Top 25 Eagles Ranked: No. 13 Isn’t Unlucky for Brandon Graham
PHILADELPHIA - Having spent years interviewing opposing offensive coaches, it’s become clear just how underrated Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham has been in the general public’s eye.
The uneducated sentiment can be traced to one word: sacks.
To a man, when it came to coaches, they would eventually land on blocking “55” when discussing the week’s necessities, a task that has always been easier said than done.
Through his first 12 NFL seasons, though, Graham never reached the magic number of 10 sacks, topping out at 9.5 in 2017 as if that magical demarcation line actually made a difference.
Inside NFL buildings of course, the importance of that particular statistic was always accompanied by the context long before the analytical revolution.
To this day, though, it’s a number that too many outsiders use as the only benchmark for great edge players to the point some comically labeled 2022-23 as a career year for B.G.
And Graham was great as usual but 11 sacks, along with 16 more quarterback hits, in a more limited role due to age and an Achilles injury that wiped out much of his 2021 campaign was like the Hollywood star stepping back from the lead role and winning a supporting acting award.
Call it Martin Scorsese’s time-tested equation of “one for them, one for me.” After years of Graham giving Eagles’ fans Oscar-worthy performances, he unveiled a little box office mojo en route to his finish as No. 13 finish on the top-25 current Eagles by SI.com’s Eagles Today.
At 35 and entering his 14th NFL season, Graham is now immersed in his co-starring role as the complement to Hasson Reddick and Josh Sweat, producing at a high level with less screen time. He played in 43 percent of the team’s defensive snaps last season, his lowest total since the 2014 season.
The lesser workload did not hamper Graham’s stellar play as the veteran was graded as the fifth-best of 119 edge rushers who played enough to be ranked last season by Pro Football Focus.
It was the eighth time that Graham was put in the top 10 by PFF. From the years 2015 to 2020, Graham never played less than 65% of the Eagles’ defensive snaps, though, so his impact was greater.
At his age, Graham not only accepted his pitch count, he embraced it which turned into more fastballs and more sacks.
Eagles Today beat writers Ed Kracz and John McMullen put together their own top 25 players independent of each other’s rankings and then assigned point values to the rankings, with 25 points awarded to the player ranked first on each list, 24 to the player ranked second, and so on, with one point going to the player that was put 25th.
The highest ranking from either reporter breaks any ties in the ballot.
Graham was No. 13 on McMullen’s list, while Kracz had him a little bit lower at No. 15.
So far, the rankings have shaken out this way:
No. 25 - Kenny Gainwell
No. 24 - Nicholas Morrow
No. 23 - Reed Blankenship
No. 22 - Terrell Edmunds
No. 21 - Jack Elliott
No. 20 – Nakobe Dean
No. 19 – Jordan Davis
No. 18 - Jalen Carter
No. 17 - D’Andre Swift
No. 16 - Milton Williams
No. 15 - Fletcher Cox
No. 14 - Avonte Maddox
No. 13 - Brandon Graham
Ironically, the No. 13 overall pick in the 2010 draft, Graham is one of the more underrated players in franchise history, producing just one Pro Bowl berth and one second-team Alll-Pro nod despite his stellar play over the years which includes arguably the biggest play in the team’s history, a strip sack of Tom Brady that essentially sealed Super Bowl LII.
Father Time catches up to everyone in the end but Graham still has gas left in the tank, as the third man in the Eagles’ impressive edge rotation which includes Pro Bowl stars Reddick and Sweat, as well as the No. 30 overall pick in April’s draft, rookie Nolan Smith.
Graham has consistently stated he wants to play 15 years with the same organization that drafted him and is on a year-to-year basis from a contract standpoint, giving Philadelphia the hometown discount by signing a one-year deal for $5 million.
The 2024 season would be No. 15 for the Eagles and place Graham, who is already the longest-tenured current Eagle, as more than likely playing the most games in franchise history (he’s at 178 now with a chance to pass David Akers' 188 this season). Graham will also tie Hall of Famer Chuck Bednarik for the most years as a Philadelphia Eagle this season and surpass "Concrete Charlie" if back for the 2024 campaign.
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-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Football 24/7 and a daily contributor to ESPN South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
