Brandon Graham is one of the best defensive ends the Eagles ever had. He came up with the big play in Superbowl LII when he strip sacked Tom Brady to give the Eagles the ball back, which eventually led to the Eagles first Super Bowl win. This year, he was very inconsistent, but when he was at his best he was a force to be reckoned with. Here are some of the highs and lows of his 2018-2019 season.
Season Stats:
16 Games, 4.0 Sacks, 39 Tackles, 1 Forced Fumble
Highlights:
In one of the biggest games of the season, Brandon Graham put all of his effort into stopping Ezekiel Elliot the leagues leading rusher. He sniffed out the screen and ran across the field to make a great tackle.
In this play, Graham pressures Deshaun Watson by getting past Kendall Lamm and forcing Watson to roll out right and get tackled from behind to cause an incompletion.
In the playoffs against the Chicago Bears. The Bears were forced to go for two, The Bears tried running a shuffle pass to wide receiver Taylor Gabriel. Inches away from the endzone cam Brandon Graham, making a huge tackle and giving the Eagles a chance to win the game.
In this play, Graham completely overpowers the tackle forcing pressure on Dak Prescott and forcing a sack.
With help from Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham gets the inside on his matchup and gets the sack on Dak Prescott. I bet he has nightmares of Graham every night.
Lowlights:
Brandon Graham was very inconsistent. One night he would be on fire for the Birds, but the next night he would go completely silent. For example, He had 1.5 sacks against Dallas the one week, and the next week against New Orleans he had 0 sacks, and only 1 tackle in the blowout loss.
Future with the Eagles:
Graham has already come out and said he will test free agency. I believe this is because he had an off-year with the Eagles, and the front office was not willing to pay him what he thinks he's worth. The only way Graham comes back is it he doesn't get a solid offer from another team, and the Eagles can offer a contract close enough in number where Graham will take a slim discount to stay an Eagle for life. Unfortunately that isn't a likely scenario as he will be considered one of the best pass rushers in Free Agency. Graham has been a staple of this Eagles defense for years now and will be sad to see him go. Thank you Brandon Graham for the moments and big plays you made for us, you will be forever remembered in Philadelphia.
