Aaron Graves is a defensive lineman who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Iowa.
Graves disrupts the pocket from the interior. Fourth year in the same defensive front at Iowa. All-Big Ten in 2025 made it two straight seasons on the honors list. On tape: 7 tackles against Penn State, Week 8, 2025.
Play style
Disruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
37 tackles. 1 pass defended. 1 interception. 6.5 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 13 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 34-7vs UAlbany | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 13-16@ No. 16 Iowa State | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 47-7vs Massachusetts | 5 | 3 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 38-28@ Rutgers | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 15-20vs No. 11 Indiana | 3 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 37-0@ Wisconsin | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 25-24vs Penn State | 7 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 7 tackles |
| Wk 9 | W 41-3vs Minnesota | 2 | 2 | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | 0 | 2 sacks |
| Wk 11 | L 16-18vs No. 6 Oregon | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 21-26@ No. 17 USC | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 20-17vs Michigan State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 40-16@ Nebraska | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
 Bowl | W 34-27vs No. 13 Vanderbilt | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 37 | 17 | 6.5 | 5.0 | 1 | 1 |
Week 9 · 2025
W 41-3
vs Minnesota
2 sacks · 2 tackles for loss · 2 tackles
Dominant 38-point win at home against Minnesota.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
18%6 TFLSack rate
14%5 sacksHurry rate
8%3 hurries37 tackles · 6.5 for loss · 5 sacks · 1 interception.
4 seasons under Kirk Ferentz — 35-18 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 3.1 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| Road5g | 2.8 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 2.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 3.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Kirk Ferentz
Pass share
36.6%
286 pass / 495 run
Plays / game
60.1
13 games
Team sack rate
6.2%
288 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy, slow tempo.
Player standing · 2025
Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Former four-star. Now #50 at the position.
2026 outlook
In the mix to repeat All-Big Ten
Based on 2025: #10 of 69 Big Ten DLs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 35% of returning players who ranked #4–10 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 31–38%).
A blue-chip recruit with honors.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-BIG TEN · 2ND TEAM
All-Big Ten 2nd team (2025)
Weekly recognition
1 weekly honor (2024)
Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week
Coaching lineage · 2022–2025
1 coachPlayed every college season under Kirk Ferentz.
