What exactly is the Patrick Graham System?

Fire X, Strong Storm 2 Z, Stubbie or maybe Green Dog?

Regardless of the call, what kind of system can we expect from Patrick Graham?

A lot has been said by the new Steelers hierarchy about 3-4 defence. This “Base”, baked into Steelers DNA, is not the right way to describe Graham’s way of calling plays.

In his first year with the Giants they ran:

Base 18% of snaps (NFL average 24%)

Nickel (5 DBs) 54% (NFL average 60%)

Dime+ (6+ DBs)26% (NFL average 15%) 6th highest in the league.

On more than 50 plays that season, his defence had either zero or one defensive lineman on the field. Packages like 1-5-5 or 0-6-5, DB heavy looks normally reserved for obvious third and long, but he ran them in regular situations to confuse quarterbacks. That got noticed for being ahead of copycat curve. So "Dime" (6 DBs) and even lighter fronts weren't a rare wrinkle, they were a real part of the plan.

Patrick Graham DC for the Giants: 2020-2021

The Giants blitzed on 26.9% of snaps in 2020 — down noticeably from the 35.1% he'd run at Miami the year before, leaning on Dime packages and pre-snap disguise rather than sending extra rushers. Probable reason for the change was the personnel suited one style more than the other.

How the Raiders’ Defence Changed Under Graham

With the Raiders in 2023-24, the shape was different, but the theme was the same: Graham's defence lived out of a 4-2-5 Nickel package (four linemen, two linebackers, five DBs) — in a way that would work pretty much on every snap, not just a passing sub package. Nate Hobbs played a hybrid third linebacker / fifth DB role and barely came off the field, which is what let Vegas stay in Nickel personnel against both run and pass. I wonder who at the Steelers could fit that role?

That changed in 2025 once Pete Carroll took over. Hobbs left for Green Bay, and the Raiders shifted back to more conventional base looks with heavier Cover 3 usage. So the honest read is that Graham’s tendency (2019 Dolphins through 2024 Raiders) is Nickel as base with real Dime and some quarter funky packages mixed in, and true base-personnel snaps as the exception.

Graham's Raiders defense by DVOA

Raiders defence under Graham, ranked by DVOA (measures how much better or worse a team performs on each play compared to the league average in that same situation).

2022 +13.0%, ranked 31st (6-11 record)

2023 -4.6%, ranked 8th (8-9 record)

2024 +1.7%, ranked 18th (4-13 record)

2025 -1.2%, ranked 14th (3-14 record)

What Patrick Graham's Defense means for the Steelers

Under predictable Teryl and ineffectual Austin the Steelers blitzed on 28.7% of defensive snaps in 2025, the 5th highest in the NFL, finishing with 48 sacks and a defensive success rate of 43.8%.

The Raiders blitzed on just 19.8% of their defensive snaps yet still recorded 37 sacks, and a 44.9% defensive success rate. In 2025 LV ran Base defence 56% of the time - top 3 in the league in base percentage. In 2022-24 they ran Nickle 67% of the time 11th in the NFL. Just In 2023 they ran nickle 87% of the time.

The Steelers used base defence on about 29.4% of their defensive snaps during the 2025 NFL season. That ranked 9th- highest in the NFL. They ran Nickel (5 DBs) 50.8%, Dime (6 DBs) 9.2%.

The challenge for Graham now is to get these Steelers defenders, the most talented group he's ever worked with, to lend themselves to his way of thinking, his way of doing things, which is proving to be quite different to the previous regime. A key element we should see serious development in is the defensive line play with four of the new coaches having played or coached the D. Line (Patrick Graham, Domata Peko, Shawn Howe, C.J.Ah You).

It seems to me that the defensive play book will be more of a tome that’ll barely be contained by a lever arched folder. Graham is bringing a wealth of experience at the highest level to the Steelers, most likely “Base” for the Steelers defence will be Nickel, we should expect some unusual sub packages, players will take up position we don’t see coming (and hopefully so will the QBs).

The limitations of only three pre-season games can’t tell us much about the individual players, but they can hint at tendencies. With the first games of recent seasons being unpredictable we should expect to see Graham’s work from week three against the Bengals.

Realistically we’ll have a clearer understanding after the week nine bye especially with the schedule for the second part of the season.

Bill Belichick, Mike Tomlin and Doug Pederson won the Super Bowl in year 2 with the Patriots/Steelers/Eagles respectively. Bill Parcells(Giants), Tom Coughlin(Eagles), Sean Payton(Saints), and Nick Sirianni(Giants) all took 4 years. Mike McCarthy(Packers), John Harbaugh(Ravens), and Sean McVay(Rams) took 5 to win the Super Bowl.

Bill Cowher took 14 with the Steelers, and Andy Reid as a head coach must hold some sort of record waiting 21 seasons (14 with the Eagles, 7 with the Chiefs) for his first ring. This is telling us Mike McCarthy and his coaching team have next year as a target to win the Super Bowl with their best chance of wining it in up to five years. I don’t think any of them will be around to break Andy Reid’s record. There is nothing to say that Mike McCarthy won’t be the first HC since Gary Kubiak (Denver Broncos, 2015 season) to win the Super Bowl in their first year with a team.