Rising Michigan football star looking to build on impressive freshman year

Last year, Michigan football saw an impressive performance from true freshman defensive tackle Mason Graham. Since the 2022 season came to a close, Graham has continued to turn heads throughout spring ball, and now, fall camp. After earning Freshman All-American honors and the team’s Defensive Freshman of the Year honors a season ago, Graham is looking to up his intensity and more this year.

Michigan football sophomore looking to build on impressive freshman year

Earlier this week, the media was able to address true sophomore defensive tackle Mason Graham for the first time since the start of fall camp. The hype surrounding this massive defensive tackle continues to grow, and rightfully so — he appeared in all 14 of the Wolverines’ contests last year, making two starts and recording 27 tackles and 2.5 sacks.

“Yeah, that’s my goal this year, even to go beyond that,” Graham explained when asked about his level of intensity. “Last year was my freshman year. I’m a little more experienced now with all the snaps I’ve gotten last year, and I’m trying to be more of an impact on the defense this year.”

What is Mason Graham focusing on?

Since the 2022 season ended, Where has Graham improved?

“Personally, for me, I think I’ve gotten better on my pass rush,” Graham explained. “Collectively as a D-line I think that was our main goal this year was taking that step in the pass rush, creating more tackles for losses, more negative plays for the offense, put us in a better position. But pass rush is something especially that I focused more on.

“… We’re working on more — I mean obviously working on all the run game stuff still — but we’re spending more time in individual, even watching more film, say ‘What are the top guys doing? What moves are working? How can we beat guys? How can we be more productive putting pressure on the quarterback to help our back end?’ And it’ll just help us on defense.”

According to the team’s 2023 roster page, Mason Graham boasts a massive 6-foot-3, 318-pound frame right now. Seeing as the Wolverines have a ton of defensive tackle talent this year, including Graham, Kris Jenkins, Kenneth Grant, and more, expect to see the interior of the defensive line earn more emphasis as the defense looks to assist in locking down a third-straight Big Ten title and more this fall.

Thank you for reading Blue by Ninety. For more Michigan Athletics and Big Ten content from Blue by Ninety, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. You can also subscribe to our YouTube Channel. For feedback, questions, concerns, or to apply for a writing position, please email our Publisher at [email protected]. Also, be sure to check out our shop and our podcast, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all other streaming platforms. It is because of your support that we have become one of the fastest-growing and most influential Michigan media outlets there is!