Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore breaks down competition at left tackle, which remains an 'open competition'

One of the biggest question marks going into the 2025 season for Michigan football is how the offensive line will shake out come the Wolverines' Week 1 game against New Mexico.

With Myles Hinton, last year's starting left tackle, now in the NFL, one of the most important positions on the field remains "open for competition," according to head coach Sherrone Moore while speaking with 247 Sports' Sam Webb recently on the Michigan Insider Podcast.

Moore told Webb junior Evan Link, sophomore Blake Frazier and true freshman Andrew Babalola are all competing to win the starting position and will continue to do so in fall camp.

"Like I tell the line now and what I told them when I was coaching them (when Moore was the offensive line coach), I don't care who starts," Moore said. "I love you all the same whether you start or not. But the best five are going to be the best five. And sometimes it's six and sometimes it's seven because you play with seven guys (offensive linemen) sometimes on the field at the same time. "

Moore went into detail on all three players who are battling for the starting spot and had praise for all of them and first went into detail on Link and talked about his versatilely and how strong he finished the 2024 season.

"Evan Link is a guy who ended off the season really well for us and played at a really high level, especially in those last two games—and ironically, he played on the right side and didn't play as well as he wanted to, but he played left side his whole high school career," Moore said. "Changing from side to side, people might not know that it's difficult if you haven't done it. We had a guy, Karsen Barnhart, who played all four positions expect center and that was a luxury. We're trying to figure out who that next person is, but right now it's Evan Link."

Babalola comes to Ann Arbor as a five-star recruit from Blue Valley Northwest High School (Kansas) and already started to widen some eyes with how impressive he was in spring ball with his play.

"He's a superstar in the making," Moore said of Babalola. "He's an absolute freak show athletically, one of the smartest kids I've ever met. Him and Grant Newsome might be the two smartest people I've ever met in my life. He's an absolute freak, he's 6-6 and 300 and some pounds."

Frazier is a Michigan legacy and is showing a high level progression after battling through injury this past season.

"Blake's an extremely talented young man that we are super high on," Moore said. "He just battled some injuries, finally getting back healthy. When he came in, he was probably around 260 and now he's probably around the 290-something range. He's just a guy who has worked really hard. Super athletic, super twitchy, great bend and he's a legacy with his dad (Steve Frazier) playing here."

Moore said whoever comes out on top in the position battle will have earned the spot as it will continue to be an intense competition moving forward.

"It's a heavy competition with super talented guys and whoever wins it deserves it," said Moore.

The other spot along the offensive line that will be up for grabs will be at right guard, with the competition currently being led by redshirt sophomore Nate Efobi, Moore told Webb in the same interview. Redshirt freshman Jake Guarnera and transfer Lawrence Hattar will also try to make a push for the spot.

How things shake out up front will be important as the Wolverines look for their offensive line to protect what will likely be a true freshman starting at quarterback in Bryce Underwood when the Wolverines take the field under the lights at the Big House on Sept. 30.

Dec 31, 2022; Glendale, Arizona, USA; Michigan Wolverines offensive lineman Giovanni El-Hadi (58) against the TCU Horned Frogs in the 2022 Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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