Back in 2010, Brandon Graham was a first-round pick (No. 13 overall) by the Philadelphia Eagles. Graham had a rough start to his career. Fortunately, he had a veteran in Trent Cole to give him guidance as he made the tough transition into the NFL.

Derek Barnett has drawn comparisons to Graham because of their ability to get a jump on the snap and their similarities when it comes to size. Having benefited from Cole’s veteran presence, Graham is ready to serve as a mentor for the latest Eagles defensive end to be selected in the first round.

“I be on Barnett all of the time because Trent Cole was my guy to help me along the way,” Graham said on 97.5 The Fanatic. “He made me more comfortable and started to help me with technique stuff, I got ahead of the game pretty early and then I had an injury.”

Barnett is already in the rotation at right defensive end on the opposite side of Graham. When the two are not on the field at the same time, Graham pays close attention to what Barnett is doing. The veteran has worked closely with Barnett, giving him pointers on technique and helping him develop the right mindset when it comes to coaching.

“Just watching him, telling him what I see that he does well,” Graham explained. “There are things that coach is trying to coach him on that I had problems with. I try to show him better ways of doing certain things just until coaches feel comfortable and trust you, then you can kind of do your thing a little bit on top of what coaches want.”

Judging from some reps against Lane Johnson during the first day of OTAs, Barnett is taking the coaching well. He was able to show a new pass rushing move when he used a spin move to get by Johnson on one rep.

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While some question the leadership of Fletcher Cox for missing the first round of OTAs, Graham brought his energetic personality to the NovaCare complex despite rumors that he would not report. Concerns about Cox’s absence being a hindrance to Barnett were dispelled by how Graham has taken on such a leadership role.

Graham is excited about the opportunity to work with Barnett and the other young guys that are new to the team. He said he wanted to step up as a leader before voluntary workouts started. Now he’s showing the young guys the way.

“I am excited about the new guys that are here,” Graham said. “They are getting up to speed and getting the system down. We try to welcome them in and showing them the way. When you have new guys in the building you want to teach them the culture and the tempo of the practice.”