One player on the North team roster that may catch the eye of Lions’ fans is Detroit native and University of Michigan defensive end Brandon Graham.
Graham, who played four years with the Wolverines, was a bright spot throughout the 2009 season. He registered 10 sacks for his second consecutive year to go along with 64 total tackles.
Transition to the present and Graham is one of the players to watch at this year’s Senior Bowl. He is also a topic of conversation due to speculation that he may be better suited as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme.
“I’m not really worried about it,” said Graham on Tuesday. “I’ll just continue to work and show them that my motor is at a high level right now. I’m trying to continue to stay focused on the task and that’s to get to the ball and make plays. Wherever the coaches want me to be, that’s where I’ll be.”
Graham’s attitude to do whatever the coaches want him to do is resonating loud and clear with his position coach this week, Kris Kocurek.
“Brandon shows up to play,” he said. “He’s a good kid, always has a smile on his face and he’s competitive. The thing about Brandon is that he loves to play football.”
Kocurek says Graham may have made the biggest improvement among his group from day one to day two because he embraced the scheme the coaches were teaching him.
“He embraced the scheme and really showed some stuff today,” said Kocurek. “He did a really good job. He’s a good kid and he shows up to play, tries to play hard.”
Figuring out whether a player is “coachable” is one of the benefits to being able to coach in a game like this. Lions’ coaches will be able to tell firsthand whether a player is open to constructive criticism and changes in technique.
Though there isn’t a huge emphasis on technique this week – it’s tough to get into too much in just four days of practice – coaches can still gauge whether or not players are receptive to teaching.
“It’s all new information to these kids and if a kid can embrace what you’re talking about and what you’re teaching and be able to apply it in a short period of time, that shows you that he has the ability to learn things on the run,” said Kocurek.
“Then you know he can go out in the NFL season with different things being thrown at him and can react and learn different things that you try to get done. That’s definitely a benefit.”
As for Graham, he is using this opportunity to show coaches and scouts what he can do on the field, hoping to take after one of his former teammates and current Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, LaMarr Woodley.
“Coming in as a freshman, I tried to imitate everything I saw from him because I only had two years with him and he was a great player,” said Graham. I had a great coach (in) Steve Strippling (and) I had guys like Alan Branch who showed me how to use my hands and showed me hat it’s all about technique. That’s what’s been helping me along the way.”
Graham sought to model himself after Woodley considering the two are built so similarly; Woodley is 6-2 and 265 pounds compared with Graham at 6-1 and 263 pounds.
Knowing whether or not Graham will follow the same path and end up as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme will have to wait until the draft but what can be certain now is that Graham is more than willing to play either or.
“I played linebacker all my life,” he said. “Then when I came into Michigan (at) 305 (pounds), they put me down as a D-end. Stuff happens for a reason. Right now, I’m in the best position possible for myself as a D-end.
“But if coaches wanted me to stand up (as an outside linebacker), I can show them tomorrow I can drop back (and) cover if that’s what they want me to do.”
