The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1517673
22 THE WOLVERINE ❱ APRIL 2024 BY CHRIS BALAS O vet the years, Michigan football has earned many titles as a feeder of talent to the NFL. For decades, they were "Offensive Line U" thanks to talents like Dan Dierdorf, Bubba Paris, Jumbo El- liott, Jon Jansen, Steve Hutchinson and others. Jim Harbaugh was the first of many signal-callers to have NFL success and was followed by Elvis Grbac, Brian Griese, Tom Brady, Chad Henne — thus "Quar- terback U" — and under Harbaugh the last nine years, U-M's defensive ends/ edges have been representing. However, defensive tackle is one posi- tion that's been lacking. It's not that the Wolverines haven't had some good ones, but those big, dominant linemen that take over games are very hard to come by. Mason Graham first took the field as a 6-foot-3, 317-pound true freshman in the 2022 spring game and went toe-to- toe with some outstanding veteran offen- sive linemen and more than held his own. There were two initial reactions: "Whoa." And … "Looks can be deceiving." "My first impression was that he was short, because he was built like a short guy," Michigan play-by-play voice Doug Karsch recalled. "And then I stood next to him afterward and said, 'He's not short at all.' "You could see the quickness right away. He had the size and strength that makes him just about perfect as a col- lege defensive lineman. That position can impact the game but not get noticed. He impacts the game and gets that notice." It was evident in the first few spring practices, then-coach Harbaugh said during Graham's college football initia- tion as a 2022 early enrollee freshman out of Anaheim (Calif.) Servite. That began the buzz, but even then, most said the same thing — "Let's see what he does when we're live." After the spring game, it became, "Let's see what he does against something other than friendly competi- tion." By the middle of the season, it was clear Harbaugh and Co. had found some- thing unique. Several longtime Michigan football aficionados agreed — they had never seen a better true freshman defen- sive tackle at Michigan. Even the most highly recruited of those players — guys like Gabe Watson in the early 2000s and Alan Branch in 2004 —had seen limited action as true freshmen. Graham not only played in 14 games, but he also started two on his way to a 27.5-tackle season that earned him fresh- man All-America honors from Pro Foot- ball Focus along with Michigan Defensive Freshman of the Year accolades. The 2023 season, though, and specifi- cally an October night game against Min- nesota in Minneapolis, was when most knew Michigan had someone special. Playing with a club on his hand, the re- sult of a broken thumb suffered in a Sep- tember game with Bowling Green, Gra- ham proved unstoppable from his interior tackle position. Linemen will all say it's often hand fighting that makes the difference in the trenches, and that they need to use that ability to break free of offensive linemen THE MIDDLE MAN Mason Graham Is Staking His Claim As One Of Michigan's Best-Ever Defensive Tackles With 36 tackles, including 7.5 for loss and 3 sacks as a sophomore in 2023, Graham was tabbed as a first-team All-Big Ten pick by the coaches, a Sporting News' second-team All-American and the Rose Bowl Defensive MVP. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER