- Brandon Graham is unretiring: The longtime Philadelphia Eagles edge defender is returning to the team with which he spent all of his previous 15 NFL seasons.
- Graham never lit up the box score, but his presence was always felt: Among players with at least 1,000 pass-rush snaps since 2010, Graham placed seventh in pass-rush win rate (16.9%) and 11th in pressure rate (15.5%).
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During the Philadelphia Eagles’ convincing 37-20 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in Week 12 of last season, a torn triceps seemingly cut short franchise icon Brandon Graham‘s campaign — and, at the time, his career.
But Graham managed to defy the odds at 36 years old, returning for Philadelphia's Super Bowl triumph over the Chiefs before riding into the sunset with 15 seasons under his belt. It was a storied career. Graham had done more than enough to warrant a bust in Canton. Now, he is defying the odds once more. His story isn't over.
After a short retirement, the now-37-year-old Graham is back in the fold to aid a thin Eagles pass-rush unit following Za'Darius Smith‘s retirement.
The Eagles selected Graham 13th overall in the 2010 NFL Draft out of Michigan. He got off to an unimpressive start in the NFL, putting up a pedestrian 63.1 PFF overall grade and having his sophomore campaign cut short due to injury after only 55 snaps. However, beginning with 2012, Graham never earned a season-long PFF grade below 78.2 (excluding an injury-shortened 2021 in which he played 50 snaps).
| Season | PFF Overall Grade | PFF Pass-Rush Grade | PFF Run-Defense Grade |
| 2024 | 79.3 | 72.7 | 79.9 |
| 2023 | 84.0 | 80.2 | 72.1 |
| 2022 | 89.8 | 89.7 | 69.7 |
| 2021 | 62.6 | 60.6 | 61.0 |
| 2020 | 81.5 | 80.8 | 73.3 |
| 2019 | 84.2 | 72.6 | 77.1 |
| 2018 | 88.6 | 77.8 | 81.3 |
| 2017 | 90.2 | 86.8 | 83.4 |
| 2016 | 91.4 | 91.4 | 80.5 |
| 2015 | 82.7 | 81.0 | 64.0 |
| 2014 | 81.7 | 82.2 | 75.5 |
| 2013 | 78.2 | 63.3 | 80.6 |
| 2012 | 91.0 | 92.8 | 65.0 |
| 2011 | 63.9 | 68.5 | 55.8 |
| 2010 | 63.1 | 70.0 | 53.5 |
Graham broke out in that third season, finishing second among edge defenders in PFF overall grade (91.0) and PFF pass-rush grade (92.8), trailing only Von Miller in both categories despite registering only seven sacks. He was about as efficient as possible when getting after the quarterback that season, notching 45 pressures across just 220 pass-rush snaps for a 20% rate. However, despite Graham’s success, the Eagles went just 4-12, with none of their wins coming by more than two points. It was Andy Reid’s final season in Philadelphia before the Kansas City Chiefs scooped him up ahead of the 2013 campaign.
Despite the coaching changes, Graham proved that his breakout 2012 season was no fluke. He became more involved in the Eagles’ defensive game plan. Perhaps his best season came in 2016, when he put up a career-high 91.4 PFF overall grade and an identical 91.4 PFF pass-rush grade that trailed only his breakout 2012 performance.
Graham also recorded career highs in pressures (83) and run stops (40) in 2016. His 83 pressures ranked third in the NFL that season, trailing only Khalil Mack and Olivier Vernon. Once again, though, a high sack total eluded him: He logged only six. He did record a career-best 17 quarterback hits, which trailed only Robert Ayers’ 18.
In 2017, Graham became an Eagles legend.
He was his usual dominant self, putting up another elite 90.1 PFF overall grade with an 86.8 PFF pass-rush grade while finally reaching double-digit sacks. The Eagles advanced to the Super Bowl, and despite the game being an offensive shootout, it was Graham who engineered the game's most important play. (The Philly Special was an illegal formation, and even so, the New England Patriots took the lead after that play.) As the Patriots attempted to drive to retake the lead late in the fourth quarter, Graham bull-rushed Shaq Mason and punched the ball out of Tom Brady’s hands for the game’s first sack. Teammate Derek Barnett recovered the ball to halt New England's comeback attempt and help the Eagles win the franchise’s first Super Bowl.
Brandon Graham's 2017 PFF Grades
Graham kept up his consistently high level of play for the next several years, as his lowest PFF overall grade (excluding an injury-shortened 2021) came in 2020 at 81.5 — likely a career-high mark for almost anybody else.
Despite being 34 years old, Graham took another sip from the fountain of youth in 2022. The Eagles’ pass rush was on another level that season, recording the most sacks in a regular season in the 21st century and the third most ever (70). Among the team leaders was Graham, who recorded a career-high 13 in the regular season and added another in the divisional round against the New York Giants. Even though Graham rushed the passer only seven times in that game, he recorded three pressures, including a sack.
With those numbers, it’s no surprise the Eagles were the NFC’s representative in the Super Bowl that year. However, the Chiefs’ offensive line stymied Philadelphia's pass rush, holding the group to zero sacks in a 38-35 thriller. Graham was a non-factor in the game, like many of his other defensive line teammates, recording zero pressures and putting up season lows in PFF overall grade (50.4) and PFF pass-rush grade (53.2).
The 2024 campaign was shaping up to be another strong year for the 15th-year veteran. Graham earned a 70.0-plus PFF overall grade in six of his first seven games, falling below that threshold with a 69.8 mark in one outing. His best game by far, though, may have been his last regular-season appearance. He recorded a 91.1 PFF overall grade, headlined by an 87.0 PFF run-defense grade and a 79.6 PFF pass-rush grade with four pressures and a sack. Graham notched a sack in each of his final three regular-season games last season. His 2024 grades came out to 79.3 overall, 79.9 against the run and 72.7 as a pass rusher.
When Graham really does hang up his cleats, he will go down as a great pass rusher who didn’t record the sack totals one would expect from such a dominant player, but his career has been much stronger when looking past the box score. Since entering the league in 2010, he has been the seventh-most valuable edge defender in football, per PFF WAR (behind only Von Miller, Khalil Mack, J.J. Watt, Calais Campbell, Cameron Jordan and Myles Garrett). Rounding out the top 10 behind Graham are DeMarcus Lawrence, Michael Bennett and T.J. Watt.
Graham also ranks fifth during that stretch in regular-season pressures (703) and ninth in PFF pass-rush grade (92.2). Among players with at least 1,000 pass-rush snaps since 2010, Graham places seventh in pass-rush win rate (16.9%) and 11th in pressure rate (15.5%).
Anyone who has watched Graham during his 15-year career — and now 16-year career — in an Eagles jersey knows his play goes beyond the traditional stat sheet.
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