Howie Roseman Says Ankle Injury Limited Graham’s First Season

Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman sat down with Dave Spadaro of PhiladelphiaEagles.com and gave us his evaluation of his rookie class of 2010. The first guy he evaluated was number one draft pick defensive end Brandon Graham.

Remember that Graham won the starting left defensive end position opposite Pro Bowler Trent Cole during training camp. The Birds had moved up 11 spots in the first round to get him. They had to be expecting and counting on him to be an impact player in his first year, but clearly he wasn’t.

Graham played 13 games and finished the season with 13 tackles and 3 sacks. Those numbers are nothing to brag about even though I thought he was an effective pass rusher most of the time he was on the field, especially early in the season. He’s got to be smarter about knowing when running backs are going to chip him. His intensity, quickness and athleticism are his weapons, but he must find a way to use them to his advantage all the time and not just some of the time.

Roseman began his comments talking about the ankle sprain which Graham suffered early in the season. He believes the injury was the main reason that Graham’s season wasn’t nearly as productive as expected before he suffered the season-ending knee injury. I’ll accept the ankle injury as part of the problem, but I can’t accept it as all of the problem.

The General Manager said Graham was dominant in training camp. Dominant wouldn’t be word I would use. I would say he looked good in training camp. I saw him beating blockers but I didn’t see him display dominant power and speed moves to point where he looked like he could easily take over a game. He was very good at times, but he’s got a way to go to be dominant.

Sometimes he allowed his size and arm length disadvantage get the best of him. He must develop to the point where he counters everything that an offensive unit throws up against him. When he gets to that point he’ll be dominant.

I thought he looked very promising in training camp, but that was mostly in one-on-one drills where you don’t have to be concerned about anything other than beating your man. In an NFL game, you have to be aware of other players on the field, along with tendencies, formations and personnel.

“I think I would insincere to tell you that I know where Brandon Graham is going to be in in August, right now as we sit here today”, Roseman told Spadaro. “I know what kind of work ethic Brandon Graham has. I know what kind of competitor Brandon is I know what kind of training staff and doctors we have. Whatever is the best situation for a player to be in Brandon Graham will be in that situation”

He continued by talking about how the ankle sprain Inhibited Graham because he’s such an athletic defensive end and I would agree, but it’s not a positive. They say it happened early in the year and Graham wasn’t the same player after that. If a player is healthy enough to play, then it’s his responsibility to be productive or take himself out of the game.

According to Roseman, Graham was a special player when he was a 100%.

He pointed out that the Eagles new defensive line coach, Jim Washburn thought Graham was the best defensive end in the draft a year ago. To that I say so what. Washburn may have thought highly of Graham, but we don’t need to talk about what people think about him any more, we have footage of him playing in the NFL and he hasn’t lived up to the billing as of yet.

The young Eagles front office executive said Graham has the tools to be a great defensive end, but according to Roseman, he was hampered by the all of the things that rookies have to do to prepare for the draft. I would agree with those comments and his statement about players making their biggest jump from year one to year two, but Graham won’t be ready to play at the start of year two. He’s not going to get the repetitions he would have gotten if he was healthy. That’s a reason for concern in the short run going forward.

I saw him having trouble with his arm-length disadvantage to the big offensive linemen in the league. Too many times he was pushed around and unable to be an effective pass rusher or run stopper. I do agree that it seemed that he was hampered by the ankle injury. He’s still got much to prove.

I’m more convinced about his ability to put pressure on the quarterback, but I’m not nearly as impressed with his ability to defend the run. He needs to get stronger and smarter.

Graham must prove he can play full-time, but he’s ready to be a factor right now as a pass rusher. He must first get healthy and that can’t be taken for granted with the serious knee injury he had.

I love his positive personality. He’s got an infectious enthusiasm that will help keep him and his teammates going during tough and challenging times.