The Michigan Wolverines appear to be down one of their bigger projected pieces on the offensive line this season, with reports that freshman Andrew Babalola may have a season-ending knee injury. He was competing for the left tackle job, which will now presumably be filled by junior Evan Link.

The Wolverine’s panel of Anthony Broome, Chris Balas and Clayton Sayfie discussed the breaking news on Monday night’s show and the impact it may have. Also discussed were Friday’s NCAA sanctions and Michigan’s appeal, along with fan questions and a check-in from coaches at fall camp.

 ”The way they were talking about him, I figured he would get time right away this season, even at left tackle,” Sayfie said of Babalola. “Maybe rotate in a little bit and could win the job at some point during the season at left tackle. And he, at the very least, was pushing Evan Link to compete there. It’s tough to see. This stuff happens though, and that’s one of the reasons why you need depth. You need competition on the offensive line. And at the very least, he did his part in pushing other guys and being that guy during fall camp and then going down with an unfortunate injury, you feel terrible for him, obviously.

“The other thing is for the future. He doesn’t have this year to develop and practice and get all those reps in because those are really valuable reps for offensive linemen, too. One of the reasons why a lot of them get good and earn roles as they go along in their college careers is because of the work they put in when no one’s watching behind the scenes, when people kind of forget about you for a year or two.

“Babalola was going to play right away, maybe on a more accelerated timeline than a lot of offensive linemen. But either way, the work he was gonna put in at practice would be just as valuable for the future. But now he’ll have to kind of do some other things mentally, learn defense, learn offense, continue to learn the playbook, those sorts of things. I’m sure he’ll do everything he can. But it is tough. And tackle was a big question mark for Michigan already.”

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