The 2023-24 NFL Season is approximately one month away, all that is left is training camp, pre-season, and then the final evaluations of the Roster for the Las Vegas Raiders. These evaluations have been extremely and carefully analyzed this off-season, especially towards the Raiders 2-Decade long weakness, the Defense. Last season, the Raiders defense went through hell-&-back compared to others. Suffering from a purgatory of excessive injuries, starters sitting out for either almost or the entire season, UDFAs having to be placed as starters, the consequences of having no actual depth due to the methods of Gruden/Maycok Regime’s Roster building, questionable defensive plays and head-scratching calls. All of these factors have caused many within Raider Nation to primarily focus the team-developments on the Defense. Other parts of Raider Nation have expressed either displeasure, doubt, or hate towards the Defensive Coaches, mainly Patrick Graham.
To be fair for both sides, it is fair to express doubts and caution towards the construction and future production of the Defense. However, what has been heard from players, staff, coaches and media (plus fans) around the league, is how the Defense is heading into the right direction. That the constructions made by Dave Ziegler and Patrick Graham have been leading to the Defensive-side of the ball to gel-together smoothly and quickly. The franchise is in full support of Graham to help improve the Raiders Defense. Meanwhile, many fans do not believe in Graham, believing he is a hack. To help Raider Nation attempt to see the positives rather than non-ending negatives, why not study the history of Patrick Graham? A method to assist everyone’s mood and knowledge towards the Defensive-Mind of the Defensive-Play-Caller.
(1998-2002) College Career Part 1: Student Athlete
Patrick Graham attended Yale University, majoring in Sociology as an Undergraduate. Graham played for Yale’s football team, “The Bulldogs”, who reside within the Ivy League of College Football. Starting out on the Offensive-Side of the ball as a Tight-End, the Bulldogs went 6-4 for the 1998-99 Season, placing 2nd in the Ivy League after finishing 5-2 against League Teams. During the 1999 Off-Season, Graham transitioned into a Defensive Lineman, staying as one for the remainder of Graham’s time at Yale. The Bulldogs would then place 1st within the Ivy League after resulting with a 9-1 Season Record (6-1 vs Ivy League Teams) for the 1999-2000 Season. The 2000-01 Season ended with Yale resulting with a 7-3 Record (4-3 vs Ivy League Teams), placing 3rd in the League.
Even though Graham had experienced success with Yale after his first three College-Football Seasons, Graham’s final season would be quite disappointing for many. The Bulldogs ended their 2001-02 Season being placed at the bottom of the Ivy League, resulting with a 3-6 Record, and winning only one game against the Ivy League Teams. On a happier note, Graham earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Graduated out of Yale University. Not having much interest in continuing his Football Career on the field, Graham decided to pursue his Football Career on the sidelines.
(2002-04) College Career Part 2: Graduate Assistant
Patrick Graham attended Wagner College as both a Student and Assistant Football Coach, where he studied to earn his Masters in Business Administration. Graham started out in Strength-&-Conditioning for the “Wagner Seahawks”, helping the roster get into the best physical shape and stay in healthy schedules. Later on, Graham was assigned to be the Academic Coordinator, making sure the Student Athletes are committed to their education and being taught accordingly not only on the field… but in the classroom. For the 2002-03 College Football Season, the Seahawks finished 4th in the Northeast Conference, having a 7-4 Season Record (4-3 vs NEC Teams).
After spending a year as both an Academic Coordinator plus Strength-&-Conditioning Coach, Graham was put in charge of the Seahawks Junior Varsity team for the 2003-04 Season. This was a rewarding assignment for Patrick Graham, who led the Junior Varsity Seahawks to an outstanding season. The team finished the season undefeated, 11-0 (7-0 vs NEC Teams). The Varsity team finished with a 6-5 Record (3-4 vs NEC Teams), placing 6th (out of 8 Teams) within the Northeastern Conference. After a successful season as the Coach of the Wagner Seahawks Junior Varsity team, Graham was offered an upgraded position in his Coaching Career, but from a different school.
(2004-09) College Career Part 3: Positional Coach
The Richmond Spiders: 2004-07
The Richmond Spiders hired Patrick Graham as their next position coach of the Defensive Line (2004-05) and Tight-End (2005-07) positions. At the same time, Dave Clawson (modern-day Head Coach for Wake Forest), was given the mantle to be the Spiders new Head Coach. For being a new and rookie-experiencing College Football Regime, the Team had moments of success. Obviously the first season wasn’t as successful as people hoped it would be. The Spiders ended the 2004-05 Season with a 3-8 Record (2-6 vs Atlantic-10 Conference), ranking 5th (out of 6 Teams) in the South Division of the A-10 Conference. Luckily for Patrick Graham, the Defensive Line had honestly a solid season.
Richmond Spiders’ Defensive-Line 2004-05 Season Statistics:
- Rushing Attempts Allowed: 427
- ~39 Rushing Attempts Per Game
- Rushing Yards Allowed: 1624
- ~3.8 Rushing Yards Per Attempt
- ~147 Rushing Yards Per Game
- Run-Stop Yardage: -178 (negative is good)
- Rushing Touchdowns Allowed: 14
- Sacks: 15
- Yardage Lost: 90 (6 Yards Per Sack)
- Tackles For Loss: 22.5
- Yardage Lost: 106 (~4.7 Yards Per Tackle)
The Defensive Formation that was utilized was most likely a 3-4. This can be due to three D-Linemen producing 18.5 out of 22.5 of the Tackles for Loss and 12.5 out of the 15 Sacks produced. These statistics can explain Patrick Graham’s likeness for 3-4 Formations, as well as big-bodied Defensive-Linemen. The Statistics based on the Defensive Run-Game can also explain why Patrick Graham has high standards for D-Linemen whenever it comes to stopping the Run, think of this as an origin of mindsets. This type of success with this particular position group led to the leader of the D-Line, Clifton Coker (Senior), to be selected to the 2004-05 All-Atlantic-10 Conference Team.
After the Richmond Spiders 24-Year Veteran, Jeff Hanson, retired from Coaching, Patrick Graham was moved to coach the Tight-End position for the next two seasons. No Statistics can be found for the Tight-Ends specifically, but that wouldn’t matter much due to the Passing-Game being unsuccessful for the following seasons. In two seasons, the Passing-Game resulted with 56.2% of the Passes to be Completed, averaging 207.2 Yards Per Game, having a TD/INT ratio of 33/24, all equalizing to a Two-Year Passer-Rating being 77.9. These stats are outlandish to produce. Reason would be due to how the Team performed overall.
For the 2005-06 Season, the Spiders became the A-10 Conference Champions, ending the season with a 9-4 Record (7-1 vs A-10 Teams). The Spiders also qualified for the NCAA Division I-AA Playoffs. The Team won the First-Round, defeating the Hampton Pirates 38-10. During the Quarterfinals, the Spiders lost to the Furman Paladins 20-24. By the time it became the Off-Season, the University of Richmond were ecstatic on how the team performed. Everyone couldn’t wait for the following season. Sadly, disappointment returned to Richmond, the Season resulted with the Spiders going 6-5 (3-5 vs A-10 Teams) and placing 4th in the South Division.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish: 2007-09
During a depressing Off-Season, Graham left Richmond and was hired by Head Coach Charlie Weis to be a Defensive Assistant for Notre Dame. Graham was not really a position coach of any kind, but mostly taking advice from Coaches who are transitioning to the next-level (NFL) and experience “Big College Football”. For the 2007-08 College Season, The “Fighting Irish” won only three games, having the 72nd Ranked (out of 119) in the NCAA (28.8 Points Allowed Per Game). During the Off-Season, only two Defensive Players from Notre Dame were drafted. DT Trevor Laws, drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles as the 47th Overall Pick (2nd Round), recorded only 5 Sacks ; 12 Tackles For Loss after Starting 2/56 Games. DB Tom Zbikowski, drafted by the Baltimore Ravens as the 86th Overall Pick (3rd Round) recorded only 3 Interceptions ; 4 Pass-Breakups after Starting 25/64 Games.
The 2008-09 College Season ended with Notre Dame finishing 7-6, having the 42nd best defense in the NCAA (22.2 Points Allowed Per Game). The Fighting Irish also qualified for the Hawaii Bowl, which resulted with a win against the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors 49-21. Notre Dame only had one Player drafted in the 2009 NFL Draft, DB Dave Bruton. Bruton was drafted by the Denver Broncos as the 114th Overall Pick (4th Round), starting 12/108 NFL Games. Bruton had also produced 3 Interceptions, but also 18 Pass-Breakups ; 5 Forced Fumbles ; 2 Sacks ; 7 Tackles For Loss. A successful season like this had Graham thirsty for credited success.
Luckily for Graham, the University of Toledo offered Graham to be the next Defensive-Line Coach. However, another team offered Graham to not be a Coach, but an assistant to learn how NFL Defenses are operated. Influence from Notre Dame’s Defensive Coordinator, Corwin Brown, who played and coached with this specific team, might’ve been what caused Graham to turn down the offer made by Toledo.
(2009-11) NFL Career Part 1: Assistant Coach
The New England Patriots hired Patrick Graham as a Defensive Assistant, a position that Notre Dame’s head coach, Charlie Weis, was assigned for a number of years while learning under Bill Belicheck. For the past two seasons as a Defensive Assistant, the Patriots went 24-8 in the Regular Season, and 1-1 in the Playoffs (was the #1 Seed after the 2010-11 Regular Season ; 14-2). The defense was ranked 5th in Points Allowed Per Game (17.8) for the 2009-10 NFL Season and then ranked 8th for the 2010-11 Season (19.6). During this time, Josh McDaniels was the Head Coach of the Denver Broncos and then Offensive Coordinator of the St. Louis Rams. Meanwhile, Dave Ziegler is coaching a High School team in Arizona as the Special Teams Coordinator (also TEs and RBs).
(2011-18) NFL Career Part 2: Positional Coach
New England Patriots: 2011-16
During the 2011 NFL Off-Season, Patrick Graham was promoted to be a Position Coach. Graham was assigned the Linebacker Coaching position after Matt Patricia transitioned to the Safety Coaching position after Corwin Brown was convicted for murder charges (will not go into any details). The season was a success for the Patriots (as usual), finishing the Regular Season 13-3 and then winning the AFC Championship against the Baltimore Ravens 23-20. Horrifically, the Patriots lose to the Giants for a 2nd Time at the Super Bowl 17-21. In Patrick Graham’s case, the Linebacker Room performed as a Top-Tier Personnel.
The LB Room would produce 17.5 out of the Defense’s 40 Sacks, 28 out of the Defense’s 67 Tackles for Loss, and 4 out of 8 of the Defense’s Forced Fumbles. One of these Linebackers, Andre Carter (OLB), was selected for the 2012 Pro-Bowl while being considered a Top 5 Comeback Player of the Year candidate. Another Linebacker, Jerad Mayo (MLB), led the Patriots in Single-Season Tackles (103). This amount of tackles would also be the first time in franchise history that a Patriot produced 100+ Tackles in a span of four consecutive NFL Seasons each. Once the playoffs was over, Patrick Graham switched Coaching Positions with D-Line Coach, Pepper Johnson.
For the 2012-13 NFL Season, the Patriots earned the #1 Seed in the AFC after finishing the Regular Season 12-4 with #1 Offense (34.8 Points Scored Per Game) and the 9th Ranked Defense (20.7 Points Allowed Per Game). In the Postseason, the Patriots lost the AFC Championship 13-28 to the Baltimore Ravens (who won the Super Bowl in a Harbaugh vs Harbaugh brotherly match ; Ravens vs 49ers). This was the same year Josh McDaniels returned to New England as the Offensive Coordinator, Matt Patricia was also promoted to be the new Defensive Coordinator. This was also 1st Round Pick (plus future Hall of Famer) Chandler Jones’ Rookie-Year as a Defensive-End for the Patriots.
New England Patriots 2012-13 D-Line Season Stats vs Overall Defense’s Stats:
Patrick Graham was working outstandingly with the Defensive-Line. Capable of developing, teaching, coaching, and providing support for each Linemen on the Defense. An example can be how Defensive Tackle, Vince Wilfork, was selected for the 2013 First-Team All-Pro at the Pro Bowl. Chandler Jones also produced “standout” numbers, having 6 Sacks, 8 Tackles For Loss, and 3 Forced Fumbles for his Rookie-Year. Due to this type of production, Graham was the D-Line Coach for the following season.
For the 2013-14 NFL Season, The Patriots won the AFC #1 Seed again, going 12-4 and ranking 3rd in Points Scored Per Game (27.8) and 10th in Points Allowed Per Game (21.1). In the Postseason, the Patriots lost the AFC Championship again, this time, to the Peyton Manning led Denver Broncos 16-26. Patrick Graham Coached one of the top D-Lines in the NFL for the 2013-14 NFL Season.
New England Patriots D-Line 2012-13 vs 2013-14 Regular Season Stats:
The Patriots Defense ranked 5th in the NFL when it came to Defense’s Total Sacks for the 2013-14 Season. Sophomore-Year Chandler Jones was also a force to be reckoned with. Jones led the team in Sacks (11.5), Tackles For Loss (14), and QB-Hits (23). Despite the production and improvement Graham brought to the Front-7 of the New England Defense, he was switched back to coaching the Linebackers after Pepper Johnson announced he would be leaving the Patriots Organization. For the remainder of Graham’s time with New England, he stayed as a Linebacker coach.
For the next two seasons, the Patriots would win the AFC #1 Seed plus finishing the season 12-4 back-to-back, defeating the Seattle Seahawks at the 2015 Super Bowl, then losing to the Denver Broncos at the AFC Championship (who won the 2016 Super Bowl against the Cam Newton led Carolina Panthers). This type of success including the production that Graham was able to learn, experience, coach, and teach with New England was something that he had not seen in several years.
New England Patriots LB Room’s 2011-12 vs 2014-15 vs 2015-16 Season Stats:
After the 2015-16 Regular Season, Graham helped LB Jamie Collins break the franchise Single-Season Record of Forced Fumbles (produced 5), earning a 2nd-Team All-Pro selection for the 2016 Pro Bowl. So even when Graham had his preferences with the D-Line, there was no doubt that Graham was capable of helping the Linebackers produce top numbers as well. An interesting stat that can be said for Patrick Graham: since becoming a position coach for New England D-Line and LB Room (2011-16), the Patriots led the NFL in Takeaways (150 ; 30 Per Season ; ~2 Per Game) and ranked 4th in Sacks (214 ; ~43 Per Season ; ~3 Per Game).
New York Giants: 2016-18
Wanting to get into the Defensive Play Calling at a faster pace, rather than compete with other Coaches within the Bill Belichick Regime, Patrick Graham moves to New York to coach for the New York Giants (This is also where he met Raiders current D-Line Coach: Rob Leonard ; D-Line and LB Assistant Coach at the Time). Under Head Coach Ben McAdoo (promoted after the firing of Head Coach Tom Coughlin) and Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, Graham was assigned to Coach the Giants Defensive Line. It was successful for the new Coaching Staff’s first year, ending the 2016-17 Regular Season with a 11-5 Record, producing arguably the best defense in the NFL (2nd in Points Allowed ; 17.8 Per Game). The Giants had qualified for the NFC Wildcard, where they immediately lost to the Green Bay Packers 13-38.
In Patrick Graham’s case, the Defensive Line would be the strength of the Giants dominating Defense. Producing 24.5 out of 35 of the Defense’s Sacks, 43 out of 78 of the Defense’s Tackles For Loss, and 6 out of 14 of the Defense’s Forced Fumbles. When it came to the Run-Game, the Giants are considered a Top 5 Defensive Run-Game Unit. The Giants allowed 3.6 Rushing Yards Per Carry, 88.6 Rushing Yards Per Game (3rd Best in the NFL), and 10 Rushing Touchdowns (5th Best in the NFL). The D-Line was even dominant against the Packers during the WildCard Matchup, despite the massive loss.
New York Giants vs Green Bay Packers WildCard Matchup Defensive Statistics:
What would be the Giants downfall during the 2016-17 Season was their Offense. The Offense was ranked as the 7th Worst in the League, scoring 19.4 Points Per Game. Turnovers were also a key factor, interceptions and fumbles at key moments kept putting down the Team, causing a struggle to get dragged along the entire year. It led to the McAdoo Regime to be thrown out of New York the following year. After starting out the 2017-18 NFL Season 2-10, Head Coach Ben McAdoo was fired and Interim Head Coach Steve Spagnuplo (Defensive Coordinator) was also fired for finishing the season 1-3. The Offense was arguably one of the worst in the League, scoring 15.4 Points Per Game (2nd Worst).
The Defense was suffering from the struggle as well, ranking 27th in Points Allowed (24.3 Per Game). Patrick Graham’s Defensive Line was also not creating the same production that it did the previous season.
New York Giants D-Line’s 2016-17 vs 2017-18 Defensive Stats:
Due to New York seeking a new Regime and cleaning house with the Coaching Staff, Graham was forced to leave New York and headed West.
Green Bay Packers: 2018-19
Ironically, Graham joins the Green Bay Packers as their new LB Coach. Additionally, Graham is assigned to be the team’s Defensive Run-Game Coordinator, due to his expertise and high-performance rate against the run as a Coach. (This would also be the time Graham meets Jason Simmons ; Raiders DB Coach + Defensive Passing-Game Coordinator). Despite the team having a solid balance in Offense/Defense (14th Ranked Offense + 22nd Ranked Defense), the Packers ended the season 6-9-1. Head Coach Mike McCarthy was fired after starting the season 4-7-1, Interim Head Coach Joe Philbin (Offensive Coordinator) would follow after finishing the season 2-2. This would cause Graham to move to a different organization once again (lots of unlucky circumstances…).
Green Bay Packers LB Room vs Total Defense 2018-19 Season Statistics:
The LB Room was successful under Patrick Graham, causing chaos in the Passing-Game. The Run-Game would be seen as solid by some, but criticized by others. The Packers Defense allowed 4.3 Rushing Yards Per Carry, 119.9 Rushing Yards Per Game, 15 Rushing Touchdowns, and ⅓ of the First Downs allowed by the Packers came from the Run-Game. This all leads to the Packers being ranked as the 13th best in stopping the Offensive Run-Game. The production that Patrick Graham was able to construct for the Packers LB Room and Run-Game thankfully led to a familiar Coworker and friend to hire Graham.
2019-Present-Day) NFL Career Part 3: Defensive Coordinator
Miami Dolphins: 2019-20
Miami Head Coach, Brian Flores, hired Patrick Graham as the new Defensive Coordinator. This gig was another unlucky situation for Graham. The Dolphins ended the 2019-20 Season 5-11 and had the 8th worst Offense and the #1 worst Defense. The team suffered from injuries and transitioned into a new system on both sides of the ball. However, there are rumors that the owner of the Dolphins forced the team to lose games on purpose so they could draft a QB such as Tua Tagovailoa (can be true, can be fake). Another unlucky circumstance led to Graham leaving the organization… again.
New York Giants: 2020-22
Patrick Graham headed back to New York to serve under another Patriot Coach, Head Coach Joe Judge (who specializes in Special Teams), as the New York Giants Defensive Coordinator plus Assistant Head Coach. This would be the first time that Patrick Graham would be calling defensive plays (without any overpowering help) on his own. It was not too bad for a first time Play Caller in the NFL. Despite the Giants finishing the 2020-21 Season 6-10, the Defense was ranked as the 9th best in the NFL (22.3 Points Allowed Per Game).
New York Giants 2020-21 Season Defensive Rankings:
Patrick Graham helped produce the best defense the Giants Organization has seen since the 2016-17 Season (when Graham was their D-Line Coach). The Giants defense produced the most sacks since 2014-15 (47 Sacks), the best Run-Defense since 2016 (88.6 Yards Per Game ; 10 Touchdowns Allowed), and the best Pass-Defense since 2013 (223.2 Yards Per Game ; 21 Touchdowns Allowed). Graham gave young-star (at the time) CB James Bradberry a Pro-Bowl Season, being selected after leading the Giants in Interceptions (3) plus allowing a Passer-Rating of 81.2 after being targeted 91 Times.
Sadly, this team did not improve the following season. The Giants experienced a horrible 4-13 Season after resulting with arguably the worst Offense in the NFL (15.2 Points Scored Per Game ; 2nd Worst). Patrick Graham’s defense also had a decline, but was defended due to dealing with an Offense that did not give any support the entire season (24.5 Points Allowed Per Game ; 23rd best).
New York Giants 2020-21 vs 2021-22 Season Defensive Stats:
Las Vegas Raiders: 2022-Present-Day
After the firing of Joe Judge and many parts of the Coaching Staff, Brian Daboll (former Patriots Coach ; Giants new Head Coach) , was willing to keep Patrick Graham as Defensive Coordinator. However, Graham seeked to head west and was hired by the McZieg Regime to be the new Defensive Coordinator of the Las Vegas Raiders. Fast-Forward: Many know what happened. The Raiders ended their season 6-11, resulting with the Borderline Top 5 Worst Defense in the NFL (24.6 Points Allowed Per Game). Many within Raider Nation questioned Graham’s play calling and defensive expertise. However, many of the critics have also been forgetting that the Raiders were suffering with major Injuries on both sides of the ball. The Defense was sadly the main target for the Injury bug, having UDFAs such as LB Luke Masterson and Darien Butler, CB Sam Webb, and S Isaiah Pola-Mao have to start up to 7 Games (or play a significant amount of snaps).
Looking at more of the positives rather than the negatives, many are intrigued with how the Defense is being constructed this Off-Season. Especially after 6/9 of the 2023 Draftees are Defensive Players, and 3/6 of those Defensive Players played the Senior Bowl (Graham was the Head Coach, won 27-10). With prize star-rookie Edge Rusher, Tyree Wilson, many are realizing what Defense Graham is attempting to construct as his way of improving production. Using a 4-3/3-4 Hybrid Scheme, the Raiders are finding keen interests with Defensive-Line Rookies Tyree Wilson, Byron Young (DL), Nesta Jade Silvera (NT), and UDFA DE Adam Plant Jr. Utilizing the larger type of D-Line and Pass-Rushers is Graham’s first and most important factor for building the defense. It has caused excitement for Raider Nation to see how the D-Line turns out. This can be due to the mentorship of Star-DE Maxx Crosby (who’s believed to have a DPOY Year aftering leading every D-Linemen around the league in almost every Defensive Statistic) and future Hall of Famer Chandler Jones (who will most likely retire after the upcoming season).
With what is coming and going with the Defense, many wonder if the supposed “Black Picasso” can finally find himself in a Lucky Situation for the first time. Hopefully Raider Nation finally gets to see a Defense actually improve and show more consistency for once…
Raiders Stats Contact
