The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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O F F E N S I V E L I N E M E N THE WOLVERINE 2025 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ■ 77 improve his pass protection if he's going to be the starter. Link's run blocking, though, has been his forte, and there were times he domi- nated. Jansen believes he'd be better at guard, where he could battle junior Na- than Efobi for a job. "If Babalola can develop and be the left tackle, then I love Link inside, because I think he can be a devastating guard," Jansen said. "He's a huge body, and his mobility makes him a really good guard. "That really starts to develop into a good offensive line. Plus, it also gives you depth. You've got the experience Evan got last year. I know it was at tackle, and he played better at left, but he's not your typical left tackle. Babalola could be." Efobi looks the part, he added, with a great physique. He just needs to "put it all together." "He's got all the movement skills you want. He can pull, get low, bend, recover," Jansen said. "But so much of playing of- fensive line is just confidence in your technique. You need so many reps, you need so many experiences — it's just see- ing something so many times before a light bulb goes on." As for the backups — true freshman Avery Gach turned heads with his nasti- ness in the spring, while senior Connor Jones, junior Brooks Bahr, sophomores Luke Hamilton, Blake Frazier, and Ben Roebuck, freshmen Kaden Strayhorn and Ty Haywood, and Ferris State transfer Lawrence Hattar will all battle for time. "I'm never going to count anybody out, because they're young. They do have a chance," Jansen said. "If they get a little bit of confidence, a little stronger, start to experience success, some of those guys could take right off and be starters. There need to be strength gains and some suc- cess on the field, but then all of a sudden it can be a different conversation." Right now, though, there seems to a nucleus taking shape that could — and needs to — give the Wolverines a solid line should the starters stay healthy. ❑ POSITION COACH Grant Newsome is in his fourth season at Michigan as a full-time assistant coach and is heading into his second sea- son leading the offensive line. During his first season on the job, three offensive linemen (Giovanni El-Hadi, Josh Priebe, Myles Hinton) were named honorable mention All-Big Ten. Hinton was selected in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. Newsome mentored U-M's tight ends the pre- vious two years, coaching three All-Big Ten play- ers in Luke Schoonmaker (third team, 2022), Colston Loveland (first team, 2023) and AJ Barner (honorable mention, 2023). Loveland (first round), Schoonmaker (second round) and Barner (fourth round) were all selected in the NFL Draft. Prior to his move to the full-time staff in 2022, Newsome worked with now-head coach Sher- rone Moore in 2018-19 as a grad assistant to the tight ends and then with the offensive line in 2020-21. Newsome is a former offensive tackle for the Wolverines, playing in 10 games with six starts in 2015-16 before suffering a severe knee injury. After missing his junior year, he announced his medical retirement from football as a senior and joined the staff as a student coach in 2018. He is a two-time Academic All-Big Ten hon- oree who also earned the Dr. Arthur D. Rob- inson Scholarship Award as the program's top student-athlete in 2016 and the Robert P. Ufer Bequest, which is given out to the player that shows the best attitude and enthusiasm for Michigan. Newsome has two degrees from Michigan: a bachelor's in American culture (2018) and a master's in public policy (2020). A native of Trenton, N.J., he was a four-star prospect, and the No. 204 overall player and No. 15 offensive tackle in the country in the 2015 recruiting class, per On3's Industry Ranking. RETURNING PLAYERS BROOKS BAHR • OG Jr. • Lake Forest, Ill. Ht.: 6-5 • Wt.: 319 • Did not see game action in 2023 or 2024. • Switched from defensive line before 2024 season. • Attended Loyola Academy. • Combined for 95 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 5 sacks and a forced fumble in his junior and senior seasons. • Chicago Sun-Times All-Area team during se- nior year. • Tabbed as a three-star recruit and the 12th- best player in Illinois in 2023 class, per On3 Industry Ranking. A 'Throwback' Will Lead The Line … In Time While most fans watch college football with eyes on the ball, former Michigan offensive line- men tend to focus on the men up front when the ball's snapped. Former All-Big Ten and NFL lineman Doug Skene was doing just that during U-M's win over Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl when then-freshman right tackle Andrew Sprague caught his eye. "I remember thinking for a guy making his first start in that game against that team, he was really disciplined and controlled himself out there," Skene said. "Nice pass sets … he was getting out of his stance. "For a guy in that moment with no experience, you never know what to expect. You can hy- perventilate and lose your technique. I never saw him do that. He had great composure in the moment for a kid thrown in there like that. I was impressed." So, too, was former Michigan All-American and NFL lineman Jon Jansen, now U-M's color com- mentator for radio broadcasts. "He's bought in hook, line and sinker," Jansen said of the second-year tackle. "He might be a little bit limited in mobility. I think that's why he's on the right side. Plus, he just fits in well there. But that kid is going to be the leader of that offensive line. "He just has a nasty streak in him. He feels like he's a guy that would have fit in with our O- lines back in the late 1990s, early 2000s. Run blocking is not an issue — that's a lockdown. Pass protection is where he needs to make his biggest jump." But Sprague worked hard on it this spring and continues to improve, by all accounts. Offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said in June he feels great with him on the right side. Head coach Sher- rone Moore seemed sold after seeing him in action against the Crimson Tide. "He had a little bit of a knee injury early on that he was recovering from — an ACL in high school," Moore said. "He was getting back to feeling good and once he felt healthy, you saw that this dude is really, really good. I thought that he was mentally ready to go in there, and it really didn't faze him. This was a true freshman starting against Alabama, and he wasn't fazed. "I felt like we invested in the time with him, and he deserved it. He went out there and did a heck of a job, and he's put himself in position to be that guy in the future." Now, Jansen said, it's a matter of finding the guard who works best with him. Do that, and the right side could be set for a long time. "They've got one there they can count on," Jansen said. "He just needs to hold up in pass pro, but I think he can be a road grader." — Chris Balas