Matt Rhule is already putting up with paramount pressure to come up with a plan for Dylan Raiola. The Huskers head into another year with the same challenge on their back to beat the slump. Rhule knows he is on the edge of his seat. While the Dana Holgorsen and Dylan Raiola duo exude hope for the Huskers’ offense, Rhule has to craft something solid to fix the long-persisting running back and offensive lineman issues. But wait, stepping into the first week of spring, there is another nightmare crawling up. A mass injury galore seems to leave the Huskers’ loopholes wide open.
Rhule had a promising start to the spring practices. The head coach made it clear that it’s time for the coaches to identify potential and not to define roles for the player. We are way too early to do that. Rhule said that the practice fields are torn up, which poses some limitations. But what he skipped is the biggest limitation. The injury horror that keeps nearly a dozen players on the sidelines.
Markway, who came to Nebraska by way of LSU, is on the return from a torn ACL last August. Nelson had hip surgery and will be out until summer. But there are fewer exposed names on the injury list. “Jamir Khan, who was reported to be injured by Matt Rhule, I got some clarity on what his injury was. I saw him at the Pro Day, and his left arm was in a sling, so either just an arm injury or shoulder injury, something like that, but Khan was out for all the spring ball with a left arm shoulder injury,” analyst Wilson Dittman offered details on the Huskers’ locker room.
“Gabe Moore, that was a new injury. He is out at least for the first week of spring ball, and he did not practice at all this week. He was you in the yellow jersey,” Dittman added. The Mississippi State transfer missed the entire 2024 season due to a grave injury. It’s up in the air whether or not he has healed from that. But Dittman believes he should stick around to get the ball rolling.
Dittman dropped another name to the bean. “Maverick Noonan is out; he did not play this week again. I heard some good things about his winter conditioning, but the thing about Mav is that he just never plays. Because he’s always injured. Can he fix that, because again he’s going to a pivotal year three? Got to fix that!” The 6’4″, 225-pound defensive lineman from Omaha, NE, faced a season-ending injury in his second year at Nebraska preseason camp. Hopefully, this time, it’s not that massive, and he will be back in practice quite soon.
“John Hall, starting kicker for the Huskers, was out for all of week one. He was not practicing; he wasn’t in the yellow Jersey, he wasn’t designated out, but he just wasn’t practicing, so take that for what it’s worth.” Dittman believes the Huskers are really weighing low in the kicker spot. “Just take a stud kicker in the portal. John Hall is good; he’s not great. You need a great kicker.”
However, besides all these injury heartbreaks, Dylan Raiola is seemingly in a sizzling pressure cooker in his projected breakout year in Rhule’s squad.
Dylan Raiola faces a massive challenge as the leader of the offense
Of course, Dylan Raiola needs to get better, and that, too, with the help of a better offensive line. Coach Rhule is relentlessly working toward that. But the thing that raises the concern is the tight load on him to take hold of the offense right away. Oh, not just athletically, but also vocally. Rhule doesn’t like the timid demeanor of his standout QB in the locker room and wants to see him thrive in his receiver communication.
But for a guy who has never been there, commanding that loud authority will be a bit challenging. ”That was so much for him. I think to be 18, and we kind of treat him like he’s Russell Wilson. Well, and he handled it properly in the sense that he didn’t try to like take charge because he hadn’t done anything yet here. It would have been awkward, right, to have just somebody come in and start yelling at you and tell you what to do?” Steve Sipple of the Huskers online pinpointed that challenge.
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