Heading into Nebraska football's spring practices, which are set to begin in late March, the offensive line room is filled with key pieces who will be rehabbing from offseason surgeries.

Holding his first press conference since after the Pinstripe Bowl on Dec. 28, Husker head coach Matt Rhule detailed the situation in position coach Donovan Raiola's room.

Turner Corcoran, Teddy Prochazka and Gunnar Gottula, the top three options at left tackle in 2024, are all coming off surgeries.

Corcoran's hamstring injury didn't heal well, leading to him having the surgery a couple weeks ago with a specialist — "We're hopeful that he'll be back at some point," Rhule said. Prochazka tore an ACL in fall camp last year — "He's right on pace," according to Rhule. Henry Lutovsky, the starting right guard, is in the same boat and had offseason surgery.

What does it mean? It’s time for the young linemen behind them to step up and show what they can do.

And even as Nebraska took big swings at multiple veteran offensive linemen in the transfer portal, Rhule ultimately wants his program to be at a place where it develops young offensive linemen into starters down the road.

“To win in college football, you're gonna have to grow your own offensive linemen,” Rhule said.

Rhule has said it before, but mentioned it again on Saturday: He wants his offensive linemen to follow the same rhythm to their careers — redshirt your first year before becoming a backup and earning a spot in the two deep in the second. Once the third year comes around and that lineman has been in three year’s worth of strength and conditioning, seriously pushing for a starting position is a realistic expectation.

Nebraska has a group of linemen entering their third year in the program, including interior linemen Sam Sledge and Jason Maciejczak and tackles Tyler Knaak, who’s entering his fourth year of college football, Grant Seagren and Brock Knutson.

Interior linemen Grant Brix, who could also play tackle, as well as Preston Taumua, Landen Davidson and Gibson Pyle will certainly be in the mix this spring as well as linemen entering their redshirt freshman seasons in 2025.

Houston Kaahaaina-Torres, a true freshman early-enrollee from Hawaii, will be in Lincoln for spring ball and help push others. Kaahaaina-Torres is viewed by many as a strong candidate to be Nebraska's center of the future.

With so many veteran players looking like they won’t be fully available in the spring, the time is now for the young healthy players to make a jump.

“So now it's their time to make their move, right? They have all the opportunities they want this spring and I'm excited to see them,” Rhule said. “Even last year, the guys we signed last year, Preston, Grant Brix, those guys in the bowl game were in the two-deep. So it'll be their chance this spring to go out there and either be starters or be in the two-deep and show what they can do. There are a lot of guys who have spent a year or two in the weight room and now they'll have an opportunity.”

Left tackle and right tackle are obviously top of mind when thinking about what the Nebraska offensive line will look like when the team kicks off its season against Cincinnati at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City on Aug. 28. Alabama transfer tackle Elijah Pritchett, who can play both right or left tackle, will obviously be a big part of the unit in the spring and fall.

But with two-year starter Ben Scott moving on from the program, center shouldn’t be overlooked, either.

Rhule mentioned three names for that center spot: Justin Evans, Sledge and Maciejczak.

Evans likely heads into spring ball and fall camp as the leader in the clubhouse to win the starting center job. We’ve known Sledge has been an option there ever since he signed with the program. The new name was Maciejczak, though it’s not necessarily surprising.

At 6-2 and 305 pounds, Maciejczak, a product out of South Dakota, has been moved around during his career at Nebraska. He was recruited as an offensive guard, but to help the numbers in 2023 he started his career as a reserve interior defensive lineman. Maciejczak was moved back to the O-line room as a guard late in that 2023 season, and it's where he spent all of 2024. Now the big man will be competing for an interior job at either guard or center.

At the end of the day, Rhule and Raiola will want the best five on the field.

“Let's not forecast our record next year, and let's not forecast the lineups right now,” Rhule said. “Let them all go compete.”

Rhule also mentioned that, just because a player has a big NIL deal doesn’t mean he should be penciled in as a starter. Rhule and Raiola want competition — it’s king after all. The cream always rises to the top.

“Most times, you're compensated for not what you're going to do, but what you've done,” Rhule said. “I can tell you, last year, some of the more highly-compensated players on this team via NIL didn't play, and some of the less-compensated players did. It's just football. So all of our guys are gonna have an opportunity this spring to either battle for the 105 or battle to be a starter.”

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