Nebraska Football 2024 Spring Preview: Offensive Line – The Upward Trend

The Cornhuskers finished 2nd in rushing yards in the B1G in 2023’s football season. 2024 is set up to give even more depth and experience for a position group that in recent years felt like it had been left by the way side. .

Coach Donovan Raiola returns for his third season as Offensive Line Coach. With the addition of 7 new recruits and 1 transfer portal player, he will have a nice big number on the roster of 26 lineman.

The bulk of Coach Raiola’s recruits for 2024 were listed as top offensive lineman in the country earning him recognition from 24/7 Sports as #6 Recruiting Coach in the country.

Who’s gone?

Ethan Piper retired from playing football after last season’s injury. Recently Ethan was honored with the Native Son award for Nebraska.

Nouredin Nouili was seen at Nebraska’s Pro Day by 25 NFL teams looking to add an experienced lineman to their roster.

Returning

Bryce Benhardt held the Huskers highest PFF rating for 2023 season at 70.3 he started all 12 games at RT and tied Jeremiah Sirles for most starts in school history on the offensive line.

Ben Scott completed his first season as a Husker. This Arizona/Hawaiian was a much needed staple to the O-Line at Center. He certainly has the toughness and grit that you want in a lineman but the follow through after the play of that toughness caused some unnecessary penalties.

Teddy Prochazka was healing from an injury but played in the last 10 games of the season. At left tackle he made an impact on the final 5 games.

Turner Corcoran sustained a season-ending injury after playing in 7 games in 2023. Turner consistently got beat at tackle but he’s had 30 career snaps, so his experience counts. Perhaps shifting him to an interior lineman is the answer.

Justin Evans-Jenkins played in all 12 games and even started at center for a game.

2 Deep Players Returning

• Henry Lotovski
• Ru’Quan Buckley
• Gunnar Gottula
• Sam Sledge
• Tyler Knaak

New Faces for Spring

Transfer Portal:

Micah Mazzccua is expected to contribute immediately as an Offensive Guard. He has just one year of eligibility left and transferred from Florida via Baylor where his PFF graded out as the second best guard in the Big 12.

Early Enrollees:

Gibson Pyle one of the top O-Line recruits in the Nation. 247 lists him as the 52nd-best interior offensive lineman, although Huskers.com says he’s in the Top 40.

Grant Brix was heavily recruited but no other team drove their 18 wheeler semi truck to his High School, so that’s a W for Nebraska. Brix was the top player in Iowa, ranked as the nation’s #2 interior offensive lineman.

Commits:

Xander Ruggeroli – offensive tackle from Nevada. Xander isn’t a stranger to Lincoln as fans, his parents attended a Husker football game while they were pregnant with him.

Preston Taumua – Top player from Hawaii. Preston was heavily recruited by Coach Raiola. He played interior lineman in the Polynesian Bowl against fellow recruits Dylan Raiola and Carter Nelson.

Jake Peters – interior lineman. Ranked as top 15 player in Iowa.

Landen Davidson – offensive tackle from Broomfield, Colorado. Rated by 247 as 4th-based player in Colorado.

Projected Starters for 2024:

• Teddy Prochazka-Left Tackle
• Justin Evans-Jenkins-Left Guard
• Ben Scott-Center
• Micah Mazzccua-Right Guard
• Bryce Benhardt–Right Tackle

How does this offensive line look going into spring 2024?