Graham Barton Needs To Take A Step Forward vs Falcons

It’s week one of the NFL season and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are ready to take the field. After weeks of training camp and preseason, the rubber finally meets the road with games that count this Sunday. All the offseason narratives and hype can finally come to an end.

One narrative that has been surprisingly quiet this offseason is the development of last year’s first round pick. Graham Barton was taken with the 26th pick overall in the 2024 NFL draft. The left tackle out of Duke was projected as a developmental center with extremely high upside.

In his first season playing the position since his freshman year of college, Barton looked good. He stepped right in as a rookie as was a day one starter who played in 17 games including the playoffs. It’s hard to not call it a very successful year for him. 

With that said, there is still plenty of meat left on the bone for his game. Barton was not drafted to be an upgrade or above average center, he was drafted to be a foundational piece on the offensive line. To meet his all pro caliber ceiling then it will require a step forward in his development.

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We haven’t heard any kind of talk during training camp that indicates that this jump has happened. Granted Barton is going head to head with Vita Vea on a regular basis and it’s not fair to expect anyone to look great in that situation. However, not all of his reps come against Vea and when we saw him in the preseason he didn’t look overly impressive either.

This isn’t a cause for alarm. It takes time and experience to master a new position on the offensive line. Cody Mauch, who made a similar transition from college left tackle to right guard, didn’t really start to put it all together until the back end of his second season. Perhaps we see a similar trajectory for Barton.

Still, it would be nice to see a first round pick with elite athletic ability impose his will on the offensive line. If not against Vea, then against a lower level defensive tackle. Barton will have that opportunity this Sunday.

The Buccaneers play the Atlanta Falcons to start their season. And while this is potentially a playoff team, the dirty birds do have questions along their defensive line. Particularly at defensive tackle. 

Up front the Falcons will march out a cast of role players and draft picks that haven’t really worked out yet. If you can name one of these players without looking it up, then congratulations because I’d be surprised if even most Falcons fans could. The likes of David Onyemata, Brandon Dorlus, Ruke Orhorhoro and Zach Harrison aren’t exactly household names.

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In fact, they’re mostly small names; emphasis on the small. All three of Dorlus, Orhorhoro and Harrison are listed at sub 300 lbs. They were viewed as developmental pass rushers coming out of the draft and none of them have developed into much at this point. This leaves them as talented athletes who don’t really have a skill to hang their hat on at the NFL level. 

This is exactly the type of player that you would expect Barton to push around. He’ll have 20+ pounds on all three of these tackles and has all the athletic ability he needs to stop them in their tracks as pass rushers. It is an incredibly favorable matchup which he needs to take advantage of. 

Even Onyemata, who is a nine year veteran in the league, is someone you’d expect a top tier center to handle pretty easily. And while I’d certainly say he’s the Falcons best interior defensive lineman, he’s also someone I’d refer to as a role player and not a star.

Barton is supposed to be a star. And while he doesn’t have a cut off date of this Sunday to become that type of player, it would be nice to see him take that first step in this game. Against this type of competition he should have flashes that look dominant at the very least.

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I’m a big believer in Barton. I think he can become that Pro Bowl and All Pro type of center in the NFC. However, he’s not there yet and Sunday should be the first step in getting him there.