Michigan offensive tackles of the future making big strides

Michigan’s offensive line improved in pass protection in Saturday’s 24-17 win over Michigan State, allowing only a few pressures and no sacks in the Wolverines’ third straight win. Myles Hinton and Andrew Gentry, then Evan Link at right tackle after Gentry went down with an injury, all did a good job keeping quarterback Davis Warren clean, allowing him to be comfortable in the pocket.

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The result — no turnovers and an extremely clean game, a far cry for a week earlier at Illinois. Michigan quarterback Jack Tuttle was sacked five times in that one, had several bad throws, and the Wolverines scored only 7 points. Hinton’s absence was huge in that one — much of the pressure came from the left side — and getting him back vs. MSU proved big.

“Huge,” Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore said. “Having Myles back, he’s a tone-setter. Obviously, he’s a large human being with that skill et, but he did an excellent job for having the first game back. I thought just as a group, those guys played well together.”

But several are already looking ahead to next year when he’ll likely be playing in the NFL, wondering where Michigan will turn. Former Michigan All-American offensive tackle and current radio color commentator Jon Jansen believes two will have a shot to see early time the way he did back in the 1990s.

“Those two freshmen they brought in, I’m really excited about them. Andrew Sprague, he’ll be one of the tackles next year,” Jansen predicted. “I think Blake Frazier is going to be a damn good player, as well.

“If you’ve got two freshmen tackles next year, you can even move Evan Link to guard. But I think you’re looking at a pretty damn good offensive line next year.”

In short, offensive line coach Grant Newsome has plenty of clay to mold, even if it’s not seasoned. Both Frazier and Sprague are proving they have what it takes to be the future on the edges, Sprague even having competed for time this year.

“Both of those guys have been working at tackle, and they’re both up with us, been pushing those guys to be in the two-deep,” Newsome said. “We think both are going to have very bright futures. The cool thing with both those guys is how they’ve put in the work physically and mentally. Both have learned and kind of attacked the playbook … especially Sprague, who was not here in the spring.”

Both had their challenges, he added, but they’ve approached them head on at Michigan.

“Blake was a guy who was lighter out of high school, so for him to come in and attack the weight room, work with [nutritionists] to get himself up to a point where now he’s weighing enough and he’s got enough strength that he can compete,” Newsome said. “Sprague was battling a knee injury coming out of high school. For him to get back healthy … it was midway through fall camp when he was able to start doing team reps. The fact he’s able to put himself in the fringe two-deep already is a really, really good sign, so we’re excited about both their futures.”

What’s that mean for Link? Despite his struggles at right tackle this year, he answered the bell in his first game against MSU. He’s got what it takes, Jansen said, to be a stalwart for years, as long as he keeps improving.

“Evan just needs to gain confidence in his pass blocking. Run blocking has been pretty solid,” Jansen said. “it’s consistent sets, punch, anticipation. He knows what to do, but until you experience it and have to react and have it in your memory bank, there are some hard lessons learned. he’s learning them, some easy, some hard.

“When I talk to him, his understanding of the game, his work ethic … he has the tools. It gives him the best odds to be a guy that eventually figures it out.”

Giving U-M several potential options for next season and beyond.