Malachi Coleman update: Matt Rhule leaves door open for possible redshirt

A dozen Nebraska wide receivers saw the field during a 40-7, season-opening win over UTEP. Malachi Coleman wasn’t one of them.

But the 6-foot-5, 210-pound sophomore is healthy, according to Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule.

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“Malachi’s healthy,” Rhule said Monday. “We had no injuries. Malachi’s doing great, there’s no problems. I just think Malachi stepped up for us last year, in a year that maybe he could have redshirted, and tried to play. And so, again, he’s kind of in that same — if we have to play him, we’ll play him. It’s early, but I don’t want to play him later in the games.

“We have these two big receivers (Jahmal Banks and Isaiah Neyor) out there that are playing well. If Malachi can have this year, he can play four games and play in the postseason, I think he would just be really picking right up where those guys left off. Because he made a catch last week on the scout team that I was like, ‘Wow, that’s awesome to see.’”

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Rhule added: “Just taking the pressure off him for a little bit and let him go compete. I’m sure he doesn’t want to redshirt. I’m sure he wants to play. So if something happens, he can play in the next couple weeks. But I just didn’t want to put him for a play here, a play there. When we use someone’s redshirt, we really want it to be worthwhile.”

Coleman played 335 offensive snaps last year, according to Pro Football Focus, and started six of the 11 games he appeared in. He caught eight passes for 139 yards and a touchdown. Of those 139 receiving yards, 44 came on a long touchdown reception against Northwestern.

A former four-star prospect from Lincoln East High School, Coleman was the On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 60 overall prospect — including the No. 10 wideout — in the 2023 class. He stood out as a junior in high school, turning 10 of his 17 catches into touchdowns that season while adding 7.5 sacks and for forced fumbles on defense.

Rhule was asked Monday about the elevated depth of the Nebraska receiver room, and, more specifically, Rhule’s ability to potentially preserve the redshirt of someone like Coleman.

“The receiver group, we have a really good group,” Rhule said. “I think one of the things that we have to do is we have some freshmen who came in that we’d like to probably redshirt maybe, but they can play. Like Keelan Smith is really a good player.

“And Quinn Clark is going to be a fantastic football player — I mean, he’s one of those guys when you take him, you think, ‘Well, he’s a big, physical athlete, maybe he’ll grow into a tight end or an outside ’backer,’ and all of a sudden he shows up, and he’s loose hipped and can run routes and he can get off press. And you’re like, ‘Oh, he’s a wideout.’ Like, Quinn could probably go play this season. And that’s what those guys did last year.”

Rhule noted how many Nebraska wideouts he and his staff got in the opener this past weekend. The goal was for the first-year Huskers receivers to get a feel for the atmosphere and the speed of the game.

“But that room, the guys who played last year have gotten better,” Rhule said. “And the guys who came in have really helped us. And sometimes that buys time for maybe a guy like Malachi to redshirt or maybe Quinn Clark to redshirt, so they can be bigger, physical and more strong. The teams that win in college football right now, I think moving forward are going to be the teams that have veteran players, that are older.”