With the 2024 NFL Draft nearly here, we’ve got a new series for you. Everyone wants to know the name the Pittsburgh Steelers will call at No. 20 on draft night. So we are going to have articles that make the case for potential players the Steelers could have on the card they will turn in on Thursday night.
Alex Kozora kicked the series off by making the case for Georgia OT Amarius Mims.
Now I’ll be making the case for Duke OL Graham Barton for the Steelers’ first-round pick.
WHY GRAHAM BARTON MAKES SENSE
The Steelers could conceivably roll out Dan Moore Jr. at left tackle and keep last year’s first-round pick Broderick Jones at right tackle for another season. While that would anger the fan base, it’s a bigger stretch to imagine the Steelers rolling out Nate Herbig at center for Week 1. While Herbig was the backup center last season, he has only taken 49 career regular-season snaps at the position. The Steelers were quite happy to cut Mason Cole loose early this offseason, so why would they turn to his less-experienced backup?
Graham Barton does have experience starting at center during his rookie season at Duke. He also brings positional flexibility with three years of starting experience at left tackle. The other major calling card? Elite athleticism at the center position. He boasted a perfect 10.0 Relative Athletic Score, tied for the best of any center since 1987. When Clayton Eckert examined the pre-draft interest and athletic scores of all interior offensive linemen in the draft, Barton had the second-highest interest score behind only Jackson Powers-Johnson of Oregon.
While general manager Omar Khan and head coach Mike Tomlin did not attend Duke’s Pro Day, offensive coordinator Arthur Smith did. During positional drills, Barton worked mostly at center due to the expectation that most teams view him as one at the next level. The Steelers also met with Barton at the NFL Scouting Combine after he was unable to participate in the Senior Bowl.
Then to wrap it all up, the Steelers hosted Barton for one of their 30 pre-draft visits. During the Steelers’ pre-draft press conference on Monday, both Khan and Tomlin stressed the importance of these pre-draft visits. That’s a big sign of their genuine interest in Barton, and he’s not going to be available for them unless they take him 20th overall.
The question on everyone’s minds is can Barton adapt to playing center after three years of left tackle? Barton addressed that question as well as how he could fit in Smith’s outside-zone run scheme at the Combine.
“Yeah, absolutely. I think it’s like riding a bike,” Barton said in Indianapolis. “It’s a learned skill, and once you have that skill, it’s something you carry on. Definitely gonna continue to work on that and be ready to go at any position… I’m an athletic guy. I’m fast laterally and I’m fast vertically, so I think that helps me in that outside zone scheme ability to reach defenders, get to play-side shoulders and cut guys off. And so I think that’s something I excel at.”
Barton brings a wealth of experience, physical play, and elite athleticism. He is technically sound in pass protection and has the strength to drive defenders in the run game. It’s easy to understand why he’s viewed as one of the top center prospects in the draft. He did show some struggles with inside moves at left tackle as well as struggles with long-limbed players, but those can certainly be mitigated by playing at center.
If the Steelers were to take a center at 20, that would decrease their chances of getting an impact offensive tackle in the draft. However, the prospect of going into the 2024 season without addressing the center position is a poor one. There are other centers in the draft, but the depth will be sorely tested even by the Steelers’ second-round pick. If Barton hits, the Steelers will have found their next franchise center.
