Since Maurkice Pouncey retired following the 2020 season, the Pittsburgh Steelers have struggled to find a leader at the center position and a true leader offensively. Pittsburgh could find that leader in the 2024 NFL Draft, particularly in Duke offensive lineman Graham Barton.
Barton, who was an official pre-draft visitor to the Steelers Tuesday ahead of the NFL Draft, brings plenty of leadership and experience to the table as a draft prospect. Tuesday’s official visit added another layer of intrigue and speculation to a possible fit in Pittsburgh, especially with the Steelers needing a center following the release of Mason Cole in late February.
For Duke play-by-play announcer David Schumate, who appeared on the 93.7 The Fan PM Show with Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller, Graham Barton was a great leader for the Blue Devils for four years and brings some tough love to the role as a leader, especially for younger teammates in recent years.
“The thing that impressed me the most about him was, as he became an older guy and one of the leaders seeing the freshmen come over to him and get advice in camp and giving certain suggestions when he’d go out there. There was a little bit of like, he mentored them, he’d give them technique, but there was also the tough love element that would come of, ‘you gotta learn some things on your own,'” Schumate said of Barton’s leadership style, according to audio via 93.7 The Fan. “You need to go out there, you just need to fight a little bit. It’s not always about picking apart technique. And that was kind of cool to watch him practice the way he was able to bring the younger guys along, not always by giving the answer. Have them go and do the work on their own a little bit.
“That, to me, was always kind of fun; the way to see he worked with younger guys.”
Though he’ll come out of the collegiate ranks and be a rookie in the NFL, he’d be joining a relatively young Steelers’ offensive, which was one of the youngest offenses in football last season. Despite the addition of quarterback Russell Wilson this offseason, it seemingly got younger after trading away Diontae Johnson and Kenny Pickett, releasing Cole, Allen Robinson II, and Mitch Trubisky, and only adding the likes of Van Jefferson, Quez Watkins, and MyCole Pruitt.
That leadership on offense has been missing since Pouncey retired, and then Ben Roethlisberger walked away a year later.
The hope was that running back Najee Harris and quarterback Kenny Pickett would elevate into leadership roles, but there was some hit-and-miss stuff there. Harris was a captain in 2022 and then not one last season, and Pickett earned a captaincy last season before then having a falling out and being traded.
That lack of leadership on the offensive side of the football has been talked about quite a bit with the Steelers. Though veteran pieces are in place like Wilson and guards Isaac Seumalo and James Daniels, the Steelers still need some long-term leaders to step up. Barton could potentially be that guy, especially one who will lend a helping hand when needed, but will also focus on tough love with guys simply needing to figure it out.
We’ll see if the interest in Graham Barton and the speculation about him as a potential fit in Pittsburgh pays off with the Steelers selecting the Duke standout in the first round next week in Detroit. Right now, the tea leaves seem rather strong that he’ll be the guy. But stranger things have happened.
