Outside of quarterback, maybe the most interesting position battle for Michigan football during fall camp will be along the offensive line.
There are position battles at left tackle and right guard. It feels like center, left guard, and right tackle are set with Giovanni El-Hadi, Greg Crippen, and Andrew Sprague, who each started at the end of last season.
Evan Link started, too. But Link has work to do in order to start at left tackle. Sherrone Moore said he could be moved inside to guard, if Andrew Babalola or someone was able to beat out Link for the left tackle job.
Babalola, the five-star freshman, is the No. 1 candidate to unseat Link this fall. However, another name to know is redshirt freshman Blake Frazier, a 6-foot-6, 295-pound offensive tackle who is also in the mix to protect Bryce Underwood's blindside.
Michigan football O-line has options
Frazier was ranked No. 159 overall in the 2024 class, according to the 247 Sports composite rankings and the 13th-ranked offensive tackle. He redshirted last season, but Michigan football head coach Sherrone Moore mentioned him at Big Ten Media Days as another who is battling to start at left tackle.
“I feel even better this year that we have at least 10 guys competing for those five spots, where I think it was maybe six or seven the year before,” Moore said at Big Ten Media Days via the Wolverine. “I feel like there are 10 guys competing, so no one can relax. When you have that, then you feel like you’ve got good competition and you can get better every single day.”
There could be even more than 10 10 players competing for a starting job this season, including two true freshmen -- Ty Haywood and Avery Gach.
Haywood was a five-star prospect, according to ESPN, in the 2025 class. He was ranked 39th overall in the composite rankings. The 6-foot-6, 285-pounder has turned heads since his arrival. So has Gach, one of the top in-state recruits in the 2025 class.
Even if those guys don't start this season, they will push the veterans, as Moore suggested. They will also add quality depth, and even if they aren't ready to start in 2025, they should be next season, and with that in mind, the future of the offensive line is bright.
The arrow is pointing way up, in 2025 and beyond.