Michigan Football: The Wolverine's Top-25 Since '97 - No. 7
The Wolverine continues its series of the top 25 Michigan players since 1997 with No. 7, Brandon Graham.
Graham is one of the most dominant pass rushers in recent Michigan football history, and was a bright spot during some down years for the program.
Rivals.com listed Graham as a five-star inside linebacker in the class of 2006 and the No. 1 player in Michigan that recruiting class, as well as the No. 15 player in the country. During his career at Crockett Vocation Tech in Detroit, Graham tallied 307 tackles, 112 tackles for a loss and 56 sacks. Graham was named Michigan's Gatorade Player of the Year and was named to the USA Today All-USA High School All-America first team. He was also the first player from Michigan to participate in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
At Michigan, Graham played 11 games along the defensive line, though he only tallied three tackles and a partial sack. As a sophomore in 2007, Graham made 8.5 sacks, three of which came in that year's game against Notre Dame, the most in a single game in school history. His 8.5 sacks led the team that season and was seventh in the Big Ten. Graham started just five games during the 2007 season. The 2007 season was coach Lloyd Carr's last with the team, and ended with a Citrus Bowl victory over Florida.
In 2008, his junior season, Graham pushed his sack total to double digits after earning a starting role on the team under new head coach Rich Rodriguez. He also had 46 tackles and 20 tackles for loss that year, and was named All-Big Ten second team by the coaches and media. Despite Graham's personal success, the team went 3-9 in one of the worst seasons in school history. Graham's play as a junior was not a fluke, and he came back his senior season with as much, if not more, success on the field. He collected 64 tackles, 26 tackles for loss and 10.5 sacks. His 10.5 sacks is currently No. 7 on the school's single season sack list. Following the season, Graham was a Ted Hendricks Award finalist and was named first team All-Big Ten by the coaches and media.
For his career at Michigan he ranks No. 2 in tackles for loss with 56, and No. 2 in career sacks with 29.5, behind Mark Messner in both categories.
Graham was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles No. 13 overall in the 2010 NFL Draft. He was the highest drafted player from the Big Ten that season. Graham has switched between playing defensive line and linebacker during his career with the Eagles, and had a career year in 2016 under defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. Following the 2016 season, he was named All-Pro Second Team by the Associated Press and an All-Pro by Pro Football Focus. Graham signed a four-year contract with the Eagles following the 2015 season.
The full list:
No. 8: Chris Perry
No. 9: Anthony Thomas
No. 10: Leon Hall
No. 11: Chad Henne
No. 14: Denard Robinson
No. 15: Marlin Jackson
No. 16: Glen Steele
No. 17: David Baas
No. 18: Jourdan Lewis
No. 19: David Harris
No. 20: Ernest Shazor
No. 21: John Navarre
No. 22: Jake Butt
No. 23: David Molk
No. 24: Taco Charlton
No. 25: Jeremy Gallon