NFL Mock Draft 2025: 5 Mason Graham landing spots that would dramatically upgrade D

We have seen enough! Mason Graham was an otherworldly talent in the trenches over the last three years for the Michigan Wolverines. While this past season did not go according to plan for Michigan, Graham emerged as the undisputed best player on last year's national champions. Graham has already signed with Drew Rosenhaus as his agent and plans to enter the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft.

Graham is a lock to go in the top 10, and is probably going inside of the top five like Rosenhaus forecasted. How well Graham tests and interviews will determine what NFL team ends up drafting the next Fletcher Cox or Aaron Donald. That is an incredibly high bar for a college star, but Graham was that type of a defensive interior presence during his three-year run with Michigan over in the Big Ten.

Now that we know of Graham's draft intentions, let's do the next fun thing and put this dude on a team, bruh! Right now, I would say that Graham might be a top-five pick, probably a top-eight pick and definitely a top-10 pick. He is the type of defensive line talent to merit a team picking in the teens potentially trading up for. If a bad team already has a quarterback, trade back a bit to get this player!

ESPN's Adam Schefter was all over this, as the star player at his beloved alma mater is turning pro!

Here are the first few teams that come to mind that I could think may end up drafting Graham top-five.

5. Cleveland Browns

Isn't the pass rush the strength of this reeling Cleveland Browns team? Yes, but this is the one position group I have seen in my 35 years of life impact a football game more than anyone else. You win national championships in college, like Graham did at Michigan, by overwhelming opposing offensive lines in the trenches. Cleveland is dysfunctional, but they are not as bad as their record.

Depending on what ownership wants to do at head coach and quarterback, putting Graham onto a team like Cleveland could be a moot point. However, I think there is enough of a reason to believe that the Browns may run it back with Kevin Stefanski as head coach and give Jameis Winston one last shot at being a serious starter out of training camp next year. I would only do this if I landed Graham.

The thought of having Graham playing off Myles Garrett for the next few years sure does excite me!

4. New York Jets

The New York Jets are another franchise with good players on the defensive side of the ball that could be in the range to draft a player like Mason Graham. New York may have other needs to address. It really all depends on what their incoming head coach and general manager decide to do as a tandem. For my money, I would pursue the best player available because this team is so putrid.

The last time the Jets were playoff-caliber, they won with defense under a defensive-minded head coach in Rex Ryan. Mark Sanchez may have been a young quarterback out of USC back then, but he didn't start Butt Fumbling until a little bit later. I would try to replicate this as best as I could. The only difference is I would not be pursuing a franchise quarterback at the top of the draft if I were New York.

Graham could be a bit of a redundancy for them, but having an area of strength is a starting point.

3. Jacksonville Jaguars

Given that the Jacksonville Jaguars have already paid him, Doug Pederson's eventual successor will have to make due with who is starting under center in Duval. Jacksonville is probably not going to take a quarterback near the top of the 2025 NFL Draft for that very reason. I would argue that they will go defense like they did with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft when picking Travon Walker.

As it is with the Cleveland Browns and the New York Jets, the Jaguars have plenty of good players to turn this thing around in a hurry. It could be coaching, it could be the front office, it could be ownership, it could be any number of things, it does not matter! Jacksonville needs to take the best player available wherever they are picking because it is one of the worst run organizations in football.

Graham to the Jaguars would help re-establish an identity defensively under their new head coach.

2. Carolina Panthers

Don't be shocked if the Carolina Panthers end up being the team that drafts Mason Graham inside of the top five out of Michigan. Under first-year head coach Dave Canales, the Panthers are not the worst team in football. They have improved with each passing week. Bryce Young is no longer an unfixable bust. Yes, David Tepper still owns the team, but I am thinking general manager Dan Morgan goes defense.

Whenever the Panthers have been a force to be reckoned with in the NFC South, they usually win because of their hall-of-fame defensive players. From the late Sam Mills and Kevin Greene from yesteryear, to Julius Peppers nearly two decades ago, to Luke Kuechly not that terribly long ago, the Panthers need to pursue a defensive playmaker of their caliber. Graham would be exactly that player.

As an Atlanta Falcons fan, this would be bad news bears for every other team in the entire division.

1. Chicago Bears

You are noticing a trend here, right? Whenever these bad, underperforming teams are good, they usually win with defense. Because Caleb Williams is only finishing up his rookie season out of USC, there is no reason to pursue a quarterback or really even an offensive weapon at the top of the draft. If the Chicago Bears do anything well as an organization, it is drafting and developing their defense.

Because Michigan is not all that far away from Chicago, Graham would already have a bit of a baked-in fanbase if he was the selection by the Bears. Chicago needs to do a lot of things, but the best thing they can do is get back to their roots of being a defense-first team with complementary quarterback play and a great ground game. Williams is their biggest star, but Graham would help them win more.

I would not be shocked if Graham was the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year starring for Chicago.