ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The new Michigan football staff inherited a former five-star with a ton of upside, but one who hasn't seen the field yet in a real capacity.
The only time that offensive tackle Andrew Babalola suited up in a winged helmet on the field at The Big House in front of fans was in the 2025 spring game, but he tore his ACL in fall camp, precluding him from seeing game action in his freshman year. Before his injury, he was pushing Evan Link for the left tackle position, and it was in no way a decided contest between the true freshman and the elder statesman.
At Big Ten media days last week, head coach Kyle Whittingham gushed about Babalola's potential, noting that he has similar traits to his two first-round draft pick tackles, Spencer
Fano and Caleb Lomu. Offensive line coach Jim Harding agrees with the assessment, but also notes, there's a lot of work it's going to take for him to get there.
"We recruited him at the last place. I think he's a really talented kid," Harding said. "Now, he's also he hasn't played football in darn near 12 months. Tomorrow will be the first time he puts shoulder pads on in 12 months. Two days ago was the first time he put a helmet on in nearly 12 months. So could he potentially -- I think there's a lot of guys in that room that can be high draft picks and things like that. But Andrew would be one of them, and we'll just see how he develops and see how he gets back to what I think I saw on the fall camp (tape) last year."
The encouraging news is that two practices in, Babalola has been a full go in both. In order to get an idea of what he's capable of, just like Whittingham, Harding went back to his high school, spring ball, and fall camp film and liked what he saw. But now, he's going to have to get back into form, given that, as Harding noted, Babalola hasn't played football in a year.
"I do. He was a full participant these last two days," Harding said. "It is the first time I've seen him live. I went back in preparation for spring ball, just to take a look at their last fall camp, just to get an idea and not only the game film. But guys like himself -- Evan Link had missed the beginning part of spring ball. And so I didn't really have much to go off of, even in the way of the workouts in the winter. So I did go back, and he's an extremely talented kid. Like I said, he's a full participant, and he's certainly in the mix to be one of those top five guys."
Fall camp is ongoing with eyes on the September 5 season opener against Western Michigan at The Big House.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Michigan tackle Andrew Babalola returns to practice
