ANN ARBOR, Mich. — For the most part, Michigan football’s big positional moves came during spring ball. Jim Harbaugh has been long known as a tinkerer, and sometimes his moves have worked wonders — whether it’s Jabrill Peppers playing multiple positions across all three phases, Chase Winovich moving from tight end and H-back to defensive end, and more recently, Mike Sainristil from wide receiver to nickel back.
The jury is out on Amorion Walker from receiver to cornerback, as well as the move made late last year of linebacker Kalel Mullings to running back. The only obvious failure was fullback Ben Mason to 3-technique — he moved back to fullback after a few games.
But during fall camp, one move went under the radar, discovered only because of a picture Michigan football posted on X, formerly known as Twitter — Reece Atteberry from offensive guard to defensive tackle.
The move surprised some of his teammates in the room just as much as fans, as Zak Zinter recounted last week.
“I came into the building and I was like, ‘Reece — where’s Reece? He’s not sitting behind me in meetings anymore,” Zinter said. “But I think it’s been a great change for him. He’s learned the defense really quick. He’s been getting a lot of reps. And he’s a big dude to move. He’s strong, too. So I think it’s gonna be a good move for him.”
Atteberry is currently working up the depth chart, as there are several players currently ahead of him. That means he hasn’t necessarily gone one-on-one with some of his compatriots on the offensive line — such as Trevor Keegan — but Keegan has seen Atteberry on film and thinks there’s real potential there.
“No, I haven’t. But, we’ve been watching him on film, obviously,” Keegan said. “And for his first week, he’s done really, really well. It’s been really impressive. Him just taking a combo block with his leverage, like, it almost looks natural to him in some ways. It’s been really impressive what he’s done.”
Will fans see Atteberry working on defense right away in 2023? We’ll know more on Saturday when the Wolverines open up the season against East Carolina. The game will kick off at noon EDT from The Big House and will be streamed live on Peacock.
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