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The Northwestern Wildcats football team has the skill position players in place to field one of the best offenses in the Big Ten this season, but it won't work without a strong performance in the trenches up front. 

The Wildcats' offensive coordinator, Chip Kelly, has been busy teaching and developing his new players this offseason with hopes of making a run at the upper echelon of the Big Ten Conference. 

On Monday, Kelly addressed the team's offensive line during which he made a surprising revelation about the position's depth chart. 

Kelly: Every Rep Counts

Coach David Braun has said he is excited about his team heading into the 2026 season and the offense is a big reason why. 

Kelly has the experience and development skills to maximize the talent on hand, but it starts with making every rep count, a goal the Wildcats assistant emphasized during a press conference Monday.

According to Kelly, he and his staff are focused on maximizing each practice rep along the offensive line through "multiple huddles" rather than fixed depth charts. 

This egalitarian approach has fostered competition within the offensive line position group while challenging the versatility and adaptability of each player. 

The hope for Kelly is to mold and shape an offensive line that is ready for anything come Big Ten season, and one that is capable of excelling in both the pass and the run games. 

Boyd, Rahouski Learning, Growing

Young offensive linemen Dennis Rahouski and Trey Boyd were cited by Kelly as "performing well in their respective roles" heading into the season, a positive note for an offensive line in need of youth and talent infusions. 

Boyd is a 6-foot-5, 275 pound interior offensive lineman who came to the Wildcats last season as a freshman and the sixth-ranked player out of the state of Minnesota.

Rahouski is a fellow Minnesota native who saw his first game action against Western Illinois last season and has the size to play multiple positions at 6-foot-5, 300 pounds. 

Kelly added that several players along the offensive line are capable of playing multiple positions, a good omen for an offense expected to employ several different formations this season. 

He said he is waiting for the return of converted tight end Patrick Schaller along the line to decide the final position groupings for Sept. 5's opener against South Dakota State in Evanston. 

Carcello's Leadership Shines

Kelly added that graduate student Jackson Carcello, the team's second highest-rated lineman last year according to Pro Football Focus, has shined in the leadership department this season. 

He highlighted the Wildcats starting center's ability to lead his teammates and run the offensive line in practice as strengths heading into the 2026 season.

Northwestern has a bounty of talented and versatile players along the offensive line giving Kelly plenty of options with the season a little over two weeks away. 

Expect some experimentation from the Northwestern offensive coordinator this season in the first game which will give way to a more established depth chart by the time weeks two and three roll around. 

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