Name: Mason Graham
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 320 lbs.
High school: Anaheim (CA) Servite
Position: Defensive tackle
Class: Junior
Jersey number: #55
Last year: I ranked Graham #9 and said he would be a starting nose tackle with 45 tackles and 4 sacks (LINK). He started thirteen games and made 36 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, 1 pass breakup, and 3 quarterback hurries.
TTB Rating: 84
Graham was expected to be a huge impact player in 2023, and he did not disappoint. He was voted by conference coaches as a First Team All-Big Ten player (yeah!), by Big Ten media types as a Third Team All-Big Ten player (huh?), and by other media as Second Team All-American. And he deserved all that hype and more. After getting a PFF grade of 80.3 as a freshman in 2022, he topped it by scoring a 90.0 as a sophomore in 2023.
Graham had a cast on his arm for a chunk of the season, and he was beating Minnesota linemen to death despite being one-armed at the time. Graham is extremely quick off the ball, has powerful hands, plays with great leverage, and has the explosiveness to finish plays that other guys come close to making. Along with Kenneth Grant, Michigan's top defensive tackles are the best duo I remember in a Michigan uniform. There is no better tackle combo in the NCAA in 2024, at least.
This year could be Graham's final season in a Michigan uniform. He has been talked about as a potential first round draft pick, and I wouldn't blame him for jumping to the pros if he has another good season. The bar has already been set for all-conference and All-American accolades, so it might be hard to top that season. But Michigan has at least one season left (barring injury) to watch Graham and Grant manhandle opposing linemen. Let's enjoy it while we can.
Prediction: Starting defensive tackle; 45 tackles, 4.5 sacks
Your TTB rating of "only" 84, coupled with your ranking of him at #3, with some struggle whether to rank him at #1, says that he's out-performing his initial TTB rating. That leads me to wonder: in what ways has he out-performed? What do you see in him *now* that you didn't see in him *then*, or anticipate then?
ReplyDeleteIt's a serious question about how someone like him develops over time.
Well, he's either bigger now than I expected him to be, or he's maintained his quickness despite being bigger. A quote from my commitment post:
Delete"He doesn’t have much bad weight, but is he best at 295 pounds or is he going to add another 20-30 pounds?"
He was 295 as a recruit, and now he's listed at 320. But he kept his quickness. Some guys who put on 25 pounds are not going to be as quick as Graham. So sometimes it just depends on how a player develops physically, his genes, his work ethic, etc.
Thanks! This is why TTB is the go-to site for insight into specific player evaluation.
DeleteMaybe he wins the PFF Heisman (highest ranked player).
ReplyDeleteWell, I got it right. Graham is no Eddie Vanderdoes, he's way, way, double better. In Eddie's defense, football on one functioning knee does become very difficult.
ReplyDeleteNow we have Seth comparing Graham to Ndamukong Suh and Aiden Hutchinson, and I can't scoff. On the afternoon of the first game of his Junior season, I'm thinking you just have to sit there, shrug, and say, "Maybe!"
The good news here is that we're gonna get to find out.