Brandon Graham has kind of become the forgotten man.
Since coming to the Philadelphia Eagles as a first round pick in 2010, Graham has been rather underwhelming.
Graham, a linebacker, played sparingly last season. But his ability to rush the passer makes him an attractive player -- if he can execute on game days.
Graham has 11.5 career sacks, with 5.5 of those coming in 2012.
“We want to see Brandon just expand in every role,” Eagles coach Chip Kelly told reporters at training camp on Wednesday. “I think we've really seen it, I think, through the spring and in camp so far with Trent [Cole] in terms of his understanding and dropping into coverage and doing some of those things. The transition for Trent and Brandon is a little bit more difficult than all the other guys that are playing outside linebacker because those guys could never drop. They are more defensive ends than they were outside linebackers.
“[First-round pick] Marcus [Smith] is an outside linebacker, Travis Long is an outside linebacker, Josh Kaddu, Connor [Barwin], [Bryan] Braman, they were all outside linebackers,” Kelly added. “So [Graham needs to work on] getting more comfortable, being on his feet. Being able to understand that sometimes he's going forward, sometimes he's going backwards; so, just really his overall game. For Brandon, you've got certain pass rush skills that he's always demonstrated. [It’s] more getting [Graham] comfortable in the drop aspect of things.”
Graham was drafted as a defensive end, but was soon shifted to linebacker. It wasn’t an easy transition.
“With me playing a different position, I knew it would take me a year, but I'm a lot more comfortable now, a lot faster,” Graham told the Philadelphia Inquirer in this story. “I've learned to love it. At first, it was hard because you're so used to pass rushing. When the quarterback rolls out to your side, your first instinct is to go get him. But now I've got to stay in coverage.”
