Patriots Draft Profile: Does Mason Graham Have Fatal Flaw?

The New England Patriots don’t look like they’ll be in a position to grab Colorado’s Travis Hunter or Penn State’s Abdul Carter in the 2025 NFL Draft.

Could they still find a generational talent, though?

Yes, well… maybe. Penn State’s Tyler Warren and Michigan’s Mason Graham are the closest things to a generational talent outside of the other two players we mentioned, and both might only be worthy of that tag depending on the situation they end up in.

It’s much safer to say they aren’t, and though we’ve already made the case for one, we should probably dive deeper into the case for Graham. New England has needs to fill, and though it can never hurt to add depth to the interior defensive line, could you justify doing it at No. 4?

Could you justify doing it with a player who might have a fatal flaw?

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OVERVIEW

Graham is a great player, which we certainly don’t want to overlook.

Michigan saw him earn unanimous All-American honors in 2024, which also happened to be his second consecutive season leading the conference in pressures as an interior defensive lineman.

We just don’t love the prospect, which is crazy to some people.

NFL SCOUTING COMBINE

Graham is going to be selected very early on April 24, so he didn’t need to do much at the combine. We did notice that he miraculously dropped 20 pounds from what he was listed at Michigan, which is, coincidentally, a huge knock on him.

(HINT: He didn’t lose the weight. He was never that big.)

Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 296lbs
Hand: 9 1/8″
Arm: 32″

Bench Press: 24 reps

STRENGTHS

Graham’s background as a prolific wrestler certainly shows up in his game, as his nonstop motor and natural feel for leverage helped him overcome some physical deficiencies at the collegiate level. Michigan played him all over the defensive line, which allowed him to use his power to overcome smaller offensive tackles.

We have an athlete on our hands, folks.

You can’t find many reps in which he’s outmatched athletically, as he often started as a standup rusher on passing downs and abused interior linemen with lateral quickness. Graham’s hands are underrated, as well, as his strikes are enough to keep longer opponents off his body.

WEAKNESSES

Graham has tiny little arms, and we’re not sure why it doesn’t get brought up the way it has with LSU’s Will Campbell and Texas’ Kelvin Banks Jr.

Yes, he’ll be playing on the interior where that doesn’t matter as much, but part of his value comes from the fact that he has success rushing from up and down the line. You can’t just expect him to feast from the interior on all three downs, because big, mean interior offensive linemen like Tyler Smith, Robert Hunt and Trey Smith will chew him up and spit him out.

WHY ISN’T HE WORTH THE NO. 4 PICK?

Graham will be a productive professional, but taking someone with such an obvious flaw would be ridiculous for New England.

The Patriots don’t necessarily need any help along the interior, but if they’d like to add depth, this is a tremendous class to do it. Toledo’s Darius Alexander is a personal favorite who fits exactly what they’re looking for. Texas’ Alfred Collins is a mass of humanity that no one would want to deal with. Virginia Tech’s Aeneas Peebles is similarly athletic and can probably be had in the fifth round.

Why not just wait on one of those guys and use your top pick on filling the last obvious remaining hole on the roster?

If you’d like more individual profiles, check out the full series and follow @KeaganStiefel on X.