Blake Frazier’s rise is one of the more intriguing stories on Michigan’s offensive line heading into 2026, and it’s easy to see why he landed at No. 7 in the Wolverines’ annual countdown of their most important players.
The redshirt sophomore already has real game experience under his belt. Last season, as a redshirt freshman, he worked his way into a starting role for eight games and logged 505 offensive snaps.
Nearly all of that work - 469 snaps - came at left tackle. He wasn’t the opening-day answer there, but once he got his chance, he held up well early.
In his first four starts and relief duty, across 87 passing snaps, Pro Football Focus charged him with just one quarterback pressure and no sacks.
The back half of the season told a different story. Frazier gave up a sack in each of Michigan’s final four games and was credited with 15 quarterback pressures.
That pushed him down to 131st among 151 power-four offensive tackles in PFF pass-blocking efficiency. Still, his work in the run game stood out more favorably.
He finished 52nd in run-blocking grade among that same group of tackles, and 12th among 40 true and redshirt freshmen. Even with the late-season bumps, his first year was still viewed internally as a strong foundation for what comes next.
That next step could come in a few different forms. Michigan expects Frazier to be a second-year starter, and there’s been clear buzz around his offseason progress. Sources have said he has added bulk since the new strength and conditioning staff arrived, and he has also grown into more of a vocal presence along the offensive line.
What makes his case especially interesting is that Michigan still isn’t locked into exactly where he’ll line up. The Wolverines also bring back tackle starters Andrew Sprague and Evan Link, and former five-star recruit Andrew Babalola is expected to jump into the mix for a starting tackle job right away. The current projection is that Frazier and Link could slide inside and start at guard over Brady Norton and Nathan Efobi, though Frazier is still pushing to start at tackle and could handle multiple spots if injuries hit.
That versatility is a big part of why he’s such a popular breakout pick. Frazier has the frame to play anywhere on the line, and he brings the kind of edge that shows up on tape.
He also flashed as a pass protector before the late-season dip, which only adds to the optimism around him. With another offseason in the system, more strength, and a staff around him that has more experience, he’s a player Michigan believes can take off this fall.
The fan vote backed that up. Supporters slotted Frazier at No. 7 as well, and he was the most common pick at that spot with 11.1 percent of the vote.
Another 19.4 percent placed him in the 3-5 range, and he appeared on more than 94 percent of ballots overall. That kind of spread says plenty about how widely he’s viewed as part of Michigan’s offensive line picture.
Frazier himself pointed to the offseason work that mattered most.
"Putting on weight was the big one. There were a lot of times that, even when I had, I wouldn't say perfect technique, but I was doing my job technique-wise, there were still times that I was just getting overpowered. So that was the big thing that I focused on up to this point.
"And after that, hands inside. But a big thing for me as well is understanding where I can lose guys in the run game, making sure my hat's in the right spot, understanding the scheme overall and not just my job individually. So those have been a couple things I've been looking at from old film and making sure I don't repeat those mistakes."
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