The Nebraska football offensive line sustained a substantial blow to its depth, and a talented young defensive piece has seen a major setback.
Junior left tackle Teddy Prochazka and freshman linebacker Roger Gradney each suffered a season-ending torn ACL during recent fall camp practices, head coach Matt Rhule announced Tuesday.
The 6-foot-10, 315-pound Prochazka, who’s entering his fourth year in the program, is a key member of the offensive line room and was in a competition with fifth-year senior Turner Corcoran to be the team’s starting left tackle.
Prochazka, an Elkhorn South product, entered fall camp in 2023 slowed by an injury but wound up playing in the final 10 games and started the last five at left tackle when Corcoran went down with a season-ending foot injury against Northwestern.
Prochazka has appeared in 18 games with 11 total starts, all at left tackle, in his Husker career. This is his third season-ending injury for the lineman. As a true freshman in 2021, he hurt a knee in his fifth game that kept him off the field. In 2022, he had another season-ending injury three games into the season.
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Gradney, meanwhile, suffered his knee injury during the Big Red Preview open practice on Saturday. He was carted off the field after injuring his leg on a kickoff drill. Gradney later strongly implied on social media that he will miss the 2024 season, and Rhule confirmed the news on Tuesday.
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Prochazka started Saturday's practice as the second-team left tackle, behind Corcroan. When Corcoran went to the sideline after getting dinged, Prochazka replaced him.
Outside of Prochazka, other tackle options to provide depth behind Corcoran include sophomore Tyler Knaak (who was working at right guard Saturday but has tackle experience at Utah) and Jacob Hood, redshirt freshmen Gunnar Gottula, Grant Seagren and Brock Knutson and true freshmen Grant Brix and Xander Ruggeroli.
Ben Scott, the team's returning starting center who earned honorable-mention All-Big Ten in 2023, has 17 career starts at right tackle under his belt from his Arizona State days.
The Huskers feel good about their depth behind Scott at center, as guard Justin Evans could potentially slide down to center if the team would ever entertain Scott bumping out to left tackle in an emergency, unlikely as that may be.
Redshirt freshman Sam Sledge, a Creighton Prep product, has been working as the second-team center at practice and could be an option at center if Evans is kept at left guard.
