Matt Rhule sounds convinced Nebraska has something real brewing up front this fall, and for Husker fans, that kind of confidence is easy to latch onto. With Ohio State, Indiana, Oregon, Washington and Iowa all on the schedule, Nebraska needs visible progress, and the offensive line is one of the clearest places to look for it.
The group Rhule is banking on looks dramatically different from a year ago. Geep Wade is in his first season as Nebraska’s offensive line coach after holding the same job at Georgia Tech, and he inherits a unit built around experience and transfer help. The projected first five are Elijah Pritchett at left tackle, Paul Mubenga at left guard, Justin Evans at center, Brendan Black at right guard and Tree Babalade at right tackle.
Pritchett, a 6-6, 325-pound senior from Columbia, Georgia, arrived in 2025 after transferring from Alabama. Mubenga, a 6-5, 315-pound junior from Buford, Georgia, came from LSU.
Evans is a 6-2, 315-pound senior from East Orange, New Jersey. Black, a 6-4, 320-pound senior from Yulee, Florida, transferred in from Iowa State.
Babalade, a 6-5, 330-pound junior from Hyattsville, Maryland, joined Nebraska from South Carolina.
That’s the part of this line that jumps off the page: four of the five projected starters are transfers who have already played at the Power Four level, and three of those four came from SEC programs. Nebraska is leaning hard on that kind of proven experience, and it’s not hard to see why Rhule would be encouraged by it.
There’s also depth behind them, which matters just as much once the season starts taking hits. Gunnar Gottula, Tyler Knaak, Brock Knutson and Sam Sledge are all expected to compete for playing time, along with freshmen Hayden Ainsworth, Claude Mpouma and Rex Waterman.
Ainsworth is listed at 6-5, 305 and hails from Biloxi, Mississippi. Mpouma is 6-8, 335 from Chicago.
Waterman is 6-5, 295 from Chandler, Arizona.
The roster turnover around the line has been significant. Rocco Spindler, Turner Corcoran, Henry Lutovsky and Teddy Prochazka have graduated, while Houston Ka'aha'aina-Torres, Jason Maciejczak and JuJu Marks transferred out.
Rhule’s optimism may also have something to do with the coaching change. Nebraska moved on from Donovan Raiola and brought in Wade, whose real name is Gideon Pillow Wade IV. The Geep nickname comes from his first two initials, GP.
That’s the setup, and it explains why there’s at least some buzz around this group. Nebraska knows the offense lives and dies with the line, and Rhule clearly believes this version has more answers than the ones before it.
Still, Husker fans have heard upbeat lines before. Rhule once said of the 2025 defensive line, “They’re hell on wheels!” and the way that season ended - with three blowout losses - is exactly why nobody in Lincoln is ready to hand out praise too early.
So the question hangs there: is this really Rhule’s best offensive line at Nebraska? Maybe.
The ingredients are there for it to be, and summer has apparently gone well for Wade and his players. But until the games start, Husker fans are left hoping this line is more than just talk.
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