ANN ARBOR, Mich. — At Big Ten media days in 2022, Jim Harbaugh exclaimed that he had two first-year players who were ‘gifts from the football gods.’ It didn’t take long for fans and the media to realize he was talking about the two freshmen defensive tackles: Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant.
The funny thing about it is — it took nearly a year before Graham had even heard about that.
Grant played sparingly in 2022 but has been a big factor on the defensive line in 2023, thus far. Graham saw himself playing in key moments throughout the season, particularly standing out making fourth-down stops against Iowa and Michigan State. But it was in May that he finally heard what his head coach said about him, appearing at a name, image and likeness event with Harbaugh and several teammates.
“Yeah, I’ve always heard that, people telling me that phrase, and I’m like — I was kind of confused at first, but we went to like this little NIL thing with the Wolverine (boot company). And like, we’re in front of a group and (Coach Harbaugh is) like, ‘Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant — gifts from the football gods,'” Graham said. “So, that’s when I really started to notice.
“I mean, that’s obviously a compliment to be called, me and (Grant). Obviously, we do a lot of work together, so it’s pretty cool.”
Now that he’s in his second year, Graham is feeling a lot more comfortable in his role.
The fourth-leading tackler with eight through two games, he also has 1.5 tackles for loss and half a sack to his name. He says that’s a product of having a better idea of what the goals of the defense are.
“Yeah, it’s just getting more comfortable in the scheme,” Graham said. “Knowing the defense more like what we’re looking at, some defensive calls. Just being more comfortable with that, stuff like that.”
But how did Graham see the field early a year ago and be so productive? He credits fall camp and practice, going up against his own offensive line. Due to that quick acclimatization period, once he lined up against other teams, it wasn’t quite so mesmerizing.
“Some of those games warmed me up for those big moments, but I feel like going against our offense, I feel like that’s the biggest thing for me,” Graham said. “(It’s) the best O-line in the country, so it just prepares me for the best competition. So when I faced the Penn States, Ohio States, Michigan States like that, it just comes like clockwork.”
Graham will be in action again this Saturday when Michigan football hosts Bowling Green at The Big House. Kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m. EDT and the game will be televised on Big Ten Network.