Mason Graham is making a statement early in the 2026 season, and the numbers are loud enough to hear from Ann Arbor to Cleveland.
The former Michigan star has wasted no time turning his first weeks with the Browns into a showcase. Through three games, the No. 5 overall pick has piled up 15 total tackles, four sacks, six tackles for loss, nine quarterback hits and nine pressures.
For a defensive tackle, that’s a jaw-dropping start. For an edge rusher, it would still turn heads.
Only one player in the NFL, Buffalo’s Greg Rousseau, has more sacks, and he has six. Graham is tied with T.J.
Watt and Will Anderson for second in the league with four. He’s sitting just ahead of Aidan Hutchinson and Chase Young, who each have 3.5.
Another former Michigan first-rounder, Kwity Paye, is also among the league’s top sack producers with two.
The production is arriving at the perfect time for Graham, who was already part of one of the defining runs in Michigan history. He went 3-0 against Ohio State during his career, then helped the Wolverines win the national championship in 2023.
And for anyone still clinging to the idea that Michigan players don’t translate to the NFL, Graham is ripping that argument apart in real time. The source of that debate, of course, has long been Ohio State fans pointing to the NFL as proof that Michigan’s title team was a mirage.
The reality looks a lot different. Graham has more sacks this season than all four Ohio State defensive linemen drafted in the same 2025 class combined, even though that group included first-rounder Tyleik Williams and second-rounder J.T.
Tuimoloau. Jack Sawyer went in the fourth round and Ty Hamilton in the fifth.
Together, those four players have two sacks across two combined seasons. Tuimoloau has none.
Sawyer has none.
The comparison doesn’t stop there. Roman Wilson has more catches, touchdowns, targets and receiving yards than Marvin Harrison Jr. Blake Corum is also outperforming both Ohio State running backs who were drafted ahead of him in the 2025 NFL Draft.
So far, Graham’s early NFL surge is doing more than boosting Cleveland’s front. It’s putting fresh numbers behind a familiar message: the idea that Michigan players can’t get it done at the next level doesn’t hold up.
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Michigans Biggest Problem After Iowa Just Got More Attention
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There was also some movement on the injury front, with Whittingham updating the status of Blake Frazier and John Henry Daley and saying Daleys recovery has shown encouraging signs. On the coaching side, running backs coach Tony Alford said his group has continued to improve through the challenges, a sign that the personnel and depth questions around the position are still very much part of the bigger picture as Michigan looks to steady itself. [Read more 🡒]