Nebraska offensive lineman Jacob Hood battling 'chronic' ankle injuries, Matt Rhule says

Offensive tackle Jacob Hood was one of a few players who were missing as Nebraska kicked off fall camp this week. As coach Matt Rhule addressed the media following the first practice, he provided an update as to why.

“Jacob’s dealing with some chronic ankle stuff,” Rhule said. “So he’s kind of a little bit more in rehab mode right now. That’s why he wasn’t there last night. He was meeting with the doctors.”

Jacob Hood transferred to Nebraska this offseason after spending his true freshman season at Georgia. The No. 35 tackle according to On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings, he was a three-star prospect coming out of Hillsboro (TN) High School in 2022.

Hood took a redshirt this past season with the Bulldogs so will have four years of eligibility remaining. Standing 6-foot-8 and weighing 350 pounds, his size should allow him to be a valuable member of the offensive line not only this season once he returns to full strength, but for many to come.

As Rhule enters his first season as the Huskers’ coach, offensive line is one of the many areas he’ll need to address. Nebraska ranked 113th of 131 FBS teams in sack rate (9.0%) this past season and must do a better job protecting the quarterback to be competitive.

Hood is one of three offensive line transfers to join the team this season along with Tyler Knaak (Utah) and Ben Scott (Arizona State). They also bring back plenty of experience as Turner Corcoran, Bryce Benhart and Teddy Prochazka have combined for 58 starts throughout their careers.

Ultimately, that combination of new faces as well as old ones gives the Cornhuskers a chance to be much-improved in 2023. We’ll see whether Hood is able to address his injury issues and be ready to go when Nebraska kicks off the Rhule era on Aug. 31 against Minnesota.

Nebraska DL Brodie Tagaloa to miss 2023 season due to injury suffered in car wreck

Rhule also offered an unfortunate update on second-year defensive lineman Brodie Tagaloa, whom he says suffered an injury off the football field. The Nebraska coach revealed that Tagaloa was in an auto accident and was hurt bad enough to keep him out for the year.

“Brodie Tagaloa… unfortunately, Brodie was in a traffic incident, a single-car accident maybe about a week ago, a couple weeks ago,” said Rhule. He added that Tagaloa is back west at his home in California for the time being, but is still a member of the team and will hopefully be back on the field next season.

“He’s home in California with his family recuperating. I face timed him last night, and so he had a cut to his face and had to have surgery on his knee. We expect him to miss the year unfortunately. Brodie was coming along great but he’s got a bright future and good things will happen for Brodie. So he’s with us, he’s just home with his family recuperating post-accident.”

On3’s Alex Weber contributed to this report.