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2025 Rice Football Season Preview: Offensive Line

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Next up in our 2025 Rice Football Season Preview: offensive line. Here’s our breakdown of the Owls’ plans for the group this season.

A new Rice football offensive scheme means a reworked offensive line, which will be asked to operate much differently than the unit was a season ago when Rice ran a more West Coast style of offense. While that was a tall order when head coach Scott Abell arrived, it’s been nothing but glowing endorsements of the progress made by the players they inherited in the offensive trenches to this point. Abell has continued to reiterate how optimistic he is about this unit.

Rice Football Preseason Preview: Check out the rest of the series here.

This piece is part of our 2025 Rice Football Season Preview. Get access to it, as well as all other preview posts such as positional breakdowns, depth chart and schedule analysis and more when you subscribe on Patreon today. 

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** Photo credit: Maria Lysaker **

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Rice Football Recruiting: OL Erben Birkhoff commits to Owls

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The 2025 Rice Football recruiting class is bolstering its haul in the trenches. Tompkins offensive lineman Erben Birkhoff has committed to the Owls.

In a pro-style scheme, you can never have enough offensive linemen. Every successive Rice football recruiting class brings in a few big-bodied men in the trenches and the 2025 group is no exception.  That theme was prevalent in the program’s recent run of commits which included Katy Tompkins offensive lineman Erben Birkoff.

Birkoff chose Rice over an offer he received from UTSA last summer. Rather than head west to San Antonio, the Houston native will be sticking close to home for his collegiate career. Birkoff told The Roost that proximity did play a role in his decision.

“Rice is close to home,” he said, “I love the coaching staff and the players. They made it feel like I have a second family away from home.”

Birkoff was one of the many who were impressed with the recent runs of recruiting weekends on South Main. He soaked in the atmosphere at his official visit and committed publically just a few days later. He becomes the third offensive lineman in the 2025 class, joining Colter Alberding, another commitment this week, and Cole Principe who has been in the fold since early late April.

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There’s a lot to like about Birkhoff’s game when you turn on the tape. The 6-foot-4, 285-pound trench warrior is rather quick on his feet, considering his size, and moves well in space. That’s an asset that will serve him well in the Owls’ running scheme, especially after some time in the weight room with Hans Straub and company. Add in some position flexibility with experience at guard and tackle and you get a strong prospect the Owls are excited to get.



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