Another O-line battle for Nebraska football, freshmen turn heads

Nebraska football offensive line coach Donovan Raiola met with the media on Friday and offered up some interesting nuggets on the Huskers’ offensive line group.

The first thing that caught my attention is the fact that Turner Corcoran is battling it out with Teddy Prochazka, who started the last six games at left tackle for the Huskers in 2023.

Corc and Teddy were each highly-touted recruits coming out of high school. Both have battled injuries too as Corcoran missed the end of last season. He’s just now getting back to 100 percent and for now, it seems like Nebraska football wants Corcoran at tackle, instead of guard.

Head coach Matt Rhule said Corcoran was going to play tackle. He’s also talked about playing the best five guys and if Corcoran is one of them, he could still move inside to guard. My read is that the Huskers are shaky on tackle depth and Corcoran can be a solid swing tackle (backup to the right and left side).

That’s valuable in its own right, especially because it’s unlikely that Prochazka and Bryce Benhart play 100 percent of the snaps at tackle this season. At some point, another body will be needed, and the Huskers preference appears to be Corcoran.

Prochazka is the favorite to win the job and the 6-foot-10 mammoth will be hard to unseat.

Freshmen O-linemen turn heads

Nebraska football have some highly-touted freshmen along the offensive line and so far, those guys are showing out. Grant Brix and Preston Taumua, four-star signees from the 2024 class, earned some praise from Raiola on Friday. He said both have impressed and that Taumua, has a “humble confidence.”

Gibson Pyle, a three-star offensive tackle from Texas, who is expected to play guard for the Huskers, has also turned heads early.

Pyle played in an All-American All-Star game and some SEC schools even tried to flip him late in the process. He told them he was “100 percent” Nebraska and the 6-foot-5, 295-pound freshman could work his way onto the field earlier than expected.

It will be interesting to see if any of those three burn their redshirt this season. Their development is going to be key though and honestly, it feels like the Huskers landed three future starters in Brix, Taumua, and Pyle.

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