The Cleveland Browns' first-round acquisition has a lot of potential, if you ask Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. That shouldn’t be a surprise, though, because first-round draft picks always have a high ceiling. But hype in June doesn’t necessarily mean Mason Graham’s going to be a future Hall of Famer. But what it does do is give you a glimpse into what he could look like this season.
And this season, Graham will have a massive role in relieving pressure for Myles Garrett while also being an elite player on the interior of the defensive line. After getting the first look at the Michigan product in minicamps, Schwartz plans on getting even more out of him than what Michigan was able to get out of him.
“I do think there’s a lot of meat on the bone as far as his production, and we can see better production from him than even we saw, and he had outstanding production and college,” Schwartz said, per Ashley Bastock of Cleveland.com.
That’s good news for the Browns, but until he gets on the field, OTAs hype and speculation only goes so far. The Browns need help on the defensive line, so if he can have a big impact, it could be what gives this Browns team hope.
The Browns have to get the most out of Mason Graham to make trade back worth it
Michael Hall Jr. showed, through his few appearances last year, that he can be an elite interior defensive lineman. Imagine if Graham looks like that in his first season, too. The Browns might end up having a Philadelphia Eagles-caliber defensive line. Hall had surgery this offseason for a knee injury.
Hall had eight tackles and a sack in eight games last year. Once he’s healthy again, Hall and Graham together on the interior could cause a lot of problems. Take into account, you could even move Graham around the line and potentially put him in on the edge opposite of Garrett.
Graham’s addition gives the Browns optimism on the side of the ball that’s been its strongest. Last year, the Browns defense didn’t play up to its standard. But the front office has invested in keeping this defense solid with its first two draft picks.
Cleveland is high on Graham right now and that’s a good thing. The fact that they see potential in him is even better. But that adds more pressure on him to make an instant impact. If he does, Cleveland just might be able to rebuild around a dominant defense.