{"id":109781,"date":"2021-04-13T15:00:35","date_gmt":"2021-04-13T19:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=109781"},"modified":"2025-09-25T12:01:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T16:01:49","slug":"2021-nfl-draft-profile-thomas-graham-jr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2021\/04\/13\/2021-nfl-draft-profile-thomas-graham-jr\/","title":{"rendered":"2021 NFL Draft Profile: Thomas Graham Jr"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Thomas Graham Jr NFL Draft Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Position:<\/strong> Cornerback<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Height:<\/strong> 5\u2019-11\u201d<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Weight:<\/strong> 193 pounds<br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>School:<\/strong> Oregon<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Thomas Graham 2021 NFL Draft Profile<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cornerback is one of the toughest positions to transition to from college into the NFL. It will be even tougher for prospects who haven\u2019t played at all since 2019. Thomas Graham Jr opted out of the 2020 college season due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, Graham turned heads with the success he had in drills at the 2021 Reese\u2019s Senior Bowl. He doesn\u2019t have the high-end athletic traits of some of the cornerbacks ranked ahead of him in the 2021 draft, but showcased solid technique and excellent ball skills as a three-year starter at Oregon.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Born in California, Graham attended Rancho Cucamonga High School where he was recruited by several college programs. He originally committed to USC in July 2015. However, Graham de-committed from the Trojans and committed to Oregon in December 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Graham started 12 of 13 games as a freshman, racking up 62 total tackles, and showcased good ball skills with three interceptions. He backed up a solid freshman campaign with three more interceptions as a sophomore in 2018. In his final playing season, Graham made two more interceptions, including one made in the 2020 Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin. In total for his college career, Graham made 183 tackles and eight interceptions in 40 games.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Strengths<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Good size for an NFL cornerback &#8211; can play with physicality;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Productive &#8211; Three-year starter, filled the stat sheet;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Showcased solid route recognition &#8211; Anticipates well;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Contributes in run support &#8211; willing to take on blockers;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Able to make plays on the ball &#8211; great timing.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Weaknesses<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not a fluid mover &#8211; hips can be slow to open up at the top of a receiver\u2019s route;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gets upright in his backpedal;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doesn\u2019t have great recovery speed when he loses early on a route;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Occasionally gets caught guessing;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More athletic cornerbacks in this draft class<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>[pickup_prop id=&#8221;5609&#8243;]<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>NFL Comparison:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/N\/NelsSt01.htm\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Steven Nelson<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A former third-round pick, Nelson truly broke out with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/steelers\/\" target=\"_self\">Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> after signing <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">a three-year, $25.5 million contract. Nelson played in predominantly zone coverage but can hold his own man coverage by playing physical with decent size. He contributes in run support, usually making around 50 tackles a season. Like Graham, Nelson is not an upper-echelon athlete and doesn\u2019t possess good make-up speed when he\u2019s beaten early in the route. However, Nelson is a good playmaker on the ball when he stays in the route, with seven career interceptions to his name.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Teams With Need at Position:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/bills\/\" target=\"_self\">Buffalo Bills<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/cardinals\/\" target=\"_self\">Arizona Cardinals<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/cowboys\/\" target=\"_self\">Dallas Cowboys<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/panthers\/\" target=\"_self\">Carolina Panthers<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/saints\/\" target=\"_self\">New Orleans Saints<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/texans\/\" target=\"_self\">Houston Texans<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/titans\/\" target=\"_self\">Tennessee Titans<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Projection:<\/strong> Round Three\/Four<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Bottom Line on Thomas Graham Jr<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Graham is a good, not great athlete who competes with a high football IQ. His ability to recognize route patterns allowed him to make a lot of splash plays for the Oregon Ducks in college. That is a transferable skill to the NFL. His football IQ will give him an opportunity to compete with higher echelon athletes lined up opposite him. Graham\u2019s willingness to compete in the run game will also tick a lot of boxes for coaches.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, when he guessed wrong at Orgeon it led to blown assignments, particularly in man coverage. There is an obvious lack of makeup speed when he loses early in the route lined up in man coverage. Which will only be highlighted against NFL-caliber wide receivers. Graham\u2019s best fit would be in a zone-heavy scheme where he\u2019s asked to play man coverage sparingly. He\u2019s not built to hold up play after play against more wide receivers with elite top-end speed or quick-twitch route runners.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That said, there\u2019s a lot to like about Graham. He could be a starter from Day 1 in the right scheme and would provide quality depth to a contending team. His instincts and ball skills could lead to some splash plays. Despite missing 2020, the former Oregon Duck has a lot of reps under his belt from his time in college. While he doesn\u2019t have the high upside of other prospects in this class, Graham has good size, competes snap to whistle, and has a relatively high floor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Main photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"T_8J-H1mSl13FlbzpAbsSw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1301633813\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'T_8J-H1mSl13FlbzpAbsSw',sig:'yflmU2nDj4mINdH6veBdADZ183pTpVJJafp-ymKZbmo=',w:'594px',h:'446px',items:'1301633813',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thomas Graham Jr NFL Draft Overview Position &#8211; Cornerback. Graham turned heads with the success he had in drills at the Reese\u2019s Senior Bowl&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3597,"featured_media":109883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1647,33760],"tags":[2030,7981],"class_list":["post-109781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-draft","category-profiles","tag-nfl-draft-profiles","tag-thomas-graham-jr"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3597"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109781"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246996,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109781\/revisions\/246996"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109883"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}