Is Mason Graham the best true frosh DT in Michigan history? 

Mason Graham doesn’t exactly look the part of a Big Ten starter, let alone at a program like Michigan. He still has some baby fat, he doesn’t look all that athletic … 

And now, he’s a freshman All-American as honored by Pro Football Focus. Graham became a starter from the get-go, but it was when he initially arrived on campus that he first impressed his teammates.

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“When Mason first came in, my first impression was … I was sitting with Jaylen Harrell, he and I were benching [in the weight room],” junior edge Braiden McGregor said. “We had 225 on, like sets of 5. We look over and see coach [Ben] Herb[ert] with Mason. His first set was like 275 … then he went to 315. He just kept putting weight on. We were like, ‘okay. Freshman … pretty impressive.’”

It only got better. 

“The final set, I don’t even remember what the weight was, but we looked over at Coach Herb and said, ‘he’s got it?’ He said, ‘yeah … he’s got it.’ We thought, ‘wow. This guy’s going to be a guy for us, for sure.”

He met the hype, and then some. Veterans like Mazi Smith and Kris Jenkins took him under a wing and mentored him, but Graham was already way ahead of the curve. The one-time 3-star pledge and Boise State commitment was a later flip — an afterthought to some given his rating — and proceeded to impress from the first practice. 

You never really know until the pads go on. When they did, he was even more impressive … once he learned the plays.

“When I first came here, I was always trying to lock into the playbook because in those early practices, I messed up a little bit on all the play calls,” Graham said. “But that’s when I knew I had to lock in. Now, I have the system down. I think I think I’m on a good path now.

“I just came with the mindset, ‘I’ve got to put in the work and then the results will come.”

‘Michigan’ strong … and determined

There have been offensive and defensive linemen who have started in the Big Ten before. It’s rare, though, for a first-year guy to start on the interior at a Michigan, or an Ohio State. 

Graham, though, is a different kind of guy. A former championship wrestler, he was ahead of the curve when it came to using his hands and shedding blocks. And that strength … well, he used that to his advantage in notching 25 tackles, including 2.5 sacks, in 13 games. 

He didn’t know his teammates were watching his weight room exploits when he first arrived. He was just doing what Herbert told him to do. 

“Everyone in this program loves him. He’s a big piece of our program,” Graham said. “We’re with him maybe even more than our assistant coaches. We all buy into what he wants us to do because he produces results. We all trust him. 

“I did not know at the time, but I guess they were watching. That’s cool, I guess … I guess some of them were looking at me because I was on their level almost. I was close to them strength wise.”

Turned out he was at their level on the field, too, and ready to become a fixture in the lineup. When he got the playbook down, there was no stopping him.

“That confidence really started to show more and more,” Jenkins said. “As the season continued, he’s just been doing his thing.”

He wasn’t alone. Guys like Will Johnson and others also contributed as part of an outstanding freshman class. 

“Being with them, working with them every day, you could kind of tell by their aura, by their level of intensity, that they’re willing to work and do whatever they have to do to perfect their craft,” Jenkins added. “Just seeing them produce and doing their thing … it’s really exciting for us to see them go out and dominate.

“At their young age, they’re going to continue to develop and continue to get bigger, get stronger, get faster. That excitement that they’re producing and balling out now, it really opens the question to what’s their ceiling going to be. How good are they going to continue to be? We’re really excited and proud for all of them. They’ve been doing a great job.”

And they still have several years remaining before they depart, making it even better. Graham will be one of their leaders, McGregor said, over the next couple years.

We’ll go a step further and say it — he’s already the best Michigan frosh defensive tackle has seen in the last several decades, and he’s just getting started.

“He stepped into a big role as a freshman. Seeing him mature as fast as he did … you don’t see that a lot on the d-line, o-line, especially in the Big Ten,” McGregor said. “It’s pretty impressive.”