ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- In just the second year of his college career, Evan Link was thrust into a starting role at right tackle -- a position he hadn't exactly played before. Yes, Link had established himself in high school as a bona fide left tackle, so moving to the other side had a bit of a learning curve.
And that was obvious.
However, last year, he was moved back to the left side of the line, and he thrived until he was sidelined with a season-ending injury. His replacement, Blake Frazier, performed admirably enough that he will likely reprise his role, meaning that Link might be on the move yet again.
This fall camp, Link has been in the left tackle competition, but odds are that he ends up at left guard. While that also has a learning curve,
he's been relishing the opportunity, and he's currently enjoying his newfound role more than those he had worked at before.
"Honestly, I wouldn't say I have a preference at the moment," Link said. "I'm happy to play any position that the team needs me to play. Something I've always wanted to be able to do is help any position I can, right? And being able to do both is definitely something that helps our unit if, God forbid, injuries happen. I'm prepared, and we have somebody that can do that.
"I'd say, as of now, I'm probably enjoying guard a little bit more just because it's a new experience, and it's plenty to learn, and I think, like I said, I've never done before, right? And so, yeah, it's been really a lot of fun."
The positions on the line are far from interchangeable, as each has a different role. Link detailed how guard is different from his usual position and what he's had to learn in order to be able to perform at a high level.
"It's been enjoyable, like I said," Link said. "Because tackle, obviously, you have to deal with a lot more space, and so you have to approach your blocking a lot differently versus at guard, where every step you take matters so much more because you're in such an enclosed space, right? And so I think it's really been a fun thing to learn.
"Like I said, I played tackle my whole career. Sorry, excuse me, I didn't play guard in high school. So playing it in college has been really, really fun to learn exactly how they do what they do and how to do it at a high level. So it's been enjoyable."
Offensive line coach Jim Harding has been instrumental in getting the line ready for Week 1 next week, and it's been an endeavor that's lasted the entire offseason. Link shared the finer points that Harding has insisted he improve upon, noting that consistency is the biggest thing.
"So I think Coach Harding's biggest things for me were just working on my pad level, working on my consistency, right?" Link said. "I think that's the thing that's hindered me a lot in my career is I can do good things, but I can't do them all the time. And so that's something I've really tried to approach this year. And I think Coach Harding's pushed me to get better at it. That's something I think I've improved on. "
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Evan Link embracing new role on Michigan football offensive line
