coaches will have plenty to sell to potential recruits this fall and into the final sprint toward National Signing Day.