2025 NFL Draft prospect profile – Mason Graham, iDL, Michigan

Is Graham the best in a great class?

The 2025 NFL Draft features an incredibly deep class of defensive lineman.

Michigan’s Mason Graham might not be the biggest, strongest, most athletic, or most disruptive of the defensive tackles. However, his combination of traits and skills might just make him the best of a very good bunch.

Why is Graham commonly considered the best interior defenders in the draft?

Prospect: Mason Graham (55)
Games Watched: vs. Texas (2024), vs. USC (2024), vs. Minnesota (2024), vs. Illinois (2024)

Measurables

Kent Lee Platte | RAS.football

Strengths

Best traits

• Leverage
• Power
• Competitive toughness
• Disruptiveness

Mason Graham is a stout, powerful, athletic, and skilled defensive tackle prospect.

Graham doesn’t have exceptional size at 6-foot-4, 296 pounds, and is built like a classic 3-technique. That said, he does have exceptional power – not just play strength – for his size and maximizes that with excellent balance and leverage. It shouldn’t surprise anyone watching his tape that he was a champion wrestler in high school. His instinctual feel for leverage, balance, and positioning are immediately apparent on tape, and form the foundation for his game.

Graham has a very crisp first step and keys the snap well enough that he’s almost always one of the first players moving. He turns that first step into power and is able to overwhelm individual blockers, particularly when attacking half-man leverage with good pad level. He does flash the occasional finesse counter such as a swipe, rip, spin, or arm-over, however he’s primarily a power rusher.

Given his background and choice of moves, it isn’t a surprise that Graham is a brawler up front. He gets after blockers, is willing to take on multiple blocks, and offers great effort in pursuit.

Weaknesses

Worst traits

• Arm length
• Pass rush consistency

There are very few weaknesses in Graham’s game and he’s one of the cleanest in the draft.

In fact, the only real complaint with respect to Graham’s profile is with his arm length. His arms are, frankly, short at just 32 inches long, and that could pose problems against long-limbed blockers at the NFL level.

It would also be nice to see Graham be a bit more consistently disruptive as a pass rusher. There are instances where he seems almost content to wrestle with linemen, as opposed to attacking gaps and penetrating into the backfield. Of course it’s also possible that he might have been tasked with occupying blockers in Wink Martindale’s defense and was simply doing as he was coached.

Game Tape

(Graham is the Michigan defensive tackle wearing number 55 and short sleeves.)

Projection

Mason Graham projects as a starting defensive tackle at the NFL level with Pro Bowl upside.

He isn’t quite a “game wrecker” on the order of Aaron Donald or Ndamukong Suh coming out of college. However, his blend of athleticism, power, leverage, and technique are formidable. He could stand to mix in some more finesse counters to be more disruptive in the backfield and deal with blockers who are ready for his power. However, that’s a small criticism.

Graham should be a starter right away and he has the versatility to play all over a defensive front, from a 5-technique to nose tackle, and in any scheme called in the NFL.

Does he fit the Giants?
Yes.

Final Word: A high first round talent