Graham: Right now, I'm a bust
Brandon Graham knows what fans think of him, and he's embracing it.
Graham: Right now, I'm a bust
Jonathan Tamari
Brandon Graham knows what fans think of him, and he's embracing it.
"I haven’t (done) nothing really," Graham said today after the Eagles first full-team practice of the year. "Right now, I’m a bust, so I’m going to deal with that. I’m a bust and I’m going to keep being a bust, even when I make plays, I’m going to still act like I’m a bust, you know what I’m saying?"
Graham was clearly using the criticism he has faced during his first two seasons to fuel him for what he -- and the team -- hope is a breakout third year for the 2010 first round draft pick. Graham hardly played last season after having microfracture knee surgery to help recovery from a torn ACL his rookie year. That left him with three sacks, all in his first season, to show for a pass rusher that the Eagles traded up to draft.
"Just going through that whole thing last year, not playing, I just grew as a person, that was number one," Graham said. "I've moved on from it now it’s time for me to defend myself."
He said he feels more confident in his repaired knee and brought his weight down to 265, from a high of 285 last season. With Jason Babin away and missing the voluntary camp, Graham got some snaps with the first team defense.
Graham played in just three games last year. Twice he dressed but didn't get on the field. Now, more than a year removed from his knee injury, Graham faces a make-or-break season. Several people within the organization have said they have high hopes for Graham, but that he has something to prove this year.
- Actually you are wrong. Yo man, it's 2012, if you want to know what people thought of these two players BEFORE the draft, google it. You can't just BS your way around like the information isn't available out there. Not a single Mock draft had Brandon Graham rated higher than JPP(all 6 had JPP rated in the top 20 players). In fact only two mocks had Graham in the first round at all(highest spot being 23rd in round 1), the other 4 major mocks I checked had him as a 3-4 LB to be taken in the 2nd and one even had a third round grade on him. Good post though.
— UncleStosh - but JPP was said to have the higher ceiling, he was still raw and newer to the game. So, no JPP was projected to be better player in long run, Graham was better at that time because he played position longer. It was a dumb move on Eagles part and if Washburn was here at time, no doubt in my mind which guy they would've taken. He loves long armed, fast big Dlinemen. Always had big guys from when he was at SC and got into trouble here to the NFL — crohnkiller
Comment removed.- This is correct. JPP was more of a risk with a high ceiling. Graham was more of a sure thing. — bc3030
- right now, I'd agree— dragoon6
- A Manula, who got hurt?— DennisM
- Grouping together all this kid's quotes since he got here, he seems to be ultra-sensitive to what's written or said about him. Not that it's a good or bad thing, some guys like to focus on themselves and others look for some kind of fuel. That can go one of two ways: he can use it as motivation on the field and play with a major chip on his shoulder. Or he can go the Shawn Andrews route and just be defensive all the time. Personally I liked what I saw in his limited time and still think he'll be a very good player, just hope he has the right type of mentality to really tap into that potential
- great attitide from this big kid! im rooting for him double now!— daveH
- well he's on the Eagles...they only take BUSTS!— ArtieLange
- This comment has been deleted. — bedpan
- Today that's true. Pierre seems the wiser choice. Graham played at Michigan, in the Big 10 against Penn State, Iowa, Ohio State, and Wisconsin.
I watched Brandon Graham on television at Michigan destroy all of those schools and embarrass Notre Dame. Graham at Michigan was like Suh at Nebraska.
If Graham gives the Eagles half of his output he gave at Michigan, we good. Graham was a force at Michigan.— Dexter - Has any lineman recovered from the kind of injury he had and gone on to have a great career? I can't think of any?— farley
- just a reminder: the eagles could have selected local kid done good jared odrick without trading up. odrick was the best defensive lineman in the big ten that year -- not graham.
i believe they made the same mistake this year when they traded up for fletcher cox when they could have traded DOWN and got a similar player in devon still.
— tockeyhockey - Graham was Big Ten Co-Defensive player of the year(Daryll Clark) and he didn't share the award with Odrick so none of the coaches in the Big Ten agreed with you. He led the big ten in tackles for a loss by a wide margin and was the senior bowl MVP.
There is a lot of banter on this subject but there is one fact. All Talent Boards(not mock drafts that guess where a player goes but the big board of talent) had JPP somewhere between 7-15 best player available. They all had Graham at 19-45.— UncleStosh - Comment removed.
