Graham Barton Had No Assurances He Would Be Drafted By Bucs
April 26th, 2024
Bucs C Graham Barton.
Though new Bucs center Graham Barton told the Tampa Bay pen and mic club last night that he had met with the Bucs twice in the draft process, he was still in the dark.
What Joe means by that is that Barton had no idea what his chances were of being picked by the Bucs. But that didn’t stop him from having a Bucs cap nearby and ready to wear during his Zoom/FaceTime call with local media.
But there was a catch to the cap, Barton said. A merchandise supplier of the NFL (Barton didn’t say who) made sure Barton was covered. Literally.
So the NFL/New Era/47/Nike shipped to Barton 32 caps, one of each NFL team. So that no matter who drafted Barton, his noggin was covered with the right team.
Joe is going to guess kids in Barton’s neighborhood will soon have a free NFL cap courtesy of Barton.
April 26th, 2024 at 3:49 am
Every IOL that JL Has drafted has been a tackle with short arms that we’ve kicked inside. Barton lacks elite play strength that is what his scouting reports indicate so this means it’s going to take him at least a year to get stronger and dominate. I read comments already that we were lucky he fell to us, that is totally untrue he was projected to go late first round and for maximum value to be obtained on day two. We drafted him because he was the best available player left on our board. I’m going to pray that he works out at center because most the experiments we’ve made haven’t worked. Remember we had to go pay Jensen in free agency as an already proven center.
April 26th, 2024 at 4:35 am
Yeah, I don’t think a project is necessarily a good idea for a first round pick. Unless he’s ready to go right now but it appears he may not be. Hope it works out.
April 26th, 2024 at 4:51 am
Proudbucsfan not sure what boards you’ve been looking at but there’s a lot of boards that had him as a first round pick. PFF had him 23rd on their board, CBS had him as 35th, Mel Kiper (ESPN) had him as 19th, Daniel Jeremiah had him as 22nd, Bleacher Report had him 21st, Walterfootball had him 33rd.
So while there’s no overall consensus, most of the big names had him ranked above our pick. So I’d say we got good value getting him at 26th.
April 26th, 2024 at 5:19 am
Every player is a project, and EVERY player has tio get stringer
Barton will play q12 years in the NFL, and will be an all pro half of them.
Hes smart. Hes strong. Hes fast. He uses great leverage.
Hes gonna be another great OLinemen .
He might be better at Left Guard, though.
Still like Frazier at Center.dont be surprised to hear his, or the kid from Wisconsins,name called tomorrow.
April 26th, 2024 at 6:39 am
We will have to move up for Frazier. JL drafted Barton to play C, maybe not this year but soon.
April 26th, 2024 at 6:39 am
Ryan Jenson was a T in college out of a small school. Spent his first year on the practice squad and didn’t start until his third year. Played one good year at center for the Ravens and then the Bucs got him in free agency. Most of Jason’s OT selections that he moved inside has worked out fine. Just like Jenson. The Best college athletes play Tackle why would NFL teams draft players who aren’t as good just because of the position they played in a college their draft year? I don’t put much stock in anyone’s opinion who can’t get basic facts right.
April 26th, 2024 at 6:47 am
@Proudbucfan
I trust Dane Brugler and his 324 page draft guide more than most,
So, while somewhere else you read that Barton does not have “elite” play strength, I will go with Brugler who in his first sentence of Strengths says:
“Outstanding play strength”
I’ve read more concerns about guys on offensive line moving to inside positions this off season than ever before. Not sure why. That is par for the course in the NFL. Teams move guys inside all the time.
April 26th, 2024 at 6:51 am
@Proudbuc
Draftbuzz does not only their own rankings but give you a total of 10 different sites rankings.
On Barton, the 10 sites, had him ranked between 14 and 34.
April 26th, 2024 at 7:21 am
Caps… LOL … I am a boonie hat guy going back to my days in VN. However I did have a large collection of Bucs ball caps many as fan game day giveaways getting into the stadium as well as gifts from friends. 5 years ago we went on a European vacation visiting half a dozen countries including Iceland. I probably left 18 Bucs ball caps in various places along the trip.
April 26th, 2024 at 9:03 am
ProudBucsfan
Geno says it better than me, that’s nothing new lol…but I would add one point to your post.
“I’m going to pray that he works out at center because most the experiments we’ve made haven’t worked”
If you were talking about the D line I would agree but the OL he’s been fire!!
The one “mistake” me made was project Marpet as a Center. But after realizing that “experiment” did not work out he moved Marpet and the rest as they say is history. I think like other posters and perhaps even Joe that OL has been Licht’s strength in the draft. WR’s haven’t been shabby either eh? An HOF another Pro Bowl level player and a young talent that Canales never used properly…of course it took an agitated wife before the Bucs used CG14 properly.
April 26th, 2024 at 9:32 am
Ali marpet was moved to center it didn’t work we had to sign Jensen in free agency he was developed by another team. Hainsey was moved from Right tackle to center and he’s a weakness on the Oline, Also Goedeke was a tackle in college and we moved him to guard and that was a disaster the only move that worked was Tristen Wirfs moving over to left tackle thank god it did. I was reading scouting reports on Barton not draft boards.
April 26th, 2024 at 9:48 am
Wow ProudBucfan Perhaps you’ve never heard the old axiom it takes at least three years to judge the results of a draft!
Jensen needed FOUR years to emerge after being moved all around by Baltimore management. Goeddeke is toast after ONE? Really?
April 26th, 2024 at 9:49 am
I’ll clarify the comment I made about his play strength I misunderstood when I was reading the reports. It’s if he stays at tackle he doesn’t have the strength to succeed, but does if he’s kicked inside. but by no means did he fault to us he was drafted where he was supposed to be drafted late first early second.
April 26th, 2024 at 9:55 am
In my opinion, it would be nice to get Zack Fraser with a move up in the second and put Barton at left guard. Although light has already divulged his plan to put Barton at center. I just hope it works, the kid is a hard worker but so is Hainsey.
April 26th, 2024 at 10:34 am
Thank you Joe I was so curious with
How he had a bucs hat, and wondered if he had like a whole box of hats I guess he did
April 26th, 2024 at 10:54 am
Barton is immediately better than any other Center on the roster. If it turns out he’s not the best long term answer at the position, he can kick out to G like Ali Marpet did with similar success.
April 26th, 2024 at 11:20 am
I don’t think Jason Licht knew who he was going to pick until Dallas picked a true OT. Gotta admit, the way things were playing out, I was beginning to think we might have a shot at Verse.
April 26th, 2024 at 11:58 am
SB/LV. That’s Awesome! The Buc’s have a huge following in the UK and Germany and now we know you started it! Good job!
April 26th, 2024 at 2:10 pm
Let’s get our Oline back to the dominate force it was in 2020-2021, and for a longer stretch. I love the fact that JL loves him a big offensive line (I’ll let two years of hainsey slide. It was a tough time with tough decisions.) but here we are and this kid, this big ol boy is gonna dominate for years to come and help get us back to a force to be reckoned with.
Haynes or mahogany in the 2nd or 3rd will lock it in.
April 26th, 2024 at 2:12 pm
I bet tom Brady loves this pick! Woooooo!
April 26th, 2024 at 3:08 pm
Ali Marpet & Alex Cappa were both converted from OT to interior OL and that worked out pretty freaking great.
April 26th, 2024 at 4:15 pm
JL does a much better than average job of drafting OLine! Let’s go!