Kyle Whittingham breaks down Michigan football's OL competition

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- There are very few places on the 2026 Michigan football team where there are not likely or entrenched starters, but the offensive line has several who are still in the heat of the fall camp battle.

At the moment, there are two players who are firmly in the grasp of their positions along the line: center Jake Guarnera and right tackle Andrew Sprague. Thus, both guard spots and left tackle are up for grabs, and there are multiple contenders for those roles.

On Friday, head coach Kyle Whittingham discussed the players who are working for their roles, sharing each of those who may end up starting for the Wolverines along the line.

"Blake Frazier is in the mix," Whittingham said. "Brady Norton's in the mix. Evan Link is in the mix. Andrew Babalola was really progressing. He's had a minor setback, so he hasn't been out there for a few days. There will probably be a few more at least before we get him back, but he was showing progress, and he's got all the tools, as I mentioned, at the onset of camp, but has just been slowed by a nagging thing.

"Who else? Who am I forgetting? Oh, Efobi. Nate Efobi has done a nice job. Avery Gach is really doing a nice job. He's a good young player in the program. I think he's a second-year guy.

"We've had seven or eight guys that have stepped up. Ideally, as I mentioned before, getting to 10 is the goal, but if we can have eight really solid guys, we can work with that. But 10 would be ideal."

The left tackle battle has been between Frazier, Babalola, and Link. Frazier is expected to win the battle, while Link would likely slide inside to left guard. Babalola, by virtue of having missed time, would likely be the 'rhino,' or sixth lineman playing outside tackle. That would leave the right guard spot, which appears to be a heat between Norton and Efobi.

Whittingham says that he knows who will be starting for the maize and blue on September 5, but he's taking a page out of Jim Harbaugh's playbook and keeping it close to the vest.

"We know, but we're not going to do a depth chart," Whittingham said. I guess they haven't had one here for 20 years."

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Kyle Whittingham breaks down Michigan football's OL competition

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