The college football season is less than five weeks away.
Michigan football, which just wrapped up Big Ten media days last week in Chicago, opens fall camp this week in Ann Arbor − the team reports Tuesday, Aug. 4, with the first practice scheduled for Wednesday.
It’s a new regime, with a new scheme and several new key players. While there are plenty of returners at key positions − quarterback, running back and wide receiver among them − there are several positions where the starter is unknown. The Wolverines will have a month of practice in preparation for the season opener at home against Western Michigan on Saturday, Sept. 5 (7:30 p.m., NBC) and will use that as a way to solidify the depth chart.
These are the top five position battles to watch as fall camp begins:
LT: Andrew Babalola or Blake Frazier?
It appears it will be either Frazier, a redshirt sophomore who started eight games last season, or Babalola, a redshirt freshman who missed all of 2025 after he tore his ACL last August.
Babalola was a five-star recruit and a top-15 prospect in U-M’s class last season; now at 6 feet 6 and 320 pounds, he’s drawing rave reviews from new coach Kyle Whittingham, who compared him to the two first-round tackles Whittingham’s Utah produced last season, Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu
“Just has great feet, great balance,” Whittingham said. “He was not there in spring, but [offensive line coach] Jim [Harding is] excited about him. Looks like he’s going to be in the hunt for that left tackle spot.”
There’s a chance Babalola could move into the competition at left guard (likely with Evan Link) but per Whittingham, it’s more likely Frazier would make that move, after he called Babalola a “true tackle.”
“If you’re all stacked up at tackle and they’re better than the starting guard, you got to adjust and shift people around,” he said. “Jim does a great job of that, and has done a great job of that through the years of getting the right five guys, irrespective of what position they play.”
LB: Troy Bowles, Chase Taylor, Nathaniel Owusu-Boateng or Nathaniel Staehling?
For the only position group on the entire team that doesn’t have a returning starter, Whittingham had reservations about depth coming out of winter. But after spring ball, he said he feels much better about the unit.
“I think the linebacker room is going to turn out to be pretty good,” Whittingham said. “I think we got some guys that a lot of people don’t know about. … We got five or six guys that I think could really play at a Big Ten level and play very well at the Big Ten level, and we just got to sort that out during fall camp.”
He called Taylor a “promising young player,” said Staehling looks like he’s “chiseled out of granite” and called Bowles “probably the fastest and most athletic” of the players in the unit.
Michigan will run primarily a 4-2-5 base defense, which means only two of these linebackers will likely start. But all of them will rotate throughout the season, and Max Alford, the nephew of Tony Alford and a transfer from BYU, could fight for some playing time, too.
EDGE: Cam Brandt, Dominic Nichols, Nate Marshall or Lugard Edokpayi?
Assuming good health for John Henry Daley, the Utah transfer is a lock to start at one of the ends. That leaves one spot open for a unit that’s six deep, with a proven player most likely to win the job out of camp (though true freshman Carter Meadows will also factor in this season).
Whittingham called Edokpayi a “specimen” and said the 6-8, 265-pound lineman is “like a cat out there.” Nichols, meanwhile, is “coming into his own,” per Whittingham, who lauded his production in spring camp. Brandt, at 6-foot-4 and 270 pounds, has played in 40 games (32 on defense) and has the most experience out of the entire group, recording 22 tackles, including 1½ for loss with half a sack in 2025.
Although U-M wants to see Brandt increase his ability to get in the backfield, he’s solid against the run and Daley is expected to do the bulk of the work when rushing the passer.
“We’re very blessed at the edge,” Whittingham said. “I know Michigan’s had really good edge players for a lot of years … these guys all seem to be in that same mold, and so they’re going to bring a lot to the table.”
WR3: Jaime Ffrench or Salesi Moa?
The top two wide receivers seem pretty clear: Andrew Marsh and J.J. Buchanan (who transferred in from Utah). But who will be the third when the Wolverines line up in “13” personnel?.
Ffrench joins U-M after a freshman year at Texas in which he was rarely on the field – just four games and one reception for 6 yards. Still, he was the No. 9 wide receiver and No. 44 overall player in the country as a four-star prospect in the class of 2025, per 247Sports’ composite rankings.
Moa, meanwhile, is equally enticing. The No. 2 athlete in the country and the No. 43 overall prospect in the class of 2026, he flipped from Utah following the exodus of multiple Utes staffers, including Whittingham, offensive coordinator Jason Beck and defensive line coach Lewis Powell (who is his uncle).
Others like Channing Goodwin, Travis Johnson and Jamar Browder could all impact in the pass game this esason, but appear to be on the outside looking in for an immediate starting role.
TE: Zack Marshall or Hogan Hansen?
The tight end position has been a staple in U-M’s offense for years. Although it wasn’t as productive as usual in 2025, one of U-M’s TEs could become a key factor of this offense under Beck. His offense with Utah got 48 grabs for 620 yards and six touchdowns from tight end Dallen Bentley as the Utes’ No. 2 pass-catcher. (All of those totals, by the way, would’ve led the Wolverines.)
Marshall is the leading returner in production (16 catches for 199 yards and one touchdown) while Hansen battled injury off and on all year. Don’t be surprised if it comes down to blocking skills (which would likely favor Marshall), as U-M will still look to establish the run early and often.
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 5 Michigan football position battles to watch in fall camp
Reporting by Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
