2010 Senior Bowl: Brandon Graham's Defensive Clinic Has His Stock Rising Fast

Coming into the week of practices before the Senior Bowl this past Saturday, Michigan Wolverines defensive end/linebacker Brandon Graham was under the radar because of all the other story lines highlighted by the Tim Tebow circus.

What Graham did in the past week not only improved his NFL Draft stock, but might have vaulted him into the first round of April's draft.

Graham received the Most Valuable Player award for the game because he had five tackles, two sacks, and one forced fumble.

He was boundless whenever he was in the game and was present for most of the four quarters while getting swapped out at times to let others get a chance to play.

One of the biggest knocks that Graham did get this week was when he was measured up at 6'1" 263-pounds with an arm length of only 31".

He is not the ideal size for either a defensive end or outside linebacker by NFL standards, but the NFL also has smaller star defenders with similar measurements; like the Broncos' Elvis Dumervil and the Colts' Dwight Freeney.

Regardless of the measurements, Graham showed he can play at a very high and intense level. Even though he is undersized according to the standards.

Graham was not even ranked in Scouts Inc.'s top 30 players available for the upcoming draft, but he might actually push himself into that list. Plus his performance at the NFL Combine in late February will help coaches and scouts really get a better feel for his abilities and talent level.

Graham has indeed created a buzz, and unless he falls short at the combine, look for his name to start showing up on many NFL mock draft lists in the next few weeks.