Mason Graham, the powerful, well-rounded three-season 3-technique defensive tackle for Michigan, could become a three-coast player in a few months. He started out on the West Coast in Mission Viejo, CA, before moving halfway across the country to star for the Wolverines near the shores of Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair on Detroit's doorstep.
Many wouldn't mind seeing him continue east to the Atlantic Coast and swim onto the Jets' D-line. And Graham can imagine himself wearing green and white as well.
"It'd be really cool," Graham told newyorkjets.com reporter Caroline Hendershot inside Lucas Oil Stadium on Wednesday in Indianapolis ahead of the NFL Combine's position testing and workouts. "Guys like Quinnen Williams, playing next to him, I watched him a lot in college and I feel like he's a dominant player. Putting me next to him, it would only make me better."
And placing him on the Jets would only make him feel more at home, since after he played ball for Michigan mostly on Saturdays, he watched the Lions mostly on Sundays. Which means he was well acquainted with then-Detroit coordinator Aaron Glenn's defense before Glenn accepted the Jets' head coaching job last month.
"He's a defensive-minded coach and that's what I like," MG said of AG. "He's done a lot of great things. And being from Michigan, I went to a lot of Lions games. So watching him, it was pretty cool. He's a great coach."
Before going further, it bears mentioning that Glenn, general manager Darren Mougey and the Jets have not given any indications of who, they'll be taking with their seventh overall pick in the NFL Draft. And Graham, after many team interviews already, including the Jets, doesn't yet know which direction he's headed next — "Whenever I get that call," he said, "I'll know who I'm going to."
But the 6-3, 320-pound first-team All-American is already many draft analysts' top interior D-lineman in a draft that Mougey said on Tuesday has "a really strong defensive line group." And Graham is not bragging but he's not shy about agreeing with that consensus.
"Just how hard I work, off-the-field-stuff, that I'm all about business — no one's really concerned about that," he said of the tone of the several team interviews he already had Tuesday evening. "I'm not a mysterious guy. You don't have to look deep into me to find out about me. Everything's out there, nothing to hide."
What's out there has wowed the scouts. Lance Zierlein of NFL.com had a few choice phrases to describe his game: "Graham's first-step quickness makes interior disruption inevitable" and "Harmonious hands and feet are the catalyst for his edge-to-edge counters." Pro Football Focus gave him a 2024 run defense grade of 92.6, tops among all FBS defensive lineman, and an overall 91.1 defensive grade, tied for the best among interior DL.
"I pride myself on playing the run and the pass, because I feel that's what a complete D-lineman does," he said. "But obviously, rushing the passer I feel like I'm really good at, too. I can run through guys or I can be a finesse guy at the same time."
Graham's impact was larger than his numbers of 81 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks his last two seasons as a Michigan starter. He was named first-team All-Big Ten both years and was the Rose Bowl Defensive MVP at the end of the '23 season.
As for the Jets, if Javon Kinlaw departs via free agency, and even if he doesn't, there would be room on the roster for a player such as Graham to move onto the line next to Williams, stop opponents' inside run games and collapse their pockets on passing downs.
But a lot of teams have similar feelings about Graham, and the Jets of course have a quarterback need. If one of the top QBs remains on the board as their No. 7 pick approaches, they may or may not have a tough decision to make, whether to go offensive field general or defensive havoc creator.
Graham will just go about his job, which he has boiled down to the simplest of terms.
"As defensive linemen, we're told to do the same thing play in, play out, maybe 70 snaps a game," he said. "Doing the same thing over and over again is probably the hardest part, and I pride myself on doing that. I feel I've put in a lot of hard work, I've been coached really well all throughout high school and college, putting in extra time and extra work, trying to perfect it and be the best player I can for my teammates."
