Brandon Graham: Bookend Beast to Clay Matthews?

DE/OLB Could Be a Perfect Bookend to Matthews

Let’s compare the build and speed of Graham and Matthews:

Clay Matthews

6’3″
250 lbs
4.58 40 yd dash

Brandon Graham

6’2″
263 lbs.
4.72 40 yd dash

Keep in mind, Clay ran 4.58 at 240 pounds. He’s bulked up to 250 now which would take a bit off that 40 time. And, Brandon pulled a hamstring on that 40.

Brandon Graham By the (College) Numbers

At 6’2″ and 263 lbs., Graham is official listed as a defensive lineman. Howver, it doesn’t take much searching to find him also listed as an outside linebacker, and is it any wonder. This speed rusher chased quarterbacks all over during his tenure at Michigan and recorded 29.5 sacks in addition to 56 tackles for loss. Even Brian Buluga had all he could handle when he faced Graham.

In 2009 alone, Graham collected 64 total tackles, 42 of those were solos. (See some of his highlights in the video below.)

Brandon was the first Wolverine ever to win team MVP twice and was named MVP of the Senior Bowl.

Graham’s tenacity and quick pass rush make him one of the candidates teams with 3-4 defenses are looking at. Of course, the question on the lips of Packer fans is, “Can he transition from DE to OLB effectively.”

Brandon Graham’s Combine Performance Cut Short

Unfortunately for Brandon, his showing at the NFL combine was cut short due after he pulled his hamstring in his first run-through of the 40 yard dash. This is reflected in the 4.72 he posted in the 40. It would have been nice if he had a chance to make good on his promise to post a 4.50 in the 40. I expect he’s much closer to 4.50 than he is to 4.72.

Still, 4.72 in the 40 was good enough to place him #8 among DEs and, if you compare that to LBs it was almost enough to make the top 10. So, it appears Brandon has the speed to compete at OLB.

The other event Graham was able to compete in before sitting out the remainder of the combine was the bench. In that event Graham placed #10 among DEs with 31 reps. Not bad for a smallish DE. Compare that to the linebackers at the combine and he would have ranked #3 among them.

Good Choice for the Packers?

While Graham has the speed and size to be an OLB in the 3-4, I would wonder whether he is able to drop into pass coverage. Granted, I’ve seen very few clips of Graham, but in none of those highlights is Graham doing anything but full-blown pass rush and stuffing runs. I have yet to see him have to react to a screen and change direction from forward to pass coverage, and that needs to be evaluated before he can be considered a fit for a 3-4.

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