Mason Graham could make a trade-up very appealing to the 49ers

But they’ll have to wait to see if he meets their thresholds.

As I wrote yesterday, the 49ers have always been very open to trades up and down the board in their NFL Draft history under Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch. A move down from the 11th overall pick in the first round this year appears more likely than a trade-up akin to their surge up the board in 2021, and there are some compelling options if the 49ers elect to move back.

But what about the possibility, however remote, of a move up? Is there a player worthy of the potentially onerous cost? The 49ers would love to go up and get an edge rusher of Abdul Carter’s talents, foot fracture aside, while they would surely be intrigued by the prospect of adding a modern-day unicorn in Travis Hunter. However, being in a position to take either of those players is a pipe dream.

More realistic is the possibility of moving up a couple of spots should Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham fall down the board.

Graham is the consensus top defensive tackle in the draft, seen by most as a lock to go in the top 10.

It is a very deep defensive tackle class, and the 49ers could well snag Walter Nolen, who is regarded as DT2 and is 11th overall.

So why would they be tempted to move up for Graham if he begins to fall to the back half of the top 10?

The main answer to to that question is related to body of work and consistency. Nolen exploded this season in his lone year with Ole Miss after transferring from Texas A&M. According to PFF, he had 35 pressures in his final collegiate campaign, having previously never tallied more than 16. In run defense, he had 32 run stops in 2024, comfortably surpassing his previous high of 21.

Graham, meanwhile, racked up 34 pressures, improving on his tally of 29 from Michigan’s National Championship 2023 season. He finished his final season with 30 run stops, up from 28 in 2023.

For 2024, Graham and Nolen finished first and second, respectively, in PFF run defense grade for FBS defensive tackles. The difference is that in 2023, Graham was ninth (min. 100 run defense snaps), while Nolen was 110th.

The subjectivity of PFF grades makes them difficult to compare players, but the contrast speaks to the difference between them. Graham is the more consistent, higher-floor player. His strength in his hands and lower half—combined with his ability to find the ball and close with impressive short-area speed—has made him a tremendous asset against the run.

His prowess in stopping the ground game is something the 49ers desperately need, and they might be more inclined to move up if Graham demonstrates the explosiveness they covet as a pass rusher during the pre-draft process.

They won’t be able to find out the testing numbers until Michigan’s Pro Day, with Graham announcing he will only do the bench press at the Combine.

Still, the 49ers’ interest should already have been piqued by the tape. As for all the talk of Graham having limited upside as a pass rusher, there is evidence that suggests he is only scratching the surface in that part of his game.

The hand quickness that is key in his ability to disengage from blocks in the run game also aids him when rushing the passer.

Graham’s hands are very active, and moves such as the club swim, club rip, and two-hand swipe help him engineer clean pass rush wins.

Perhaps most intriguingly for the 49ers, Graham has shown flashes of being a very effective bull rusher when he is given a runway, something he would get playing on San Francisco’s front. The 49ers’ D-Line may have struggled last season, but some of its best moments from an interior perspective came when the likes of Sam Okuayinonu and Yetur Gross-Matos were stood up inside and given the chance to build up speed.

Sporadically employing Graham in the same fashion could help them unlock his ceiling as a pass rusher, and a player with his ability to flatten to the quarterback at the top of his rush would surely post more impressive sack numbers than the nine he managed across three seasons with Michigan.

For the team’s overall evaluation, interviews are obviously more important than the on-field workouts at the Combine. However, as they cross-check what they have seen on tape from Graham, a Pro Day performance in which he meets their threshold in the 10-yard split and displays the explosiveness and flexibility to further illustrate untapped pass-rush potential might move him towards the forefront of their thinking.

The likelihood, given the 49ers need to get younger through the use of their 10 projected picks in this draft, is that San Francisco stays put at 11. Still, a lights-out Pro Day from Graham could serve to make an aggressive move up the board significantly more tempting.