When discussing Missouri’s offense for 2014, Maty Mauk seemingly is an assumption.

He’ll be good, right?

While Mauk did start four SEC games last season as a redshirt freshman and isn’t a complete unknown, he’s still a first-year starter.

We can get a pretty good idea of how he’ll perform based on the previous history of Missouri’s quarterbacks developing in coach Gary Pinkel’s system and by taking a look at Mauk’s attributes. The three starting receivers all are seniors, and the offensive line is a relatively known quantity.

But there’s still a range of how Mauk’s first full season at quarterback will turn out. Let’s take a look at the extremes and then combine them to determine what’s realistic.

THE GOOD

The Scenario: The only thing more perfect than Mauk’s beard is his post-touchdown exuberance. With an entire offseason taking first-team reps and developing chemistry with the receivers, Mauk improves his completion percentage, continues to find receivers downfield and proves elusive as a runner, becoming one of the most feared dual-threat quarterbacks in the country.

Mauk threw for eight touchdowns in his final two starts last season. That’s 48 touchdowns in the course of a 12-game schedule. Mauk isn’t going to come close to that figure, but with the right breaks, and with some help from the tight ends and running backs catching passes in the red zone, he could reach 30 or more passing touchdowns.

As a runner, Mauk could reach 800 or even 900 rushing yards in a dream scenario. James Franklin and Mauk combined for 163 carries last season. Mauk averaged 5.6 yards per carry. Assuming he upholds that average and stays healthy, he’ll have a chance to finish second on the team in rushing yards.

The best Mauk improvises, reminds you of Johnny Manziel, creates something from nothing, but is smart enough to take the conservative route when it suits the team best. Mauk is a serious contender for first-team All-SEC and even gets some talk as a Heisman candidate in 2015.

THE BAD

The Scenario: Mauk’s completion percentage continues to sputter. Without the talented collection of departed receivers, many of the deep balls on which he connected last season fall to the ground or get intercepted. Mauk tries to force too many plays instead of taking what the defense gives him like a bad version of Manziel. His strong personality and confidence gets perceived as cocky and out of place as the team struggles.

Mauk’s confidence seems like a considerable asset to this particular Missouri offense. As long as he continues to identify weaknesses and improve them.

It’s a sign of maturity that Mauk can so naturally downplay whatever disconnect existed between him and the receivers in the fall scrimmages, so long as he isn’t so unconcerned that he doesn’t work to fix it.

He must improve on his 51.1 percent completion rate from last season, and more specifically, he must play with more consistency. Mauk has more upside than Franklin did, but the one thing the team risks losing at quarterback is dependability.

Mauk went 3-1 in his four starts last year, including a double-overtime loss to South Carolina. That’s well and good. But he struggled against the Gamecocks, part of the reason the team relinquished a 17-0 lead.

Mauk’s combined numbers against South Carolina and Tennessee last season: 22-for-50, 206.0 passing yards per game and a 4-to-1 touchdown ratio that could’ve been worse. He ran for 114 yards against the Vols and threw touchdown passes of 26 and 40 yards, so all was not lost. But if he plays that way in, say, half of the team’s eight SEC games, Missouri will have a tough time achieving expectations.

THE UGLY

The Scenario: Perhaps his knee buckles or perhaps it’s another body part, but Mauk suffers a season-ending hit during a non-conference game. Mauk doesn’t start a single SEC game, returning to the team in 2015 as a redshirt junior and fending off Eddie Printz and Drew Lock for his starting job.

Listed at 6-foot and 200 pounds, Mauk is not built to absorb body blow after body blow from SEC defensive linemen and linebackers.

The worst-case scenario is that Mauk suffers some sort of catastrophic season-ending injury early in the year.

That’s grotesque and a bit absurd to mention in writing just prior to the season kickoff, I realize, but it isn’t very likely.

However, there’s a less extreme version of this that involves Mauk missing a game or two due to injury or seeing his effectiveness limited by a lack of mobility, similar to what Oregon’s Marcus Mariota went through last season with his knee issue.

Mauk’s ability to make plays with his feet is a great asset, as was James Franklin’s. But he needs to channel Andrew Luck or a Russell Wilson rather than Robert Griffin III in the NFL, avoiding punishing collisions and picking his spots.

WHAT’S REALISTIC

Projected Numbers: 3,100 passing yards, 59 percent completion percentage, 7.5 yards per attempt, 26 touchdown passes, seven interceptions; 600 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns.

Unless he takes fewer risks, improves his accuracy by a good bit and gets more help from the 2014 receivers, Mauk’s 11-to-2 touchdowns to interceptions ratio isn’t going to last.

He should, however, improve on his completion percentage and consistency. Expect his decision-making to get better as he learns when to force a pass into traffic, when to go deep, when to throw the ball away and when to take off and run.

It’s probably unrealistic to expect Mauk to complete much more than 60 percent of his passes in 2014, but that would represent a significant improvement. Although the downfield shots won’t be as readily available as they were a season ago, I’d expect his yards per attempt numbers to stay near the top of the SEC.

There’s not a ton of evidence for this, but I expect Mauk to be more durable than Franklin, who was injury-prone at Missouri. Mauk’s high school scouting reports indicated he’s a tough player. It’s unrealistic to expect Mauk to be completely healthy all year, even if he starts every game. But the team needs him on the field, and barring a significant injury, I expect he’ll be there.

Overall, Mauk is going to make some mistakes. He’s not going to be first-round worthy after the 2014 season. He’ll throw a few interceptions and try to do too much on occasion. But he’ll also make some plays most of the SEC’s other quarterbacks can’t make, and he’ll make sure Missouri’s offense still puts up points despite losses in personnel.

Some expect Mauk to step in as a first-year starter and immediately become a first-team All-SEC performer, and that’s probably unrealistic. But if he stays within himself, he easily could finish the year as one of the three or four best quarterbacks in the conference, and that should be enough to keep the Tigers competitive against just about any opponent.