This week saw another milestone in the remarkable rise of Ross Graham.
The Dundee United man was nominated for the Scottish Football Writers Association (SFWA) young player of the year award on Tuesday morning.
While Aberdeen’s Calvin Ramsey ultimately collected the gong, the nod was a fitting reward for Graham’s progress.
Having returned from a forgettable loan spell at Dunfermline in January, the boyhood United fan has made 14 appearances in all competitions, scoring two goals and making his Scotland under-21 debut.
Here, Courier Sport analyses how Graham compares to the select band of young centre-halves playing regularly in the Scottish Premiership.
Who are Ross Graham’s rivals?
Graham, 21, is one of seven centre-backs currently aged 22 or under who have featured in more than 10 Premiership fixtures this season.
Fellow SFWA young player of the year nominee Stephen Welsh of Celtic is among them.
Barring injury, Harry Clarke has been a regular for Ross County and Hibs over two separate loan spells, while another Easter Road stopper Rocky Bushiri meets the criteria.
Toby Sibbick fits the bill at Hearts.
Rangers’ Calvin Bassey and on-loan Jambos ace Alex Cochrane are also worthy of consideration. While much of their football has been played at full-back, both have filled in at centre-half with some regularity.
How does Graham compare?
Graham stacks up favourably in that company, despite four of those players representing clubs above United in the top-flight standings.
On average, the Scotland under-21 international makes two tackles and 2.1 interceptions per match. No player has registered more in either metric.
Indeed, when considering the amount of tackles made, only Bassey (1.5) and Cochrane (1.9) even come close — and their numbers are skewed by the amount of football they have played at full-back.
Graham’s dominance in those categories speaks to a proactive, aggressive attitude to defending during his short time in the Tangerines first-team.
The former Cove Rangers and Dunfermline loanee averages 5.6 duels won per match, which is only bettered by Clarke with six.
He averages three aerial duels won per match, only trailing Clarke (four) and Welsh (3.6).
The only category in which Graham toils is successful passes, coming in at 22 per game.
How does Graham compare with his Dundee United teammates?
As well as shining amid his own age group, Graham’s efforts even bear comparison with more experienced Dundee United teammates.
On average, he has made more tackles per game than Charlie Mulgrew (0.8) and Ryan Edwards (0.8).
His average tally of interceptions is also superior to Edwards (0.8) and Mulgrew (1.3).
Mulgrew’s 4.6 duels won per match and 2.9 aerial duels won per match also trails Graham, albeit Edwards (6.2 for duels won and 4.1 for aerial duels won) is comfortably ahead of both men.
Mulgrew has the best passing accuracy of the trio, with 73.1 per cent accuracy from 1169 passes this term.
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