Michigan OL updates: Finding 'best five' with a lot of options, starter recovering from injury, goal for spring ball

Michigan Wolverines football has a lot of options on the offensive line, with six players who have started games in Ann Arbor. The Maize and Blue have three that have been starting tackles with the program — junior Blake Frazier, junior Andrew Sprague and senior Evan Link — and a sophomore in Andrew Babalola who was vying for the starting job on the left side before going down with a season-ending ACL injury last August.

Link, for instance, started taking reps at guard during bowl preparation in December, but he’s been out with an injury at the beginning of spring ball.Moving one of the tackles to guard like that is certainly an option.

But there’s also a role for a third tackle of sorts, the ‘Rhino’ position, with Utah’s Solatoa Moea’i played 328 snaps as an in-line tight end in this system under coordinator Jason Beck and position coach Jim Harding last season.

“We want to find the best five and get them in there, no matter what that combination looks like,” Beck said Tuesday. “The best five. And there have been two different years that we played with a sixth offensive lineman quite a bit. 

“When I got to Utah, it was pretty evident, wow, your sixth O-lineman is better than your fifth skill guy, so we played over 500 snaps with a sixth O-lineman. If that becomes part of the case where we can adjust that way, as well.

“Find your best five. If there’s a sixth guy who’s really great, we can throw him in there, as well, and kind of go from there.”

Frazier, Sprague and junior interior offensive lineman Jake Guarnera, who’s repping at both center and guard, are among the standouts during spring ball. Babalola, of course, is still working back from injury.

“Right now, they’ve been doing a nice job up front,” the Michigan assistant said. “Jake is doing a nice job leading that group and with his performance. Different guys are rotating around at those tackle spots. Some guys are working their way back, they’re hurt, so there will be a lot more evaluation to do with the guys that have been out and are working their way back in.

“Sprague has been doing a nice job. Blake has been doing a nice job.”

Link, as mentioned, has been dealing with an ailment.

“He’s been a little limited, getting back from some stuff,” Beck said. “But we know he has a lot of game experience but hasn’t been able to do a lot right now.”

Stepping up as leaders will be paramount for the Michigan line going forward, though, and that’s been a big area of emphasis lately.

“The thing we’re focused on right now with them — as well as learning everything and development — is having some guys in the O-line room emerge as some of the leaders on the offense,” Beck noted.

“[Junior running back] Jordan [Marshall] was voted a captain, [sophomore quarterback] Bryce [Underwood] was voted a captain, but we want some of those guys up front to kind of emerge as that. So, right now, they’re kind of more lead by example and work ethic, which is great, but now developing more of those leaders vocally, as well.”