Dylan Raiola, unironically, might do the Mahomes ritual more accurately than Patrick Mahomes. But that is not a good thing. Not a single day goes by without Raiola getting some hate on X for his obsession. It makes you wonder: if you are going to copy the hairstyle, the beard, and the celebration, how can you be so horrendous when it comes to the plays? See, we understand. “True Freshman QB” and “Broke the Freshman yards record,” etc., etc., but seriously? At the start of the regular season, Nebraska was great, and Dylan Raiola was flying between the defenses with his passes, but as we reached the end, it was pretty clear that this guy was NOT READY for what a real QB has to deal with…

… And the same problems could very well haunt him in his next year with the Huskers. “They’ll have to get creative in going into the 2025 season, uh, to keep Dylan Raiola protected because that’s obvious, you know, priority number one,” Tim Verghese mentioned back on Inside Nebraska. Matt Rhule and his dynasty took 28 sacks this year. What makes this worse is the loss of over 180 yards on those sacks. Rhule has some solid players in the interior, but what is even the point if they are not prepared?

These guys are out here spending more time picking up the sacked QB than protecting the QB from getting sacked, and that alone says a lot. Yeah, we do agree that the hate Raiola gets from Huskers nation is kind of deserving after all the Mahomes shenanigans, but can you blame the guy if his pocket is not doing enough to protect him?

See, Rhule has a good running depth. They got Emmett Johnson pulling at least 15+ carries on average, but what good is that when your QB gets pressured into oblivion? However, don’t let this fool you from the fact that Raiola still has a long way to go.

As we pointed out before, the season started great for him, but soon it dwindled into nothingness. One time, this guy was dodging Buffs’ defense like Michael Jackson moonwalking, then at other times, he was throwing 3 interceptions against IU. Rhule has a chance. Fix the O-line, and reap the rewards.

A possible answer to Huskers’ O-line woes?

And that very well could be done if they managed to snag a Bama OT. The Tide domination is pretty much over. Kalen DeBoer can never bring back the Nick Saban era, and we all know why. However, the exodus Alabama faced at the transfer portal does open some doors for Matt Rhule and Co.

See, this week, Nebraska is hosting a massive OT talent: Elijah Pritchett. However, this pick could be a bit controversial. See, for Elijah, 2024 wasn’t exactly “bountiful”. Recorded the lowest PFF rating out of all the Tide players (over 100 snaps).

But that doesn’t mean he does not have talent. If Rhule can get him onboard, will it result in an automatic win for the Huskers? We don’t know. But is it a step in the right direction? Absolutely.