By Zach Gershman, Sports Talk Philly staff writer 
In 2010, the Philadelphia Eagles drafted a player by the name of Brandon Graham. Before the Draft, if someone asked you who Brandon Graham is, a likely response would have been "Brandon who?"
After a lengthy journey with its peaks and valleys over the last six season, Graham is starting to become one of the Eagles most important defensive players and is off to the best start of his career in 2016.
Heading into the 2010 Draft, the Eagles had the 24th pick and, according to Mel Kiper, were projected to select Penn State linebacker Navorro Bowman. Many were excited about that projected selection but things changed when news broke out that the Eagles made a trade to move up 11 spots to the 13th overall pick.
Fans were ecstatic believing that star safety Earl Thomas III would be drafted and join the no-fly zone secondary in Philly. But the Eagles organization had different thoughts.
Roger Goodell announced that with the 13th pick, the Eagles had selected Graham, a defensive end out of Michigan. The selection was received with mixed reactions from fans in attendance.
Graham was ranked eighth among defensive lineman at the NFL Combine. Many believed that Graham wasn’t going to go in the first or second round let alone be drafted in the Top 15.
Graham’s rookie season was cut short due to a horrific ACL tear in Week 14 against the arch-rival Dallas Cowboys. The injury didn’t seem to heal as Graham played a total of three games in his second season. Philadelphia was forced to place him on the active/physically unable to perform list entering training camp that year.
Now entering the 2016 season with a new head coach and defensive coordinator, Graham is finally having his chance to shine.
Brandon Graham is off to the hottest start of his seven-year career. In six games, he has 19 total tackles, four sacks and two forced fumbles. He is on pace to breaking his career-high in sacks, which currently sits at 6.5 sacks in a season. Graham is now a veteran leader on the defense that NFL.com has seventh–ranked overall in the power rankings.
The Eagles play the Cowboys at Jerry’s World in a primetime matchup on Sunday Night Football. Now coming into his own in a defense that allows him to shine, let's see if Graham indeed shines as bright as the lights of Sunday night.
