Previously: Last year's profiles. S Makari Paige, S RJ Moten, S Jordan Morant, CB Andre Seldon, CB Darion Green-Warren, CB Eamonn Dennis, VP William "Apache" Mohan, LB Nikhai Hill-Green, LB Kalel Mullings, LB Cornell Wheeler, LB Osman Savage, DE Aaron Lewis, DE Jaylen Harrell, DE Braiden McGregor, DT Kris Jenkins.

Reece Atteberry continues a welcome recent trend in Michigan OL recruiting: center acquisition. It is uncommon for D-1 OL prospects to play anywhere but tackle, generally regarded as the highest-value spot on the OL. Michigan managed to get an OL who played center long-term when they got IMG Academy's Cesar Ruiz in the 2017 class. Ruiz's probable successor, Zach Carpenter, played at various spots across the line during his high school career but the large majority of his senior year was at center.  There is some hope that Carpenter's accession will not cause the offensive line to fall apart like a car that has had its bolts mysteriously teleported away.

Like Carpenter, Atteberry has a ton of experience that started at tackle and saw him migrate to the interior. He started at tackle as a freshman and sophomore, then moved to center as a junior. He moved back to left tackle for his final year of high school, for the usual reasons. There's still a year's worth of pretty good film at center, and around these parts we treasure centers like boring safeties.

[After THE JUMP: weird recruitment]

Touch The Banner on what's good about that year at C:

… interior player. …  limited length and wingspan. He does have good athleticism, and his high school team pulls him to the edge, which is rare for a center; he looks pretty good doing it, too. I like his quickness off the ball, and he does a good job of sinking his hips when engaging defensive linemen in pass protection. … lack[s] ideal size to be an elite offensive tackle … could be Michigan’s next version of David Molk.

TTB did drop his rating a fair bit when he revisited Atteberry recently.

The Wolverine turned to former All-American Doug Skene to evaluate Atteberry. Skene noted that Atteberry had some bad habits that come when you're lined up across from jamokes, but was positive overall:

“…plays in a really good stance. … first move out of that stance is always pretty good. …. [on pulls from C] got around pretty good and got into the hole pretty good. He moves in space pretty well, is flexible … He attacks people. … [he's] athletic enough to make that turn and square the shoulders [on pulls]. … [sometimes] at impact or the collision point he bends at the waist and leads with his head.

That latter is a bad habit reminiscent of early Ben Braden and is something that can be coached out; it does need to be coached out. If you have a subscription there I recommend the whole thing, which is an interesting insight into what OL look for in their colleagues.

The obligatory Notre Dame scout:

… capable of lowering his pads even further than his initial move off the snap of the football. … pad level and knee bend of an interior offensive lineman. … ferocious run blocker who thrives on the physicality of interior line play. … so quick out of the snap and moves his feet so well that he can pull and set the edge

… knee bender in the open field, which is essential for a big guy to gather his feet/momentum and execute a block in space. … good vision. … will scrape to daylight, seeking more contact on the second and sometimes even third level. … throw-down technique gets the offensive lineman unnecessarily off-balance

When he committed he was the #4 C in the country to 24/7; Blair Angulo's take:

… fared well inside, showcasing his athleticism, tenacity and ability to stick to blocks in the power run game. … mobile lineman with good feet, strong hands and an impressive work ethic.”

An opposing coach:

“…put together and is a super strong kid. … first step and the ability to get his hands on linemen quickly were two areas that got better. … ability to bend and move is impressive for his age … very good downhill, mauling type of lineman … got really low at center last year."

In addition to Atteberry's mobility and ability to bend, a a common thread in these evaluations is that Atteberry has the proverbial mean streak. His coach:

"…the nastiest football player I’ve ever coached … He’s got a motor that doesn’t stop. He’s got a fight in him that you rarely see. Hardest working kid. Toughest kid that I’ve ever coached."

His trainer is Matt McChesney, a former guard at Colorado who had a couple cups of coffee in the NFL. McChesney talks like an OL—"When these kids walk in, they need a place where they can go be a savage"—so when he calls Atteberry a "nasty prick" he means it as high praise.

The one exception to the Oh He Nasty takes comes from Rivals's regional analyst Adam Gorney:

"…can move really well. … athletic … good hands. … not sure he’s physical enough right now … I think he needs to be a little meaner … could get pushed around a little bit [early]. He’ll have to have add weight and a lot of it will have to be muscle."

That's very much an outlier take. But if we're looking for reasons Atteberry is a three star that's the clearest reason I found. If I'm extrapolating from the available data: Atteberry looked like a top 100 player early in his career but leveled off a bit physically and doesn't enter college with a slam-dunk "this is a huge future NFL person" vibe. This may be why is recruitment was weird. About that:

Atteberry's recruitment was weird. In spring Michigan was just another hat on the table, so to speak, with Notre Dame and Ohio State far out front. When Eaglecrest's athletic director gave out a list of top teams for Atteberry in May of last year, he listed ND, OSU as clear co-leaders, then mentioned Florida and Duke(!) before finally muttering "…and maybe Michigan." OSU was the favorite…

Atteberry showed up to Rivals Camp wearing an Ohio State sweatshirt. He has not heard too much from the Buckeyes yet, but the 2020 offensive lineman openly says it’s his dream school and an offer from the Buckeyes could end his recruitment early.

…and had an offer out, and then nothing really happened. OSU ended up flipping MI OL Grant Toutant—who' s ranked almost exactly where Atteberry is but is a true tackle at 6'7"—from Penn State in June. They then cancelled Atteberry's pending visit, and thus his recruitment.

Notre Dame was up next, with Atteberry vying to be the solitary interior OL prospect in NDs class. ND liked him "a ton" and "never stopped heavily recruiting him" but had limited slots. Then ND took two tackles and no one else. That strikes me as strange since the previous class had 4 OL. That's not usually a prompt to take just two the next year. ND takes morphed into "if Notre Dame wants him" territory, then the expectation Michigan was going to land Atteberry because schools "like Notre Dame, Ohio State, and Duke" filled up.

Sour grapes are common when a prospect goes elsewhere but here it looks like both OSU and Notre Dame decided not to take Atteberry. (I assume Duke is an attempted troll.) That does sap enthusiasm a bit. Atteberry also had a long, uninterrupted slide over the course of the cycle. Early he was a fringe top 100 player. He finished as a high three star everywhere.

FWIW, Atteberry told Rivals that Warriner was telling him he'd start out at right tackle, but also that he's "being recruited as an offensive lineman not a tackle or a center or a guard." That is probably something Warinner says to a lot of guys. For Atteberry, who was "the most position flexible [OL] by a wide margin" on ND's board and has demonstrated he can play inside and out, it's more true than it is for most. He could pop up anywhere, which will help him fight his way to the forefront of a blessedly crowded depth chart.

Etc.: Man it was tough to not assume McChesney's first name was "McKenny."

Why Mason Cole? Highly mobile 6'5" swing OL who is probably best at center, would be fine at guard, and could operate at tackle in a pinch. Cole came out of Florida as one of the most college-ready players in his class and was immediately shoved into the starting lineup at left tackle; Atteberry has significantly longer way to go. First order of business is the weight room.

Erik Magnuson, who started out at guard and evolved into a solid right tackle even though he wasn't a mauler, is a potential comparable if Atteberry ends up on the less physically intimidating end of the scale. TTB brought up Molk, but I'm not sure if Atteberry is quite that mobile. Going to take the OL version of Xavier Worthy to invoke Molk's ghost around here.

Guru Reliability: Moderate. Fair bit of agreement aside from the outlier take from the regional Rivals guy, high three star ranking matches the recruitment. But Atteberry was an OL taking on a lot of overmatched guys. It's a struggle to scout in those circumstances.

Variance: Moderate-plus. Is OL, is somewhat unproven even in that context, way his recruitment developed gives a little pause. On the other hand, a ton of experience and good academics—important if he's a C.

Ceiling: High-minus. Seems to have very good mobility and bend.

General Excitement Level: Moderate-plus. A fair amount of work ahead but a swing worth taking.

Projection: Is OL, redshirt, I love how that is finally a given. After that he and everyone else in this class might be looking at a wait. Michigan could return their entire line in 2021. Even if Jalen Mayfield heads to the NFL early that's one spot that eight or so guys will be foaming at the mouth for. Atteberry is very unlikely to be the Highlander who makes it out of that melee.

If all goes according to plan Andrew Steuber's spot comes open in 2022. Repeat melee minus one guy. Maybe Ryan Hayes is Taylor Lewan and goes early, repeat melee minus two guys. You get the idea. Getting to the starting OL is going to be a major task over the next few years.

This is the OL we're talking about so careers get cut short by injury frequently, and there will be transfers, etc. It still looks like it'll be year three or later for anyone in this class to bust through.