The important advice Brandon Graham keeps giving to Derek Barnett
The important advice Brandon Graham keeps giving to Derek Barnett originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Brandon Graham is still here. That’s his message to Derek Barnett.
After all of Graham’s early-career struggles, he eventually made it through to the other side, shed the bust label and has had his best years in the second half of his career.
If there’s one person Barnett should aspire to be like, it’s Graham.
After tearing his ACL in Week 1 last season, Barnett was held out of OTAs this spring, but quietly made his return to practice for the first day of training camp on Wednesday.
There was little fanfare, but there he was, No. 96, back on the field.
“He’s upbeat,” Graham said. “Like I told him out there, ‘Hey, man, just put that smile up, man. Smile more. Because at the end of the day, you’re still here. So much you’ve been through, you can make it all go away just by what you do this year.’ Luckily, we still got a chance. So enjoy it and embrace that chance. Make sure you’re working out every day and control what you can.”
There’s no doubt that Barnett’s career has been disappointing. The Eagles used the No. 14 overall pick on Barnett back in 2017 and the prospect who broke Reggie White’s sack record at Tennessee simply hasn’t lived up to those expectations. There have been some good moments, no doubt, but the production never really came and fans grew restless.
Heck, at this point, you probably forgot Barnett was still on the roster.
But he is and now he has a restructured contract.
Graham is simply urging his longtime teammate to make the most of his remaining opportunity in the NFL.
“I just want to be there for them guys because mentally a lot of people don’t realize how great of a spot they’re really in,” Graham said. “And sometimes the media or what people say sometimes get to people and I always try to help them with that. Y’all got a job to do just as much as we got a job to do. We got to make sure we block the noise just as much as you gotta keep the noise up. I think helping him with that, knowing that he’s still got a chance by what he do out there and what he put out, out there.
“I didn’t know I was going to be here this long. Sometimes, I thought I was gonna be gone. But what they couldn’t take away from me was when I got opportunity, was my attitude and what I put out on that film. Like I told him, you control that part and we’ll see where the cards lay when they come up. I’m happy for him.”
For what it’s worth, the Eagles have always liked Barnett more than their fans. Fans see a disappointing first-round pick whose biggest claim to fame are boneheaded penalties. The Eagles see a professional who does the dirty work and has been a positive influence in the locker room, where his teammates like him too.
The reality of Derek Barnett probably falls somewhere in between.
In his six years in the NFL, Barnett has played in 65 games with 45 starts and has a total of 21.5 sacks and 76 QB hits.
It was obvious that the Eagles liked Barnett enough last offseason to sign him to a two-year deal — in an Eagles era where one-year deals for rotational veterans are the norm — which is why he’s still here in the first place.
But as Barnett returned to practice for the 2023 season, it’s unclear what his future holds. Even if he sticks on the Eagles’ roster this season, he probably figures into the defensive end/edge rotation as the fifth guy behind Haason Reddick, Josh Sweat, Graham and rookie Nolan Smith.
For years, Graham has been the poster child for patience. If any first round pick takes a long time to develop, it’s easy to point at Graham and think they still have a chance to flourish, even though he’s probably more of an outlier. Still, for those individual players, it’s good to have hope and aspirations.
And all you have to do is look at Graham’s career. He didn’t become a starter until Year 5, didn’t become a Pro Bowler until Year 11, didn’t have a double digit sack season until Year 13.
And he didn’t become a folk hero until the final game of Year 8, when his strip-sack against Tom Brady helped clinch the only Super Bowl victory in Eagles history. The guy who scooped the ball up off the ground?
Well, Barnett simply has to hope his second act is as strong as Graham’s.
“Everything could come in the back end,” Graham said. “I feel like in the beginning it didn’t start off so well for me. But everything now has been in the back end. But it’s that perseverance you’ve gotta have through that hard time. Yeah, the media is saying you might not be here, you might be here, you don’t know. Right now, you’re here so take care of the right now. That was my mindset.”
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