Devastating news on the injury front as true freshman offensive tackle Andrew Babalola suffered a left knee injury in practice and is expected to miss the 2025 season.
Babalola was one of the centerpieces of the Wolverines' 2025 recruiting class. The 6-foot-6, 315-pounder from Kansas City was a five-star prospect and rated 10th nationally by 247Sports. Babalola was having such an impressive camp up to that point that he was battling redshirt sophomore Evan Link for the starting left tackle spot and was at least in a position to be the first tackle off the bench.
Can confirm this. Left knee. https://t.co/5ppdRjrTYR
— Josh Henschke (@JoshHenschke) August 18, 2025
Babalola and five-star quarterback Bryce Underwood have been mentioned as the key pieces to the future success of the Michigan program under second-year head coach Sherrone Moore. Last month, Moore said that Babalola and Ty Haywood were as "physically gifted as any freshmen linemen" since he arrived in Ann Arbor.
"And we've had some really good ones, but I don't know if anybody are as ready to play as those two are," Moore said. "But Ty Haywood is physically gifted, Andrew Babalola is physically gifted as anybody as we've seen since I've been here."
Babalola spoke before camp started and said he was humbled and thankful to be considered a competitor for the starting left tackle spot and he was going to work hard to be ready for the opportunity.
"At the end of the day, the coaches, they'll put me in the best position to succeed," Babalola said to Alejandro Zuniga of 247Sports. "Whether it's going right away or taking some more time to develop, I know they're not going to throw me in there if I'm not ready. I know as well if I am ready, they're going to give me a chance, but ultimately, I'm blessed to be able to go out and compete with my guys every single day."
With Babalola likely unavailable this season, left tackle will likely fall on Link, who started 11 games at right tackle last season and moved to left tackle for the ReliaQuest Bowl against Alabama. Moore also recently mentioned that Blake Frazier was taking snaps at both tackle positions and looks like he'll be the primary backup.