Inside The Bucs’ Drafting Of Graham Barton

Fox Sports commentator and admitted Cowboys fan Skip Bayless was beside himself after Dallas missed out on a chance to draft Barton in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft on Thursday night.

That’s a true story and I got confirmation about that on Friday morning. Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield did send that text on Thursday night and was thrilled with Tampa Bay being able to select Barton at No. 26. Mayfield also sent Licht a congratulatory text.

Inside Scoop On The Bucs Drafting OL Graham Barton

After talking with multiple Bucs sources, here is some inside scoop on the selection of Duke offensive lineman Graham Barton and why he was picked ahead of Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson and other draft prospects left on the board when Tampa Bay made its pick at No. 26.

Why Graham Barton Over Jackson Powers-Johnson?

It was fascinating to see which interior offensive lineman the Bucs ultimately chose, as both Duke’s Graham Barton and Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson were available when the team was on the clock with the 26th overall pick. Both linemen were among Pewter Report’s Bucs Best Bets, and the selection of Barton scores one for PR in the draft accuracy column to begin the 2024 NFL Draft.

So why was Barton the pick instead of Powers-Johnson? For several reasons, as I found out late Thursday night.

Bucs general manager Jason Licht stayed true to his formula of selecting athletic left tackles and converting them to interior offensive linemen at the NFL level. It’s a practice he started in the second round back in 2015 with Ali Marpet, a left tackle at Hobart College who became a Pro Bowl guard for the Bucs and helped the team win Super Bowl LV.

Licht also successfully followed that formula with the drafting of Humboldt State left tackle Alex Cappa in the third round in 2018, and again with North Dakota State left tackle Cody Mauch in the second round last year. Both Cappa and Mauch were moved to right guard in Tampa Bay.

Barton is a superior athlete to Powers-Johnson, and that did play a role in the Bucs’ selection process. He earned a 9.99 RAS (Relative Athletic Score) score from Kent Lee Platte as a guard prospect thanks to a tremendous a 7.31 time in the 3-cone drill, which shows off Barton’s elite agility.

But when viewed as a center, Barton wound up with the highest RAS score of any center prospect – a perfect 10 in Platte’s metric.

ESPN’s Next Gen Stats had Barton as the highest-rated interior offensive line prospect in this year’s draft class, which makes sense as he was ultimately the first interior offensive lineman drafted in 2024.

In my SR’s Fab 5 column on April 8 I advocated for the Bucs to trade up to either draft Powers-Johnson, who I dubbed “Ryan Jensen 2.0,” or Barton, who I dubbed “Ali Marpet 2.0.”

The Bucs saw Barton more as Marpet 2.0 than they did Powers-Johnson as Jensen 2.0 in the end, and that’s fine with me.

“He reminded me a little bit – and a lot of us – of Ali [Marpet],” Licht said. “He had some Ryan Jensen in him, which is a very good thing, too, and the personality of Tristan Wirfs. So, he had some pretty good lab work there.”

The Bucs love Barton’s tenacity, toughness and the way he finishes his blocks at the line of scrimmage or at the second level. His technique and playing style are very reminiscent of Marpet.

Tampa Bay also liked Barton’s positional flexibility more than Powers-Johnson’s, as the Duke lineman could have a very high ceiling as either a guard or a center prospect. Powers-Johnson is viewed more as a center exclusively, and that, combined with some potential medical questions, caused him to slide out of the first round altogether.

It’s notable that the Cowboys, who have a big need at center, passed on Powers-Johnson after trading down to No. 29 and selecting Oklahoma offensive tackle Tyler Guyton instead.

Graham Barton Has Tremendously High Character

Not only was Ali Marpet a fantastic guard for the Bucs from 2015-21 – with one year as a center in 2017 – but he was also an elite locker room guy in Tampa Bay. Marpet quickly established himself as a leader and spent his last couple of seasons with the Bucs as a team captain.

The Bucs also view Graham Barton as a very high-character individual with great leadership qualities. As general manager Jason Licht is fond of saying, the Bucs doesn’t just draft a player – they draft a person. And Barton is as flawless as they come when it comes to character grades – even more so than Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson, who may not have been as good of a fit in Tampa Bay’s locker room as Barton will be.

The Bucs did not have Barton in for a Top 30 visit, but did have a formal meeting with him at the NFL Scouting Combine as well as a pre-draft Zoom call.

Duke put out this video tribute to Barton from his parents after he was drafted by Tampa Bay on Thursday night.

This is a pick that – like the previous selections of high-character guys like Mike Evans and Tristan Wirfs – the Bucs absolutely do not have to worry about getting into any off-field trouble in any point during his professional career in Tampa Bay. That’s always a huge plus when investing a first-round pick in a guy.

Will Graham Barton Play Center Or Guard In Tampa Bay?

The Bucs announced Graham Barton as a center after making the selection on Thursday night, but that’s not necessarily set in stone. Center is a more significant position than guard in terms of positional importance because each football play starts there with the center snapping the ball. So it’s only natural that the Bucs consider Barton playing center – where he started five games as a freshman – first with the team wanting an upgrade over Robert Hainsey.

At 6-foot-4, 306 pounds, Hainsey is a smaller center than Ryan Jensen was at 6-foot-4, 319 pounds. Barton checks in a 6-foot-5, 313 pounds with the frame to grow to 320 pounds, and is much stronger in the weight room than Hainsey is.

But there is a chance that the Bucs could draft another interior offensive lineman who can play center, such as Wisconsin’s Tanor Bortolini or Kansas’ Dominick Puni. That would give Tampa Bay some flexibility to try Barton at left guard instead of center. The Bucs feel he could excel at either position and could let him compete at both spots in the offseason and perhaps into training camp.

Playing center does require a high degree of intelligence, and Barton has plenty of that coming from an institution like Duke.

Who Would’ve Been The Bucs’ Pick If Graham Barton Was Off The Board?

If Dallas or another team had drafted Duke’s Graham Barton ahead of Tampa Bay, who would the Bucs have selected? It would not have been Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson as it turns out.

It is believed that the Bucs had Illinois defensive tackle Johnny Newton as the next highest-rated player on their draft board. As I discussed in my SR’s Latest Bucs Draft Scoop column on Thursday morning, the Bucs would love to add another talented defensive tackle this year – likely with a premium pick. Notice how Newton was the featured picture on that column, as well as Newton being Josh Queipo’s pick for the Bucs in his draft day first-round mock.

Pewter Report didn’t have Newton, a St. Petersburg native, as a Bucs Best Bet at defensive tackle, partly because we did not think he would be there at No. 26. With six quarterbacks going in the first dozen picks and a record 14 offensive players selected to start off the 2024 NFL Draft, Newton – along with plenty of other defensive players – have slid down the draft board in the first round.

Despite carrying a first-round grade, Newton falls to the second round, but likely won’t be in play for Tampa Bay, which has the No. 57 overall pick.

If the Bucs are going to target a defensive tackle in the second round, Newton, Florida State’s Braden Fiske, Clemson’s Ruke Orhorhoro and Michigan’s Kris Jenkins are all prime candidates. Orhorhoro is a Pewter Report Day 2 Bucs Best Bet at defensive tackle.