Name: Evan Link
Height: 6’6″
Weight: 324lbs.
High school: Washington (DC) Gonzaga
Position: Offensive tackle
Class: Redshirt sophomore
Jersey number: #71
Last year: I ranked Link #34 and said he would be a backup offensive tackle (LINK). He started eleven games.
TTB Rating: 72
Evan Link had one of the most inauspicious seasons for a Michigan lineman in my memory. And during that season, he had a couple of the worst games I've ever seen for a Michigan lineman. Perhaps the only more frustrating game was the 2023 version against Penn State where right tackle Karsen Barnhart couldn't even sniff the Nittany Lions' edges, so Michigan just ran the ball 30+ times to end the game.
Now take that performance, extend it over most of a season, and you have Evan Link's 2024.
That all sounds a bit negative, but it doesn't reflect my true thoughts about Evan Link. I think Link is a better player than what he showed last season. First of all, he was a left tackle in high school, and the skills to play on the right side are naturally flip-flopped. Of course, players move around on the offensive line all the time, but some guys can pull it off and some guys can't. Second, there were times when Link's feet looked like they were stuck in mud, but I saw in high school the potential to have better feet than we saw in 2024, too.
I'm not saying Link will have a better season in 2025, but I think the potential is there for him to be a solid player. We have seen less athletic players manage okay on Michigan's offensive line. I felt like Link was thinking too much last year, and if he can get to a point where he's playing confidently this fall, we could see a better version. He will be battling to start at left tackle, and there's a possibility he could slide inside to play right guard. The recent injury of freshman Andrew Babalola is disappointing, but I think Link was ahead in the left tackle battle, anyway. Now the competition appears to be Blake Frazier at left tackle, but my money is on Link to start on the left side.
Prediction: Starting left tackle
I love this kid's size, but maybe 2o24 was just too soon? I like year for lineman to grow, learn and get strong
ReplyDeleteWe'll need A LOT of improvement here
I've told this one before, but I like it, so ...
ReplyDeleteI had a basketball kid who was easy the best player on our team, so we built stuff for him. This was Junior High Rec, so knowing that he was right handed we gave him a little right handed series, in which he kept missing open shots.
Then we started paying attention to the fact that when we left him alone, he stopped and shot right handed, but off his left foot. So having asked him what he liked to do, we flipped his action and he just killed people.
Kid became a real nice high school player with some honors and learned to shoot it in going either way, but when he was 13 or so, he couldn't do it so good yet.
Hopefully, this is Link, only bigger ... older.
Yep this is a good write-up that covers the range of options for Link well. That's exactly why I see him as a highly important X factor in the offense. If Link delivers on the potential Thunder discusses above it makes the whole offense go. Meanwhile if he's the disaster in pass pro and Underwood is playing all season under duress and defenses tee off on the run game -- the offense is going to look a lot closer to 24 than 23 and that's going to put a ceiling on the season.
ReplyDeleteSo I have Link as a top 10 guy because of the high variance of potential outcomes. and the massive potential impact on the team that is affected by whatever he is.
I'm inclined to share Thunder's optimism though. There's a better player in there somewhere I suspect and the fact that he was on the field so much as a sophomore seems more of a Moore/Campbell/Newsome problem than a Link problem. For him to take that big step up is on him but also a test for Newsome/Castillo.