NFL Suit: Why Wouldn’t You Pick Graham Barton In First Round?
May 4th, 2024
Bucs rookie center Graham Barton, their first-round pick.
“This Joe” made it pretty clear prior to the draft. Don’t draft a guard or center in the first round because they are not premium positions.
As Bill Belicheat pointed out during Pat McAfee’s draft coverage last Thursday, why get stuck with an expensive fifth-year option at a non-premium position. (Yeah, he drafted Logan Mankins in the first round in 2005. That was before the fifth-year options for rookie first-round picks became a thing. He also drafted guard Cole Strange in Round 1 in 2022, No. 29 overall.)
Besides, there have been only nine centers drafted in the first round since 2011, and Barton is just the third this decade.
There is an unnamed NFL suit that thinks Joe is full of BS.
Joe loves to read the work of Mike Sando of The Athletic. He always gets NFL types to speak candidly, albeit off the record. But it’s good insight.
In typing about the draft. specifically the Bucs, this mysterious front office dude thought Licht made the smart move because the unnamed suit thinks Barton is all that.
“If Graham Barton is going to be a starting center for 10-12 years, how can you not do it?” an exec said. “Was Frank Ragnow a bad pick for the Lions?”
Belicheat’s theory is that instead of drafting a guy at center or guard and getting stuck with the fifth-year option, trade back into early in the second and still get a quality player at center or guard and save the cash to spend on a player at a premium position.
Well, first thing is first. Let’s see what position Barton will play and let’s cross our fingers he lines up there for the next 10-12 years. Then, yeah, he will be worth it.
May 4th, 2024 at 11:07 am
so happy your not in charge of the team…
May 4th, 2024 at 11:11 am
When our oline knocks people off the ball and our O roles, I think you’ll see the value.
May 4th, 2024 at 11:13 am
Coach Belichick assumes that 1. A trade partner will be available that is willing to trade back from somewhere in the 2nd round, to the 26th pick in the 1st round 2. The O lineman that the team dropping back into the 2nd round covets, is still available and 3. That draft pick will be worthy of a second contract.
I, like everyone else watching the draft, saw how quickly JL turned in the Bucs card. Barton was his guy all along and he pulled the trigger. Nice get JL.
May 4th, 2024 at 11:17 am
You know there is a difference when a team is picking #3 overall and #26 overall – Right?
This whole thing is as silly as all the pretend “hatred” of Robert Hainsey… lol.
May 4th, 2024 at 11:20 am
I don’t like your fifth year option rationale Joe. If you draft him in the second round and he turns out to be a stud, you’re gonna sign him for big bucks that fifth year anyway… Whether it’s a franchise tag or contract..
May 4th, 2024 at 11:28 am
Casuals routinely discount the importance of the trenches, ignoring that the Big Uglies allow the fancy-pants to look good.
Casuals like the shiny objects.
May 4th, 2024 at 11:36 am
Quality, starting IOL can be found outside the 1st and 2nd round on the regular. Historically that has been a pattern teams often follow. Always exceptions and Barton seems like he will be a good one. I’m a JL fan but as I’ve said before it does not take a genius when drafting a IOL early in the draft. Sort of like grabbing the low hanging fruit.
May 4th, 2024 at 11:36 am
Bill Belicheat is a hypocrite…
And, you don’t have to get stuck with a 5th year option….that’s why they call it an OPTION……you can negotiate a longer term contract instead or let the player hit FA.
How did that 5th year option work out for the “premium position” pick JTS?
May 4th, 2024 at 11:40 am
If a position hits 90% of the time in the first round, and we need said position. At 26, it was a great move. Whether he plays guard or center doesn’t really matter. Our line was a major weakness and we’ve added 3 guys that can help tremendously. I like it all day long.
May 4th, 2024 at 11:55 am
Licht said he was was surprised Barton fell that far.
May 4th, 2024 at 12:08 pm
This is my first ever post on any JBF forum but I had to chime in here. Why are we giving Bill Belichick credit for his advice on how to run NFL teams? Sans Tom, he’s fielded one of the worst teams in the league and he’s had 4 years. I don’t put much weight into anything he says about how to run a team at all. Meanwhile, Tom comes to Tampa and what happened? I think Tom made the Pats ALOT more than Bill did. He def gets some credit but a lot less than people give him imo. There is a reason Bill didn’t get hired this off-season!
May 4th, 2024 at 12:20 pm
The only reason Barton was available is because everybody was snatching up quarterbacks. Barton would not have been available in the second round even if we picked first. Very smart player. Natural leader of men. Future Senator, probably. Good pick Mr. Licht.
May 4th, 2024 at 12:26 pm
“…trade back into early in the second and still get a quality player at center or guard”
I keep seeing people parrot this short-sighted notion. Players have a 1st round grade for a reason. When looking at any model of draft value it becomes apparent just how far apart players are from 1st round to 2nd/3rd round. Just flippantly saying you can get the same level of play is just not true in most cases.
Next, statistically 1st round linemen are very successful. Which has been measured and proven ad nauseum.
Finally, this area is why the Bucs faltered the past few years and needed to be addressed for the team to legitimately compete in the post season on offense. Need met value on all measurable criteria.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk…
May 4th, 2024 at 12:27 pm
Very fair point. But for about 10-15 years Belicheat was pretty crafty when it came to roster management.
Thanks for reading — and now commenting! Don’t be a stranger Jake!
May 4th, 2024 at 12:40 pm
“There is an unnamed NFL suit that thinks Joe is full of BS.” I agree with this unnamed suit. The offensive line is critical for any offense to flourish and reach its potential. Having stud athletes at receiver, tight end or running back can be nullified by a crap offensive line. In our case, drafting Barton at 26 was far better value given the sorry state of our interior line. If our offensive line improves, it will not surprise me if White looks like a legitimate Pro Bowl running back. The whole offensive will be better for it.
As a side note, my son’s high school football team lost to Jacksonville Mandarin in the playoffs (a lot of teams did) this past season. From what I could tell, despite the skill players on Mandarin, the difference was their offensive line. They had a college offensive line (FCS level maybe) and we (Winter Park H.S.) just had a good high school line.
May 4th, 2024 at 12:41 pm
When Cowturd was discussing his post draft “Herd Hierarchy” the other day, he had the Packers at #5. He said, “I Love ‘Em! This team drafts as well as anybody… First 4-Picks, I thought the Packers & the Buccaneers had THE BEST first 4-Picks!” Then, right afterwards, he has the RAMS at #4 and says he thinks they had an UNBELIEVABLE first 4-picks, that they got 4-guys who will START Lol. That’s what ALL of his “GM Friends” have told him… Surprised he doesn’t have the Broncos in there again Haha. I hope he’s right about the Bucs, but he’s lost his touch. A long time ago. Most all of his ‘takes’ and just overall vision SUCKS. He is miserably off and dead wrong on almost everything now… He’s completely, ‘out of touch’ and biased now, on EVERYTHING. So Bad. Not even close. And, just very lazy.
May 4th, 2024 at 1:28 pm
Joe, you’re easily one of the worst football minds I’ve ever come across. The fact that your news blog has lasted this long is mind boggling.
May 4th, 2024 at 1:29 pm
Belicheat and Chucky are two people I won’t be taking draft advice from. Please and thank you.
May 4th, 2024 at 1:35 pm
Also, who cares about a 5th year option when you draft a stud?
It’s like creating a problem before it exists and drafting defensively when you could go out and get the stud you want rather than settling for scraps cuz of some boogeyman 5th year option.
May 4th, 2024 at 1:39 pm
Just hope Jason checked him out to make sure he doesn’t love baseball.
May 4th, 2024 at 1:50 pm
@Buclover1988 I think the reason it has lasted this long is people like you that keep coming back. Ironic right?
May 4th, 2024 at 2:05 pm
This is where I disagree with this Joe. Center IS a premium position. It is the most important spot on the line, followed by left tackle.
And correct me if I’m wrong, but did we not see the difference without Jensen? Does losing 6 of 7 games not make my point?
May 4th, 2024 at 2:23 pm
It was second and five in the 4th quarter with 1:40 left to in the game and the Bucs were down by 8 points in their playoff game against Detroit Lions.
The Bucs must score a touchdown on this drive and score a two point conversion to send the game to overtime.
The Bucs ran a version of the Air Raid Mesh play.
#70 stunted inside to the A-Gap from lining up on the LG.
The Bucs were in half slid protection left.
Robert Hainsey’s responsibility is the left side A-Gap in that protection.
Robert Hainsey pass blocking on that play against #70 was as effective as wiping your rear end with one square of toilet paper after having diarrhea.
Robert Hainsey let #70 blow right past him and allowed him to hit Baker Mayfield in 2 seconds.
Mayfield was throwing to a spot and hoping his guy could make a play as a huge defensive lineman hit him, and unfortunately Baker threw an interception that ended the Bucs season.
That’s an impact play and the center on a must win drive cost them the game.
That play doesn’t happen if Ryan Jensen is at center and fully healthy.
That play did happen with Robert Hainsey at center and he was fully healthy.
The Bucs didn’t just have the 32nd worst rushing attack in the league the past two years.
It was historically on of the worst rushing attacks in the NFL for the last 50 years for these two past seasons.
How does an any other player at a different position at 26 improve the horrible LG and Center play of the past two seasons?
That’s the biggest weakness of the Bucs and they addressed it with who many people gave a first round grade and loved in Barton, including Mike Martz, who won a Super Bowl as an offensive coordinator with the Rams and lost a Super Bowl as a head coach of the Rams.
Improve the LG or Center position and the Bucs offense will improve.
Remember, our offensive line blocked for 2 consecutive years of one of the worst rushing performances in the last 50 years of the NFL with Baker/White/CG12/ME13 and TB12/Lenny/CG12/ME13. Those are good to great skill players, yet the Bucs offense struggled these past two years because the LG and Center play was substandard.
May 4th, 2024 at 2:27 pm
Can’t be worse than jts or vh3
May 4th, 2024 at 2:31 pm
At the back end of the first round the bucs drafted one of the best rated lineman which is a position of need. They drafted the right guy and that’s all a fan can ask of their team go bucs!!
May 4th, 2024 at 3:11 pm
The criticism is fair given Powers-Johnson was on the board for 18 more picks, so surely we could have made some type of trade back, but it wouldn’t have been a huge haul to trade back 5-15 slots back from 26.
Barton is substantially more athletic than Powers-Johnson, but there’s definitely more short-term risk moving him back to center rather than drafting Powers-Johnson and having him continue to play center.
We’ll see, but I loved the Barton pick. It helps the run game and the pass game. It’s still a trenches league.
May 4th, 2024 at 3:29 pm
Jake Jake, welcome. I was going to make the same point about Belicheat, if you hadn’t.
I’ll also ask if anyone believes that the teams (Pitt & Miami?) regret drafting the Pouncey twins in the 1st round?
May 4th, 2024 at 3:34 pm
JL has demonstrated he’s better than almost anyone at building an O-line. Losing two great players unexpectedly (Marpet & Jensen) while also in salary cap hell is why it’s had issues recently.
We need to be very strong in the trenches if we’re going to get back to the Super Bowl so I don’t get why anyone would question Licht about picking Barton where he did.
May 4th, 2024 at 3:57 pm
You completely misinterpreted what Belichick was saying about 5th year options.
He was saying if you believe in a player at a premium position, which center absolutely is since the top centers get paid 12-14 million per year, you should aim to draft them in the 1st round because the 5th year options is a discount versus a contract extension.
He was defended the Panthers decision to trade up one spot for Xavier Legette because the 5th year option is so valuable.
But of course you are so obstinate that you just heard what you wanted to hear to support your nonsensical narrative.
You think the Bucs win the Super Bowl in 2020 without the dominant offensive line? Did you not notice the massive dropoff in our offensive potency after Ali Marpet retired and Jensen sustained a career ending injury?
You’d think someone who’s covered the team for as long as you have would have learned exactly how impactful a top flight offensive line is. But of course you played offensive line in highschool and got your tailed whooped and developed a complex.
May 4th, 2024 at 4:10 pm
I just don’t see why O-line isn’t a premium position. with a bad O-line, there’s no running the ball, and there’s no passing beyond 5 yards without getting sacked; You can’t do anything. I’m really excited to see what Barton can do this year.
May 4th, 2024 at 4:11 pm
They announced JPJ as a “Guard” on draft night, & the Raiders have him listed there, as well… I saw the other day, that he will be playing Guard in the NFL. At least, initially. And, not all ‘first round’ picks are even… There’s a BIG difference at #4 versus #26 for instance. The Bucs would NOT have drafted Barton or any other C/G there, at #4. They either, would’ve traded back or drafted Harrison Jr.
May 4th, 2024 at 4:15 pm
Ya know, that’s why all of this pre draft “you don’t draft a non impact position in the first-round,” Etc. nonsense, is just what it is… Nonsense. We weren’t picking or ever saying that we should take him at #2 overall!?
May 4th, 2024 at 4:18 pm
Not resigning a bunch of IOL and bringing in two FAs and two drafted players is proof positive that the Buc Pooh-Bahs knew a serious weakness and addressed it.
The greatest fancy-pants in the NFL ain’t diddly with the QB on his butt and RB stuffed at the LoS.
One of these days, casuals should have a light bulb above their head turned on…:
Football. Games. Are. Won. And. Lost. On. The. Line. Of. Scrimmage.
Fancy pants get the press; linemen get the win.
It’s been that way before Walter Camp.
May 4th, 2024 at 4:43 pm
Tackles are.
May 4th, 2024 at 4:48 pm
I mean Joe HAS a point about the value of drafting a IOL/Center in the first round. He’s not wrong. I think the last time a true Center went top 15 was 1993 and all the analytics say that Center has the least surplus value out of the first round of any position. So yes I get the sentiment. This issue comes in that the Bucs biggest need was G/C and the likely outcome is positive. Since 2007 1st round Centers have a 90% chance of signing a second contract and a 70% chance of making multiple pro bowls. It a slam dunk, but the overall value of the position doesn’t change throughout the draft at Center. Whereas higher value positions like QB, Tackle, Edge & WR have a lot more surplus value being drafted in the 1st.
In the end, the Bucs just didn’t find the value they wanted at other positions and used their first on a player they believe fills their biggest weakness! It’s a win-win.
May 4th, 2024 at 5:31 pm
Only time will tell on ALL the draft picks! Really just a crap shoot!
Go Bucs!
May 4th, 2024 at 5:34 pm
Casuals! Go BUCS!
May 4th, 2024 at 5:46 pm
BelleGladeBuc Says:
May 4th, 2024 at 2:23 pm
It was second and five in the 4th quarter with 1:40 left to in the game and the Bucs were down by 8 points in their playoff game against Detroit Lions.
===========================
That’s a good analysis but you left Otton off the hook. No way was he supposed to be that deep on his route. He almost ran into Godwin crossing from the other side. Baker thought Otton was supposed to be in front of the linebacker. Play was designed so if Godwin is covered throw underneath defenders to tight end, Otton. Baker never pinned it on Otton but it is obvious if you watch the replay what happened.
May 4th, 2024 at 6:30 pm
Joe Says “Tackles are”
Tackles don’t matter at all if defensive tackles, which Belichick detailed are getting paid essentially the same amount as defensive ends now, are getting immediate pressure up the middle.
Did you even watch the playoff game vs Detroit where Hainsey got absolutely brutalized?
May 4th, 2024 at 7:52 pm
Bill Bellicheck drafted Damien Woody with the 17th pick in the 1st round of the NFL Draft and he started as the Patriots center for 2 Super Bowl Championship Teams.
But I guess Bill Bellicheck doesn’t believe in drafting a center in the first round, even though as the Patriots GM he did just that.
SMH
May 4th, 2024 at 8:12 pm
A Bucs Fan Says:
May 4th, 2024 at 4:48 pm
I mean Joe HAS a point about the value of drafting a IOL/Center in the first round. He’s not wrong. I think the last time a true Center went top 15 was 1993
—-
Joes has no point because the claim is not top 15 but anywhere in the first round. Don’t try to help out buffoonery. it will rub off on you.
May 4th, 2024 at 8:22 pm
Buclover1988 Says:
May 4th, 2024 at 1:28 pm
Joe, you’re easily one of the worst football minds I’ve ever come across. The fact that your news blog has lasted this long is mind boggling.
JBF is not a bad bucs news aggregate site ( because lets face it 97% of the articles are rehash of someone eles’s reporting – Ira sometimes breaks news but thats almost it) so if you want to keep moderately informed of the bucs its good for that – but honestly most of us come back for the community (comment section) – and don’t buy the nonsens claim its small part of the viewership. As a Programmer who has worked on Wordress – theres no way to isolate traffic reading an article and not reading comments – they are served on the same page. This is silliness. Joe knows the read-time required for posts and Joe knows the average read time on pages. That data, after years of study, shows comments are not a significant factor in any way shape or form. –Joe
May 4th, 2024 at 9:18 pm
I’m sorry but this line of thinking about the 5th year option is one of the dumbest thing ever.
1. Nothing forces a team to pick it up.
2. If you’re picking it up, that means you want him long term. High quality starting offensive lineman who are in the prime of their careers also happen to be quite expensive in free agency (if you can even find one).
BTW – Do you think the Colts regret spending a 1st on Quinton Nelson?
May 4th, 2024 at 9:19 pm
Joe will help you out then.
Here’s an independent website that monitors web traffic. (Joe has the server-based data, which would blow the minds of most readers).
Do you really believe one percent of that figure actually comment on JoeBucsFan.com? If that were true there would be hundreds, maybe thousands, of comments for each story.
May 4th, 2024 at 9:23 pm
The Colts have yet to win a division since they drafted Quinton Nelson in 2018. Strange.
May 4th, 2024 at 9:43 pm
There’s another lie about Joe, but please do continue.
If Joe was in a bad mood you’d be launched already for lying about Joe. Just from tonight’s comments.
May 4th, 2024 at 9:57 pm
It is a fifth year “option.”
May 4th, 2024 at 10:07 pm
Joe Says “The Colts have yet to win a division since they drafted Quinton Nelson in 2018. Strange.”
Yeah, that couldn’t possibly have anything to do with the fact that their superstar QB retired in 2019 and having a revolving door at the position ever since.
It’s actually kind of sad how little you seem to understand about the game that you cover for a living.
May 4th, 2024 at 10:10 pm
Do you think the Lions regret drafting Frank Ragnow?
May 4th, 2024 at 10:11 pm
Joe Says:
Do you really believe one percent of that figure actually comment on JoeBucsFan.com? If that were true there would be hundreds, maybe thousands, of comments for each story.
—
Sigh…. you miss the point entirely Joe. Its not people MAKING comments. its people coming to READcomments. I and MANY others read comments in posts that we never post in. I and others come to read what others say. Theres nothing wrong with community and admitting its a good part of what makes sites work. Just don’t put down the community members that make it work for you. If you thought it was all just your writing people come back for – sorry – wrong.
Joe has long studied the read time required for posts and has measured that against projected comment read time and the actual time people spend on a given page with many variables mixed in, including active view data and more. Joe is very comfortable saying a miniscule percentage of readers care about the comments. Anecdotally, the vast majority of people Joe is close to personally never read the comments. You’ve probably noticed many big-company sites eliminated comments sections. –Joe
May 4th, 2024 at 10:22 pm
Oh, Joe hears about the comments all the time from many who never comment. “This Joe” never suggested folks don’t read the comments. But the vast majority of readers never comment — on this site.
May 4th, 2024 at 11:01 pm
Graham Barton was the best player available who plays a position that WILL impact every single offensive play (run and pass). How is it that you can’t see the importance of a good/great Center. Without one your running game will get blown up and in the passing game your quarterback will be running for his life. That is exactly what happened all of last year. A wide receiver is considered impactful if he touches the ball 5 times per game. A defensive player is impactful if he makes a few tackles per game. However, a good offensive lineman will impact 50 plays a game.
May 4th, 2024 at 11:23 pm
Speaking purely for myself…I come here several times per day just to skim over the articles. At those times, I usually do not read the comments.
I do read some when my work day is over…but I put in 10-14 hours almost daily, except Fridays.
I’m retired..and my hobby turned into a revenue stream. But I swear I work more now than ever before. So I usually don’t have time to do more than pick a couple articles each time I visit.
In my experience, when Joe does take the time to write original content, it is really good.
May 4th, 2024 at 11:24 pm
When did Joe suggest you don’t need good players there? Joe will turn this around. Are you suggesting only a first round pick at guard and center can play efficiently there? Seem to recall the Bucs won a Super Bowl and damn near got back to a second with a second, third and sixth-round picks on the interior line. So your premise that the Bucs just HAVE to have a first round guard and/or center is flat out wrong right there.
And you don’t seem to understand the fifth-year option. Why not? You hear of a salary cap? No? Are you suggesting three guys who cannot score (unless they recover a fumble) are more valuable than players at positions that can score (sometimes multiple) touchdowns? You are aware teams win games by scoring more than the opponent, right?
Never once did Joe suggest the Bucs need to bring back Garrett Gilkey or Oniel Cousins to play center and guard. Just that they are not premium positions. Why is that so difficult to grasp?
May 4th, 2024 at 11:38 pm
Your “premium position” players won’t ever touch the ball or be able to score touchdowns if your quarterback is laying on his back 2 seconds into every play. Why do you think Jason said he likes players in the trenches the most. Because they effect the success of every play (run or pass). Also, the first round success hit rate is higher for these players than your so called “premium players”.
May 4th, 2024 at 11:52 pm
[ENOUGH! Joe doesn’t have to prove a damn thing to you. Joe’s put up with your BS from Day 1 you starting commenting. F’ing Joe spends tens of thousands of dollars a year going to One Buc, road games, road events, f’ing Germany to write stories. The combines. The Super Bowls. The owners meetings. Any other outlet send a photographer on the road? No. Joe spends as much or more than any outlet covering the damn Bucs. And you have the gall to suggest Joe hardly does any of his own work. That proves you don’t even read this site. When you do comment, you’re often picking fights with people. — Joe]
May 5th, 2024 at 12:05 am
2002 Tampa Bay Bucs Super Bowl Champs Skill aka “Premium Position” Roster Draft Pick Position:
QB-Brad Johnson-9th Round Pick
RB-Michael Pittman-4th Round Pick
FB-Mike Alstott-2nd Round Pick
WR1-Keyshawn Johnson-1st Round Pick
WR2-Keenan McCardell-12th Round Pick
WR3-Joe Jurevicius-2nd Round Pick
TE1-Ken Dilger-2nd Round Pick
Only one first round player for the supposed most important positions on a Super Bowl Champion Team.
Seems to me you can win Super Bowls without a bunch of premium offensive position players drafted in the first round.
Finally, go ask the Cincinnati Bengals if the interior offensive line isn’t important as Aaron Donald single handily dominated them on their last drive to try to win the game and ended the Bengals Super Bowl dreams.
Seems to me 1st Round premium position players and first round draft picks Joe Burrows, Jamar Chase along with 2nd Round Draft Picks Tee Higgins, Joe Mixon and Tyler Boyd all struggled to score the game winning score.
Seems like those skill position players just couldn’t block Aaron Donald and stop him from dominating the interior line of scrimmage on that must score drive.
Quentin Nelson would have helped Joe Burrows on that drive way more than Jamar Chase did.
SMH
May 5th, 2024 at 2:49 am
Joe says “Are you suggesting only a first round pick at guard and center can play efficiently there?”
No one is saying that. However, you aren’t suggesting, you’re flat out declaring that it’s never worth it to spend a first round pick on an interior lineman, which is patently false. It’s been proven many times over precisely how important interior offensive line man are in this league.
If you need a Guard/Center, and a great one falls to you late in the first round, you take him, especially if he’s the best player available. Now if Jared Verse or Latu or heck even Chop Robinson had been there, you’d have every right to complain. But as it currently stands, you don’t have a leg to stand on.
Also, it is you who doesn’t seem to understand the concept of a 5th year option. The key word being OPTION. And in the case that you desperately want to retain a great young player at any position, a 5th year option is always going to be cheaper than a contract extension.
May 5th, 2024 at 7:25 am
Joe, let’s see what position he plays first. Joe, he’s playing center, period, enough already, end of story. Our line has been missing Jensen for two years. Barton will be the new man in the middle. The head of the spear.
May 5th, 2024 at 8:41 am
Hahahhahahhaa did Tonya just get the boot?! In the eternal words of Tommy Boy: ive seen a lot of things in my life, but That. Was. Awesome!!
May 5th, 2024 at 8:53 am
I’ve been around this sport forever.
Full disclosure, I’m biased towards OLINE as a former college OLINE player and coach.
I loved the drafting of Barton because it fixes the Bucs biggest problem on offense, but I would have been perfectly happy trading up to get either Turner or Verse to rush the passer who were the best pass rushing prospects with no red flags. I would have also been happy with selecting Arnold or Wiggins at CB who were the best DB’s prospects to defend against the pass in a passing league.
The Bucs success under JL’s tenure has caused me to trust his evaluation.
Graham Barton will impact the Bucs offense in a much greater positive capacity than any other offensive position.
The Bucs have a good QB, WR corp and RB (White had 1,500 All purpose yards last year) for this season.
The Bucs had a substandard LG and Center that had to be addressed in this draft for the upcoming season.
Drafting a LG or Center was the number 1 priority for improving the Bucs offense.
The 3 highest graded interior offensive lineman in Barton, JPJ, and Frazier were all drafted before the Bucs 57th 2nd round pick.
The game has changed in some respects.
I’m going to focus on offense.
RB’s used to be premium picks, but now they are not.
Some things that haven’t changed are that QB’s are the #1 premium position on the team and the game is always won or lost in the trenches.
With the super popularity of 7 v 7/flag football at the youth/prep level the supply chain of premium position players of WR’s is massively increasing.
WR’s are being trained at such a high level in youth/prep football, that there is starting to be an over abundance of good college players at those positions.
7 v 7/Flag Football is year round and is obviously much safer than tackle.
7 v 7/Flag Football’s popularity has also helped RB’s become better receiver’s and LB’s/DB’s better in coverage.
Just take a look at this years All Pro’s at WR’s.
1st Team All Pro WR’s
Tyreek Hill-5th Round
Amon St. Brown-4th Round
Cee Dee Lamb-1st Round
2nd Team All Pro WR’s
AJ Brown-2nd Round
Puka Nacua-5th Round
Brandon Aiyuk-1st Round
Mike Evans-1st Round
The All Pro WR’s are evidence that you can find elite WR’s in much greater abundance now in more rounds of the draft than elite offensive linemen.
That’s the 7 v 7/Flag Football popularity effect on the sport of football.
The one position that is completely irrelevant and doesn’t have any value in 7 v 7/Flag Football is the trenches.
OLINE has no value in 7 v 7 world.
Youth tackle football has been on the decline for numerous years now, and that means OLINE and DLINE training has declined.
The supply chain of offensive linemen who Brandon Trench and other offensive line experts grade as 1st round or even 2nd round has decreased because of this.
Scoring in the NFL has declined despite the rules heavily favoring the offense over the defense because offensive line play has declined, and that is because youth tackle football participation has declined.
The evolution of the game at the youth/prep level is effecting the game at all levels, including the professional level.
Teams must adapt.
May 5th, 2024 at 9:13 am
@BelleGladeBuc – another former O-lineman, and current O-line coach… I agree 1000%
May 5th, 2024 at 9:19 am
I would suggest the Joes go back to the years of 0 and 26 to get a really absurd picture of what piss poor Offensive line looks like. If you can find any tape of them other than on football follies.
If it had not been my beloved Bucs it might have been funny to me too. Premium postitions? What kind of BS is that (Lets just invent a phrase) that covers my ass says Bill. We have found premium football players all over the draft Joe. We have also had more than our fair share of first round blunders. Josh Freeman (premium) Adrian Clayborn (premium?) Bo Jackson (premium)
Heck I even heard rumors that we did not draft a first round player because we did not want to pay first round money to them. Hugh Culverhouse?
Question for the Joes what hurts more drafting a bust or having to pay for an extra year on that non premium legends first contract?
Go Bucs!
May 5th, 2024 at 12:13 pm
BelleGladeBuc in Says:
May 5th, 2024 at 8:53 am
“The game has changed in some respects.
I’m going to focus on offense.”
Great observations about an overabundance of WR talent due to 7on7 and other non-tackle football options for youth which also lead to a decline in OL play/training. The trend of spread/wildcat college offenses has been a major contributor as well. There is a distinct lack of NFL ready offensive linemen.
May 6th, 2024 at 1:58 am
Good thing nobody listens to “this Joe”
May 6th, 2024 at 10:59 am
Let’s face it, Belicheks past histroy on drafting OL does not equate to ANY other NFL teams front office really. He had Tom Brady at QB who made his reads in a flash for 20 years. We have Baker.
May 6th, 2024 at 4:45 pm
BelleGlade – spot the eff on. Well written.