2025 NFL Draft: Why One Mason Graham Trait Won't Impact His Standing With Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars need a game-changer at No. 5 overall. And there is a chance that game-changer could be Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham, who is one of the best prospects in the entire 2025 NFL Draft class.

Perhaps this would not have been the case in the past Jaguars' regime, led by general manager Trent Baalke. This isn't due to any holes in Graham's game, but instead in the fact that his 32-inch arms are in just the 12th percentile of all defensive tackle prospects to enter the NFL.

Baalke frequently made a clear emphasis on length as a key trait in defensive linemen prospects. It was among the top reasons he took Travon Walker at No. 1 in 2022, after all.

Throughout Baalke's entire career as a general manager, he selected 20 defensive tackles or edge rushers. 16 of those players have had arm length of 33 inches or more. The only four who didn't include a fourth-rounder (Jay Tufele) who only lasted one season; a fifth-rounder (Yasir Abdullah) who spent most his rookie year as a healthy scratch; and two seventh rounders, including one (Raymond Vohasek) who didn't even spend a day on the Jaguars' practice squad.

Graham would have fallen short of this threshold. But with the Jaguars now under the guidance of head coach Liam Coen and general manager James Gladstone, who have deep Los Angeles Rams ties, this should no longer be a deal breaker in Jacksonville.

"I think you can go ahead and take a peek at our last handful of drafts and can answer that question for yourself," Gladstone said this week at the NFL Scouting Combine when asked about the importance of arm length.

Looking at recent Rams' defensive line picks, it is easy to see what Gladstone means. Braden Fiske had 31-inch arms; Byron Young has 32.5-inch arms; Kobie Turner had 31.75-inch arms. The only recent Rams pick who would have met Baalke's threshold is Jared Verse.

As the Rams have shown, arm length is not the end all when it comes to defensive line prospects. Graham is missing that piece of the draft profile, but it does not appear it will matter much to the Jaguars, if at all.

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