Matt Rhule said Saturday this spring will be a good opportunity for some younger guys on the O-line. While there are others, here are four names that came to mind.
It’s a shrinking roster – 126 as of Saturday we are told – but still a big roster. Sometimes it’s worth just finding a certain angle to get your hands around all the names on it. That’s what Four Downs is about. Today it’s about four younger offensive linemen on my mind for various reasons as winter work spins toward spring ball.
He was one of the names, along with the next that will follow on this list, who got a shout-out from Rhule on Saturday as he spoke about the opportunity for younger players this spring.
Entering his second year, Taumua is on the schedule you’d expect. Especially for someone who didn’t enroll early last season. «Coach Donnie said they think I’m at a good weight, but the main goal is to gain more muscle,» he said before he arrived at Nebraska last summer.
He’s listed at 6-4, 325 pounds. Big boy. So is Houston Kaahaaina-Torres, who really looked formidable coming off the bus at the Pinstripe Bowl for a guy just out of high school.
>>> Grant Brix
One of Nebraska’s biggest 2024 recruiting class wins, Brix was on the travel roster by the end of the year and listed as the backup right guard for the bowl game.
He was considered a tackle initially. It’s important to note Rhule said on Saturday it’s about finding the best five through the offseason and not getting caught up in early forecasts about who’s where on that O-line.
But I didn’t forget what Rhule said about Brix last spring as you think about the big picture.
«I think anytime you recruit a tackle, you try to play them at tackle. It’s harder to find tackles than guards,» Rhule said in the spring. «Sometimes you can go over and take the D-lineman that’s struggling and move him to guard and all of a sudden they’re a great player. Grant to me has a bright, bright, bright future at tackle. He can play tackle at this level. He’s put on a lot of good weight since he’s gotten here. He’s extremely conscientious. Straight ‘A’ student. Going to do everything right on the football field. He just needs reps.»
Wherever he takes those reps, he’s one you’d definitely love to see have himself positioned as a potential starter by the time 2025 ends.
>>> Grant Seagren
He became a name way more fans were aware of after the injuries to Teddy Prochazka and Turner Corcoran prior to last season. While Gunnar Gottula took the lead as the first young gun to carve a big role, at left tackle, Seagren played in seven games and is an impressive looking kid at 6-6, 305 pounds.
An athletic lineman who actually played tight end along with his D-line work at Oakland-Craig. He’s someone who has rather naturally filled out his frame at this level and wears it well.
If there was a blessing in disguise with NU’s tackle injuries last year it was that Gottula and Seagren were forced into growing on the job fast. Gottula has that impressive frame too – with 33-inch arms and an 81-inch wing span.
«If that guy was in the portal, we’d all be scrambling for him. He’s played against good players for a year and a half. It’s time for him to go,» Rhule said last season of Gottula, before adding of Seagren, «Grant is a good player. I think he’s big, he’s got really long arms, he’s athletic.»
>>> Jason Maciejczak
Don’t sleep on Maciejczak at all. He was the backup left guard on the Pinstripe Bowl depth chart behind Justin Evans, who is a good name to mention here. Because Evans is one of those names I often thought people whistled over and then – boom – you look up and he’s suddenly a mainstay in the first five.
Not saying that is going to happen here, but Maciejczak has similar versatility, with Rhule mentioning him along with Evans and Sam Sledge as those who could possibly get looks at center. With interior O-lineman Henry Lutovsky also out this spring, Maciejczak could be a possible top-unit option during some drills.
Both NU D-line and O-line coaches were interested in Maciejczak’s services, with former defensive line coach Terrance Knighton saying of him upon arrival, «He’s the perfect example of a guy who just was under recruited.A lot of people didn’t do their homework on him and we did.»
The video of him ripping out 31 reps of 225 pounds as a senior in high school also always takes an occasional lap around my head.