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Name: Mehdi El Attrach
Position: Defensive Back
Number: 25
Year: Sophomore
Height: 6’0”
Weight: 194
Hometown: Orlando, Florida
High School: Lake Nona
2016 Stats: After redshirting his freshman season, El Attrach appeared in all 13 games, playing primarily special teams this last season. He finished with four tackles (one for loss).
Projections: El Attrach has been playing safety next to Will Harris all spring, rotating with Lukas Denis. He’s shown a lot of potential at the position, but it seems more likely than not that he give up most of his play time to Denis. I’d expect him to be a top tier special teams player with a chunk of snaps at CB/Safety.
Over/Under: 10 Tackles, 2 Passes Defended.
How’d He Get Here: Initially recruited as a wide receiver, El-Attrach was a 3-star projected by many to go to Northwestern. He ended up with 14 offers, including Duke, Louisville, UMass, Syracuse, Wake Forest, and a host of G5 schools. You can read more about his initial commitment here.
You can watch some of his high school highlights below.
Quotables from ‘Daz (and other coaches!):
“In the back end, Lukas Denis and Mehdi El Attrach have been getting a lot of work next to Will Harris at safety. Very, very talented. I think our back end is going to be really good. Kamrin Moore was out this spring, so coming back from an injury, but he's good. He's actually cleared now, and we've got experience back there, and I think this is a really good group.” - Steve Addazio on the secondary this spring
“Mehdi El Attrach is a guy who played for us a little bit last year and has really raised his game, as well. I think those three guys will fill that void for us." - DB coach Anthony Campanile on how the Eagles can replace John Johnson