There is strength in numbers for Northwestern’s offensive line room.
The Wildcats battled injuries along the offensive line throughout the 2024 season, testing their depth. Eight different linemen played over 100 snaps last year. With six of those players returning and three notable signings in the transfer portal, NU will count on the experienced and reshaped unit to anchor the offense this fall.
After the team’s open spring practice Saturday, coach David Braun praised the offensive line’s growth throughout the offseason.
“That (offensive) line group continues to make progress,” Braun said. “It’s the depth. It’s not just five. It’s a group of guys, 10 to 12, that’s starting to really figure it out.”
After dealing with a flurry of injuries last season, the ’Cats boasted five different starting combinations week-to-week.
Offensive line coach Bill O’Boyle said the injuries and constant lineup shuffling took a toll on the unit. Entering year two of offensive coordinator Zach Lujan’s system, O’Boyle said he has been encouraged by the line’s improvements in the winter and spring.
“We’ve been just so beat up,” O’Boyle said. “Anytime an offensive line is going through that, there’s going to be some rough areas. Hopefully, we have addressed that, and with the depth, it’s going to be a great fall camp.”
The staple of NU’s offensive line is redshirt senior offensive tackle Caleb Tiernan, who has started 30 consecutive games for the ’Cats. In 2024, Tiernan was Pro Football Focus’s eighth-highest graded tackle among Power Four teams. O’Boyle called Tiernan a mainstay and said he has become a more vocal leader this offseason.
In the transfer portal, the ’Cats added Evan Beerntsen, Xavior Gray and Martes Lewis. The three graduate transfers from South Dakota State, Liberty and Minnesota, respectively, have a combined 91 career starts.
Gray, who stands at 6-foot-8 and 340 pounds, immediately stepped in as the most experienced player in NU’s locker room. He is entering his seventh year of college football and has 37 career starts after four years at Akron and two years starting at right tackle for Liberty. In 2024, he helped the Flames rank third in the nation with 251.3 rushing yards per game.
Tiernan said the unit is already benefiting from the transfer’s leadership.
“We’ve got a great mixture of older guys with experience and younger guys who have got a lot of talent and are just coming in,” Tiernan said. “The best way we can move forward as a group is by working together and asking questions, especially with the young guys asking the old guys.”
Ankle injuries have sidelined Gray and returning graduate student center Jack Bailey this spring. Neither partook in Saturday’s practice. However, O’Boyle expressed confidence in their long-term health and expects them to be fully available by the summer.
O’Boyle said that development from younger players, such as redshirt junior Jackson Carsello, freshman Ezomo Oratokhai and redshirt sophomore Deuce McGuire, as well as added experience, has led to an improved and deeper offensive line unit.
“Competition is everything in that room,” O’Boyle said. “We finally got some guys stepping up and making guys better. We’re a lot better compared to even the fall, where we’re at right now.”
NU added assistant offensive line coach Ryan Olson to its coaching staff this winter after he spent the past five seasons with South Dakota State. During his tenure, the Jackrabbits won two FCS National Championships. Following Olson to NU as a graduate transfer, Beerntsen — a 6-foot-4-inch, 300-pound 2024 FCS All-American — started 38 games at right guard for South Dakota State.
Lewis grew up in nearby Merrillville, Indiana and cited proximity to family as a key factor in his move to NU. The 6-foot-7, 335-pound lineman has Big Ten starting experience at right guard and right tackle for Minnesota. He said O’Boyle and Olson’s coaching style emphasizes technique, and he has already seen improvements since joining the ‘Cats in March.
“In the run game, I feel like I’m more aggressive,” Lewis said. “I’m also working on fundamentals with Olson and O’Boyle so that I can be tighter on my aiming points and be more dominant up front.”
Graduate student running back Cam Porter, a team captain and the team’s leading rusher last season, said he has noticed strides from the offensive line throughout spring camp.
“We’ve got some experienced guys who played a lot of football, and it’s been good to get out here with them,” Porter said. “Our returning guys have taken big steps (too). (We’re) really excited to continue to grow in the offseason.”
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