Nebraska Counting on a Revitalized Elijah Pritchett at Offensive Tackle

Nebraska offensive tackle Elijah Pritchett was a mystery man last season. Simply, and bluntly, he wasn’t the dominant player the Huskers thought they were getting when he transferred in from Alabama.

Huskers coach Matt Rhule said this week he thinks Pritchett has a bright future.

Big, if true.

Pritchett, who stands 6-foot-6 and weighs 325 pounds, arrived in Lincoln before last season. He had gifted credibility from spending three seasons at Alabama. He played 27 games across his last two seasons with the Crimson Tide, after playing two games as a freshman. He made 12 starts with Alabama.

His game struggled at Nebraska. He started nine of 13 games and played in every game. Nebraska’s hope was that Pritchett would be not just a stabilizing player on the offensive line, but a physical, disruptive force who would open holes and protect the quarterback from his left-tackle position, the QB’s blindside.

That seemed to be a minimum ask for someone with an Alabama pedigree.

Pritchett’s growth

Pritchett, a senior, has the same expectations and opportunities he had last season. And with a successful final college season, he can set his market for the NFL Draft next spring. NFL teams always — always — crave physical, mauling offensive tackles.

According to Rhule, Pritchett has grown from his disappointing season.

“I think probably his biggest growth was probably 12 months ago,“ Rhule said at a news conference.

“Sometimes as a coach you have to do hard things. We didn’t always play him until the standards were right.

“I’m very proud of Elijah. I think he’ll be a top draft pick next year. He was very mature in making the decision to come back.

“When you go through those moments and you’re not getting what you want, you can pout or you can grow. I think he’s grown.

“He’s a tremendous talent and he’s combining that with technique, grit, every single day showing up, doing the right things. And adding to the guys in the room have also helped grow that for him. Justin Evans is clearly the leader in that room, there’s no doubt about that. I think Pritch is kinda like right there along with him.”

About that targeting penalty …

In the second quarter of an eventual 24-6 loss at Minnesota on Oct. 17, Pritchett was ejected after a targeting call. He became one of the rare offensive players charged with a targeting penalty.

A Minnesota player was on the turf and getting up to his knees. Pritchett ran toward him and, leading with his helmet, hit the Gophers player in the helmet.

Rhule and the Husker coaches supported Pritchett then. Rhule did so again at this week’s news conference. He was asked if the support for Pritchett was a bonding moment.

“You probably have to ask him,” Rhule said. “I didn’t see it that way. It was just sort of, I thought, a tough call.

“For someone who watches as much football as me, I think it was the only time I had ever seen that [targeting on an offensive player]. There was one other instance.

“But at the end of the day, he was just trying to play hard. He wasn’t trying to hurt anybody. In a game that wasn’t quite going our way early on, he was trying to establish physical dominance by hitting a player. They made the call, they made the call.”

Learning moments

Rhule likes to impart lessons on his players. He wants them to learn, to grow and, in theory, as the individuals improve, so does the team.

Nebraska needs a strong Pritchett on the offensive line in 2026, as the Huskers embark on a difficult schedule that includes the last two national champions. And pesky Iowa, too.

Nebraska is coming off consecutive 7-6 seasons. Rhule is 19-19 in his three seasons in Lincoln. Many fans consider last season a wasted opportunity with a Big Ten schedule that wasn't outrageous, a solid roster and a talented quarterback in Dylan Raiola, who had a season under his belt.

This season offers no such schedule breaks.

Nebraska has a new offensive line coach this season, Geep Wade, who arrived from Georgia Tech. His task is to maintain the successful running game and improve the pass protection.

“What you hope is over time, when you’re holding players and staff and yourself to standards, that they don’t see it as punishment, they see it as corrective action helping them get better,” Rhule said.

“If you’re ever able to stay at a place long enough, those messages kinda get passed on. No matter how talented you are, you have to do things this way.

“Again, tremendous credit to Elijah. He’s done that. He’ll reap a lot of rewards this year and have a long NFL career afterward because he’s got all the talent and he’s added — we haven’t done it, he’s done it — the discipline and the accountability to get it done.”

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