There might not be a better defensive tackle in the NFL right now than Mason Graham.
The Michigan football legend, who posted a 3-0 record during his career against Ohio State and helped the Wolverines win a national championship in 2023, has been on an absolute tear to start the 2026 season with the Cleveland Browns.
The No. 5 overall pick hasn't just taken a second-year leap. It's more like a quantum leap. Through three games, the one-time Michigan football star has 15 total tackles, four sacks, six tackles for loss, nine quarterback hits, and nine pressures.
Those would be incredible numbers for an EDGE rusher, let alone a defensive tackle. There is only one player in the NFL, Greg Rousseau of Buffalo, who has more sacks. The linebacker has been credited with six.
Graham is tied with T.J. Watt and Will Anderson for second in the NFL in sacks with four, just ahead of Aidan Hutchinson and Chase Young, who each have 3.5. Another former first-round pick of the Wolverines, Kwity Paye, is also in the top 20 with two sacks.
Mason Graham shatters the fantasy of Ohio State fans
Ohio State fans were mortally wounded, or so it seemed, when the Wolverines won four consecutive games over Ohio State en route to the 2023 national championship. Rival fans have said it was "signs" (we know better), and they have used NFL success as a reason for that.
Basically, the claim is that Michigan's players bust in the NFL, so their title team was a fraud. The only problem is that two seconds of research makes that claim completely detached from realty.
Of course, Michigan fans should expect nothing less from Buckeye fans.
The truth is that Graham has more sacks this season than all four Ohio State defensive linemen drafted in the same class in 2025, even though there was a first-round pick in that group, Tyleik Williams and a second, J.T. Tuimoloau. Jack Sawyer was drafted in the fourth and Ty Hamilton in the fifth.
Those four players have two sacks in two combined seasons. Tuimoloau, a bust if there ever was one, has zero. Sawyer, too. Some Ohio State fans even had the nerve to say Williams was better than Graham.
Sure guys, sure. Just like Michigan needed Connor Stalions to run over over the sorry Ohio State defense in 2021, 2022 or 2023.
Beyond that, Roman Wilson has more catches, touchdowns, targets, and receiving yards than Marvin Harrison Jr. Blake Corum is also outperforming both Ohio State backs drafted higher than him in the 2025 NFL Draft, so the narrative that Michigan players don't pan out in the NFL is just wrong.
Facts are facts, even if Ohio State fans don't like them.
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