Since Graham's commitment came in the middle of my football season, I got behind and never posted about his commitment.
Anaheim (MI) Servite defensive tackle Mason Graham committed to Michigan back in September 2021. He had previously been committed to Boise State since June 2021.
Graham is 6'4", 295 lbs.
RANKINGS
ESPN: 3-star, 77 grade, #72 DT
On3: 3-star, 88 grade, #49 DL
Rivals: 4-star, 5.9 grade, #11 DT, #160 overall
247 Sports: 4-star, 92 grade, #25 DL, #207 overall
Hit the jump for more.
Graham was a "late bloomer" who was not really identified early in the process, which was likely a cost of the COVID pandemic. Many 2021, 2022, and 2023 prospects have had delayed exposures to colleges since there were few camps, limited access to campuses, canceled/shortened seasons, etc. Graham had a few middling FBS offers (Oregon State, San Jose State, etc.) and committed to Boise State. Then his recruitment took off in late August when Michigan offered; by mid-September he had pulled the trigger for the Wolverines, but he went on to get offers from Oregon and USC.
Graham might be listed at 6'4", but you would never know it by his play on the field, because he doesn't stand up straight. He has a nice coiled-up stance with an explosive first step and heavy hands. He's uncomfortable remaining blocked and constantly fights to disengage from blockers, showing a nice array of moves and counter moves to beat linemen. Like a good inside linebacker, he does a nice job of wading through the trash to track ball carriers, and he shows nice redirection skills. I like his short-area closing speed, and he finishes tackles on top rather than trying to swing ball carriers to the ground.
There's not much to dislike here. One question may be how his body develops. He doesn't have much bad weight, but is he best at 295 pounds or is he going to add another 20-30 pounds?
Regardless, I think Graham can play a role at Michigan fairly early. It just depends on whether he plays the nose or the 3-tech position. I think he will have the ability to take on double-teams because of his leverage, but he also has the quickness to play on the outside shoulder of a guard and beat single blocks. He reminds me of a more polished Ryan Glasgow, who became a 4th round draft pick of the Bengals in 2017 after making 91 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss, and 5 sacks during his career in Ann Arbor.
Graham and Kenneth Grant are the only two sure interior defensive linemen in the class, though Derrick Moore could potentially kick inside from his defensive end spot. Graham would be the first player to come to Michigan from Servite, which is a pretty consistent talent producer in California; notable NFLers Steve Beuerlein, Matt Kalil, Ryan Kalil, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and others have all walked the halls there.
TTB Rating: 84
A polished Ryan Glasgow. That sounds nice. :-)
ReplyDeletex100
DeleteWhat you think are the chances this guy flips to Michigan?
ReplyDeletehttps://twitter.com/PeytonBowen10/status/1494143941012336640
I don't know enough about Bowen at this point. I've followed him a little bit because he's a top-100 player, but he just hasn't been on my radar that much because Michigan didn't throw its hat into the ring until yesterday.
DeleteI watched his video. What a fun, fantastic player. But I shouldn't get hopes up. Notre Dame is good with Safeties. He has reason to stay there.
DeleteYour admiration for this young man comes through loud and clear, and that's a very good sign for Michigan.
ReplyDeleteEncouraging assessment. Lots of shared optimism in Graham. The narrative arc behind his recruiting profile is what you want to hear.
ReplyDeleteI'd be a little surprised about early contributions, at least if this means playing a meaningful role as a freshman. Seems like that's fairly rare at DT unless there are problems. Shouldn't be the case in 2022, assuming Smith, Jeter, Jenkins, and Welshof are all back. Plus Benny was getting some buzz late in the year.
It may take a few years to be good as it did with Hinton, Smith, Glasgow, Hurst, and most others.
Jeter is gone.
DeleteIs that official? Mgoblog is assuming he's back. He has eligibility left and NIL money.
DeleteThe mods at On3 say he's gone. I'm pretty sure it was Balas himself. You know, if you trust him.
DeleteNot always but certainly more than flimsy Mgoblog speculation. With Seth there's a lot of: I saw this, so I deduce that, which now I'll treat as a fact, and go on from there even though the logical leap made at the onset is dubious at best.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, Thanks for the info.
Too bad for us - Jeter was a solid player and would have been useful.