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 76 ■ THE WOLVERINE 2026 FOOTBALL PREVIEW (6-6, 324) played tackle and started seven games last year, but could provide a strong challenge at one of the guard positions. And five-star recruit Andrew Babalola (6- 6, 315) injured a knee last fall and missed out on his entire freshman season. Jansen noted that both could play a huge part in what the Wolverines look like up front. "Link can play inside, absolutely," he said. "We saw him play on the outside, and he had his limitations, but there are some things he did well. All the things he did well — blocking a five-technique in pass protection — will he get that at the guard position, blocking a three-tech- nique? Yeah. Run blocking — will he be able to have road-grader moments? Yeah. Can he do that as a guard? Yup. Is he go- ing to have to block a wide nine and set back and out? No, and that's one of the things he struggled at. "You're taking away a lot of the things that he struggled at, but he's also going to have some new things. Can he pull? Is he going to be able to get around, get his shoulders square? Those are new things that aren't difficult to learn. He should do just fine. I think it's a great move for him, going to that guard position." Babalola became the talk of the young Michigan offensive linemen early, be- cause of his size and aggression. The question now becomes how well will he perform when thrown in the fall camp fire? "What do they do when Babalola is healthy, and he's out there producing?" Jansen mused. "We have no idea where he'll be come fall. He doesn't have any games under his belt, and he doesn't have any regular-season practices under his belt. He had, what, 15 practices last year in the spring and a handful in the fall. Where is he at? If he's back to where we anticipated he would be as a recruit, what do you do with him? "You want your best five guys out there. Do you put him at one of the tackle positions and bump a guy down? Do you put him at a guard position? Those things still need to be worked out." A pair of freshmen will provide depth, Ace Hamilton (6-3, 295) at guard and Marky Walbridge (6-6, 285) at tackle. "I was really impressed with both of the freshmen," Jansen noted. "Ace bends well. He's got good balance, he picks up concepts. His footwork still needs work, but he does things in those regards natu- rally, coming in as a freshman. I could cut and paste the same thing with Marky Walbridge. There are some things he does naturally coming in — balance, hand placement, understanding where to put his helmet and hands — that I think are going to serve him well as a freshman." Senior Brooks Bahr (6-5, 312) can play the role of Swiss army knife along the front line, according to the two-time Michigan captain. "He needs to be a swing guy," Jansen said. "He'll back up all four positions be- sides center. It's going to be a matter of, how much does he understand at each position? He's going to be one of those guys who creates really good depth on the offensive line." Freshman Malakai Lee (6-7, 350) will also provide depth at tackle, while junior Luke Hamilton (6-5, 319) will do the same at guard. Guarnera will be backed up by sophomore Houston Ka'aha'aina-Torres (6-3, 300), along with Ace Hamilton and Gach. ❑ STARTERS ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Michigan features three returning starters — juniors Blake Frazier and Andrew Sprague at left and right tackle, respectively, and junior Jake Guarnera at center, moved in from guard last year. That's a solid start to any lineup. As of spring, it appeared seniors Nathan Efobi and Brady Norton were top challengers for the guard positions, but that could be in flux, depending on injury return- ees. Either way, new offensive line coach Jim Harding will be looking to move this group forward, especially in pass protection. DEPTH ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ One can call senior Evan Link and sopho- more Andrew Babalola "depth," but they could be starters, depending upon their con- tinued bounce back from injury. Link started seven games at left tackle last year, and has been spoken of by insiders as a candidate to move to one of the guard spots. Babalola was a five-star prep who tore an ACL and missed his rookie season, but he has tremendous po- tential. Sophomore Avery Gach and several others provide decent depth on this squad. OVERALL ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Can this group develop together and ef- fectively pave the way for the Wolverines in 2026? Those close to it who know offensive line play say yes, especially with Harding de- livering the instruction and technique that helped two of his Utah blockers become NFL first-rounders this spring. Next to sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood's develop- ment, this group's push to become a domi- nant line is the offense's most crucial. PRESEASON ANALYSIS Senior Brady Norton is the leading candidate coming out of spring practice for the starting role at right guard. He started three games at that position last season. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL