Rookie Graham Barton Resembling A Third-Year Starter
November 25th, 2024
So 11 games into Graham Barton’s rookie career — he’s played in 10 — the Bucs’ first-round draft pick is turning heads at One Buc Palace.
Rookie learning curve? Head coach Todd Bowles said today that Barton has the football mind and execution of a veteran.
“Barton’s come in and he’s playing like a two- or three-year guy right now as far as making calls and everything else,” Bowles said.
Is Barton’s growing game now pushing him ahead of Steelers’ starter Zach Frazier on the list of top rookie centers? Joe hopes that’s where Barton ends up. It would be a sweet reminder to those throwing daggers at Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht’s drafting of Barton at No. 26 overall; Frazier was the No. 51 overall pick.
Bowles went on to rave about his young offensive line. And he should. It’s a beastly line and every starter is 26 years old or younger.
November 25th, 2024 at 1:10 pm
The key to winning in this league is through the trenches and yeah JL has missed on some DL but at least he has tried building this team the right way. We can have a good offence for the next 5 years because he has built a top 5 OL. It’s currently the biggest strength of this team and the reason why teams like the Panthers don’t really scare me… Baker is going to have time back there, as long as Bucs take care of the ball, they will win these upcoming games.
As far as DL, we all gripe about JTS and Hall, rightfully so, but very late picks and options were limited. Vea, Kancey, Diaby and Braswell look to be decent to great picks. Now that the OL and RB positions are basically solidified, Licht can keep his draft attention on the D and take skill position flyers. This season may not go as planned and disappoint many of us but still exciting times to be a Bucs fan!
November 25th, 2024 at 1:23 pm
Barton might be there mentally, and he has the upside. However, his snap-to-snap consistency is akin to Cody Mauch his rookie season.
November 25th, 2024 at 1:31 pm
Bucs amazingly are averaging 4.9 yards a carry steelers 3.9. I’ll take Barton.
November 25th, 2024 at 1:38 pm
It was a good pick. Bucs need an excellent center, he was the best on the board. Done!
November 25th, 2024 at 1:44 pm
Barton has been playing well….not great but pretty good. He may grow into a great player but he’s got plenty of work left to do.
I’ve noticed quite a few whiffs and missed assignments. The up the gut play for a loss against San Fran for instance that so many are blasting Todd and Rachaad for was caused by Barton missing his assignment.
November 25th, 2024 at 1:46 pm
Absolutely fantastic pick
November 25th, 2024 at 1:53 pm
Barton is smart. His issues are physical. I think he’ll take care of that this off season.
Now all we need is one more guard.
Bredesen plays hard and is smart. Hes ok. I think thats his ceiling.
But we are a good line now. Thats great. AND we can run the ball. Loving that!
Watching the Bucs run the ball when they need to makes me love watching this team.
That and Baker Mayfield is my favorite QB in the NFL!
November 25th, 2024 at 2:04 pm
The defensive talent is there, too. When we replace Barnum and Bailey with a real defensive coordinator, that will become clear.
November 25th, 2024 at 2:09 pm
I supported drafting a center at #1 since the top tier edge guys were gone. Barton has exceeded my expectations, generally playing clean ball and not giving up many bad plays. He’s still a rookie and makes mistakes, but he’s doing well.
November 25th, 2024 at 2:41 pm
While I’m not super fond of Light one thing I will always respect is his ability to draft oline talent. His picks that I question are always Defense related and idk if that’s a pure knock on him or him and Bowels. JTS, Hall, are the most glaring but there are many others. We still imo need a #1 DB #1 Edge, and #1 TE. I would like to see Payne get more action. Otton drops way too many passes.
November 25th, 2024 at 2:46 pm
Sure seems like he’s on the right track. Always liked the player just not sure he would make the transition so quickly. His game is on the right track to become on of the better ones in the league. Having Coen running the offense has likely helped him as well.
November 25th, 2024 at 3:01 pm
Given he hasn’t played a tone of snaps at center, I think his ceiling is higher than
Frazier. However, I wanted a CB early. Center felt like a luxury pick. Hainsy wasn’t the issue it was scheme and White.
But he’s going to be a very good player and the team is well set at o line for a long time.
November 25th, 2024 at 3:17 pm
Barton has missed a couple key blocks like vs SF, as was mentioned (although even if Barton holds that block well, we really think White was getting yards up the middle? I don’t).
He isn’t lacking physically. I don’t know where that is coming from. I’ve seen Barton driving guys to their backs almost every game. Plus he’s real quick getting to the 2nd level. I wish I could find the clip from a couple weeks ago where it looked like he was coming back to block someone on a screen pass and realized he needed to get up field and stay in front of the ball carrier. Graham stopped on a dime and was full speed the other way almost instantly. It was impressive.
C was the right pick considering the edge talent and the CB talent were off the board already. Frazier been a C for prolly the last 5 years. Barton is already or will be by mid next season the best C drafted, possibly the best OL drafted based on his versatility. Highly confident he could be moved anywhere on the line and play at a near pro bowl level.
November 25th, 2024 at 4:19 pm
Can you really ever go wrong investing in your Oline, might be the safest surest picks, especially the early draft picks.
November 25th, 2024 at 4:32 pm
Barton was a super pick. This O Line has the makings of a long term solution. Go Bucs!!
November 25th, 2024 at 4:44 pm
Is this line better than the SB winning line of 2020? It looks like Bredeson was a steal!
November 26th, 2024 at 11:49 am
I called for Frazier AND Barton.
And we could have done it.
November 26th, 2024 at 12:44 pm
Interesting because Frazier, Bortolinni, Bebee, and another are all graded better than him. He’s in last. It hasn’t seemed like it watching the games but the analytics guys think otherwise.