How Ole Miss Left Tackle Nick Broeker Can Make The Year Two Leap

Left tackles don't exactly play significant snaps as true freshmen the SEC. It's not supposed to happen. Someone apparently forgot to tell this to Nick Broeker.

Broeker showed up to Ole Miss campus in January of 2019. Rated as a four-star offensive tackle recruit by ESPN and a three-star by both 247Sports and Rivals, he got a bit of a leg up by early enrolling for spring ball before his true freshman year.

Ole Miss needed offensive line help, but no one really expected the 6-foot-6, 290-pound 18-year-old to be one of the answers.

Instead, Broeker played ball 12 games as a true freshman at left tackle in route to Freshman All-American honors. He allowed only one sack in over 200 pass block snaps.

"There were a couple time I shocked myself, just looking back and realizing what I was able to do last year as an 18-year-old," Broeker said. "The older guys did a great job bringing me along (last year), which made things a lot easier for me."

Now a sophomore, Broeker is entrenched as the Rebel starter on the blind side. He's in a great position to make a huge year-two leap to becoming the best player on the Ole Miss offensive line.

One of his biggest targets for the offseason was to gain weight. Playing around 290-pounds one season ago, he's fluctuating between 305 and 310-pounds currently.

Then there's the technical aspects of the game.

"The big thing I've been working on this fall camp is staying more square in my pass sets and doing a better job with my hands," Broeker said. "Those have been the two biggest points of emphasis. When I do it right and do it consistently right, it's been really paying off for me."

Of the five offensive line spots, Broeker has already solidified his at left tackle. Additionally, Ben Brown and Royce Newman seem entrenched at center and right tackle, respectively.

That leaves two spots, ones in which it seems like Jalen Cunningham and Caleb Warren are doing their best to claim. Jeremy James should see time as well.

Regardless, at only 19-years-old Broeker is one of the more experienced guys on the line. It'll sort of be his duty to pull guys along in the same way he was as a freshman.

Those reps, in retrospect, are critical to his year-two development.

"Now, after seeing what I saw last year and getting all those reps, the game has slowed down a lot for me," Broeker said. "I know what to expect and all those things. It's definitely been a lot easier this fall camp."

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