The defensive line was well ahead of the offensive line during Michigan’s spring game this past weekend. With that said, should the Wolverines do all they can to get another offensive lineman through the transfer portal?
The Michigan football spring game came and went with a 17-0 victory for Team Blue. There weren’t too many surprises on the field, as it’s always expected that defenses will be ahead of offenses at this time of year. College offenses generally need the summer and fall camp to gel and get the timing and execution correct.
However, Michigan’s defensive line generally mauled the offensive line on Saturday. Given the reports that have come out this spring on the offensive line, and the performance over the weekend, do the Wolverines need to add another player during the spring window of the transfer portal?
In a press conference following the spring game, head coach Sherrone Moore went more into detail on the competition along the offensive line. Left guard Gio El-Hadi, center Greg Crippen and right tackle Andrew Sprague are all probable starters at this point, with several players duking it out at left tackle.
Nathan Efobi has the inside track to start at right guard, but he wasn’t named by Moore as one of the penciled-in starters. Transfer guard Lawrence Hattar will be here this summer, but perhaps he could factor during fall camp.
On paper, this feels like an average to above-average offensive line. Efobi has been receiving the most consistent praise from the coaching staff at right guard, so I would not be surprised to see him come out on top. However, left tackle could still be a problem.
Evan Link was downright bad to start the season last year at right tackle. While his play improved significantly over the course of the season — he also had a good bowl game at left tackle vs. Alabama — it would make me nervous to start him at left tackle with a significant game like Oklahoma on the docket early in the season.
Andrew Babalola is a true freshman with a lot of promise and was even the first selection in the coach’s draft for the spring game. However, true freshman offensive linemen rarely succeed at any level right away, and even Babalola looked rough at times on Saturday, giving up a sack to sophomore edge rusher Dominic Nichols.
Cal Poly transfer Brady Norton has been electric during press conferences , but he will have quite an adjustment period due to the nature of up-transferring. He appears to have a bright long-term future in Ann Arbor, but it might be a lot to ask him to start right away.
I wholeheartedly believe in the future of the Michigan offensive line. The Wolverines have quality pieces and depth, but they are in need of an instant impact player, specifically at left tackle. Linemen are notoriously difficult to pluck out of the portal as their development takes a long time.
Here’s who 247Sports has as the best available options as of this writing:
Tackle
- Andre Roye Jr., Maryland
- Makilan Thomas, Arkansas State
- Blake Steen, Virginia
- Jayvin James, Maryland
- Malachi Carney, South Alabama
- Jacob Dennison, Wake Forest
- Jaylen Early, Florida State
- Jesse Ramil, Mississippi State
- Brandon Sneh, Kansas State
- James Pogorelc, Duke
Guard
- JB Nelson, Penn State
- Tyrell Green, Eastern Kentucky
- Marques Easley, Georgia
- Hunter Smith, Tarleton State
- Waltclaire Flynn Jr., UCF
- Dylan Kinney, Abilene Christian
- Zach Rice, North Carolina
- Cash Cleveland, Colorado
- Jack Hasz, UNLV
- Rod Green, Purdue
What do you think? Does Michigan need to get another offensive lineman from the portal this spring? Let us know down below.