As Myles Garrett collected sacks at a pace never before seen in NFL history last season, an unexpected pass-rushing sidekick emerged. Defensive tackle Maliek Collins put together the finest 12-game stretch of his career, and Garrett made his appreciation for Collins’ impact known.
He may have inadvertently masked the stellar play of one of the Browns’ best-kept secrets in the process, though.
It’s almost impossible for a player taken with a top-five draft pick to fly under the radar, but Browns defensive lineman Mason Graham certainly did during Garrett’s epic run to the NFL’s single-season sack record.
Graham started all 17 games as a rookie, played well enough to avoid anything resembling “bust” chatter, and may have aided Garrett’s cause more than he got credit for in 2025. Per ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi, Graham quietly ranked 20th among all defensive tackles in pass-rush win rate at 8.3 percent.
"Maybe the biggest X factor in replacing Garrett's production could be a Year 2 leap from defensive tackle Mason Graham,” Oyefusi wrote. “Graham registered only a half-sack, in part because Garrett got to quarterbacks so quickly. Graham's impact, though, was felt, and the next step for him will be turning his pressures into game-changing plays.”
Mason Graham may not stay one of the Browns' best-kept secrets for long
Graham landed in one of the most interesting situations possible for a No. 5 overall pick. He was almost immediately an afterthought after the Browns selected him on Day 1 of the 2025 NFL Draft, given the polarizing nature of Cleveland’s decision to pass on Travis Hunter in its initial trade down from the No. 2 spot.
With Garrett still in town, Graham didn’t arrive in Berea with future face-of-the-franchise expectations. By the end of the 2025 season, he wasn’t even the face of Cleveland’s rookie class, as linebacker Carson Schwesinger ran away with NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.
But after Garrett approved a trade to the Los Angeles Rams on June 1, the curtain has been pulled back. Graham provided consistent interior pressure, especially over the second half of the year following Collins’ quad injury, and he could have more opportunities to turn those pressures into sacks with the NFL’s sack king now on the West Coast.
Graham proved to be the full package during his rookie season. He actually lined up outside, either over the tackle or out on the edge, on over 25 percent of his total snaps, per Pro Football Focus, illustrating how the team leaned into his pass-rushing abilities. He was just as effective against the rush, posting 32 run-stuffs and seven tackles for loss.
With Jared Verse now leading Cleveland’s defense, no one’s really talking about Graham’s potential impact after a full year-plus of NFL conditioning. The arrow’s definitely pointing up, and the former Michigan star should be impossible to overlook in 2026, for better or worse.
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