“Serviceable” Graham Barton
June 30th, 2026
After watching two seasons of Graham Barton film, one offensive line guru thinks the Bucs’ 2024 first-round draft pick is a very special football player but a not-so-special center.
Joe is referring to renowned Tampa Bay analyst Ian Beckles, the former Bucs and Eagles guard (1990-1998).
Beckles is a huge fan of Barton — called him “amazing” — and gushed yesterday about Barton’s ability and willingness to start at left tackle last season for three games. Beckles explained to The Jay Recher Podcast how rare Barton’s feat was, and Beckles detailed how top offensive linemen he’s been around simply could not play other positions on the line — or play them anywhere near the level Barton displayed.
But what about center? Beckles isn’t overly impressed.
“Barton is serviceable; I’m not going to sit here and tell you he’s good [at center],” Beckles said.
“But serviceable, you can win a Super Bowl with serviceable. We won a Super Bowl with Kenyatta Walker at tackle. You could win with serviceable, because the other four guys are pretty damn good. … I woudn’t worry about Barton. I think we’re ok as long as everybody else stays healthy. I have the utmost for him as a player.”
Do the Bucs agree with Beckles’ assessment of Barton? That’s highly doubtful.
While a lot of fans think Barton had an off year in 2025, he commands a lot of respect at One Buc Palace, and not just because he’s the only offensive lineman to start every game last season. How it affected Barton playing with a bunch of backups at guard is unclear.
If Barton proves to be only “serviceable” at center, that would be a loss on the NFL Draft scoreboard from the Bucs front office. If you draft a center in Round 1, a position usually taken later in the draft, it’s only win if the guy proves to be consistently good player.
June 30th, 2026 at 9:29 am
I’m not as down on Barton as a lot of other ppl are. If a healthy Ryan Jensen were the starting center last year, folks would probably be saying that he took a step back because he couldn’t shine when being surrounded by camp meat guards. Barton played out of position for 3 games and then played next to a revolving door of stooges. How in the hell can you evaluate him based on that?!?
I have tons of confidence that he is going to become a Pro Bowl center for us very soon.
June 30th, 2026 at 9:33 am
Kelce didn’t become great until his fifth year (my annoying Eagles fan buddy is always telling me)
June 30th, 2026 at 9:45 am
i agree with beck….barton is serviceable at C…i think you would be dominate at G…Bredenson should be our starting C….
With that said, Barton will continue to get better
GO BUCS!!!!
June 30th, 2026 at 10:04 am
Everyone said he looked great as a rookie and the O-Line was healthy.
Everyone said he looked just OK last year when the O-Line wasn’t healthy.
Let’s see what happens this year. One season each with different conditions is too small a sample size to make future decisions on.
The only thing we know for sure is the O-Line as a whole performed better the last 2 years when it was healthy. That’s just stating the obvious.
June 30th, 2026 at 10:31 am
I wonder how much Grizzard played in Barton down year. Grizzard is an easy scapegoat for all offensive problems. Barton is not a typical center, his strength is his feet and movement. Runs have to be designed to get him out of the move, either pulling or getting to 2nd level. The entire running game took a step back and it’s not difficult to understand a previous 3rd down coordinator could struggle with total playcalling and run scheming.
June 30th, 2026 at 10:49 am
Bredeson is slower but better at center. He has a huge butt Ànd big legs which provides him a great anchor at center.
The film was clear.
Brederson even snaps better.
Brederson needs to switch to center and Barton needs to play LG.
Barton is faster, therefore better at pulling.
Licht forced Benenoch into the starting lineup.
He wasted Brady’s last year with a rookie RT playing LG. (Goedeke)
We couldn’t run last year because we had two terrible guards.
We need to stop being stubborn and forcing draft picks into positions where they don’t belong!
Brederson is a natural center.
Barton is a natural LG.
Make the change coaches!!!!
June 30th, 2026 at 10:56 am
Barton was great as a rookie and then took a big step back last year.
Doesn’t make sense. Overconfidence?
I think he bounces back.
June 30th, 2026 at 11:20 am
Agreed Teacherman.
June 30th, 2026 at 11:57 am
I was impressed with GB when he started the first three games at LT and preformed pretty admirably.
Talk about versatile, agile and hostile…
Let’s give this guy another year.
At worst – we over-drafted him.
At best – we found a solid and versatile OL player who will serve us well for the next few seasons and perhaps more.
June 30th, 2026 at 12:03 pm
Barton > Mauch and he’s certainly better than whoever we’ve had at LG the past few years. We’ll be fine. If they all stay healthy then you can win with these boys. We have the best player in the NFL at LT, the rest of the guys are good enough.
June 30th, 2026 at 12:05 pm
I think they should Switch Bredeson an Barton Bredeson Looked really good at Center last season but I honestly believe Barton will take a Big jump this year at Center year 3 after a Rough year next to Back ups which I’m sure made Barton look worse then he was
June 30th, 2026 at 12:31 pm
Barton is a poor man’s Bruce Matthews. It’s extremely rare for a center to be able to play left tackle. He did admirably. Clearly he could play guard if needed. Matthews at one point played all five positions. Something Barton could potentially do. It’ll be interesting to see where he ends up. I too agree he’s probably best suited at guard and Bredeson is a natural center.
June 30th, 2026 at 12:32 pm
I was hoping we’d draft a C this year and move Barton to G.
He’d be a much better fit there.
I like his attitude and playing style.
June 30th, 2026 at 12:49 pm
You don’t use a first round pick on a serviceable center. One better, you don’t use a first round pick on a center, who isn’t a center. I see Barton a lot like Marpet. Serviceable center, but made his only pro bowl as a left guard. If I were the Bucs I’d get a real center, and move Barton to left guard where I believe he’d be a pro bowler.
June 30th, 2026 at 12:59 pm
@Teacherman
That’s what I said. Barton would probably be better at G.
June 30th, 2026 at 1:07 pm
Like others have commented, measuring Barton from last year the lost year is unfair. And that’s because of something Joe mentioned before- Barton often trying to block 3 people to make up for the non-guards.
June 30th, 2026 at 1:17 pm
And Mauch is our best run blocker so Mauch>Barton until Barton shows the same. We averaged 5.5 yards per carry between Mauch and Barton but only 3.5 yards a carry between Bredeson and Barton in 2024.
June 30th, 2026 at 1:44 pm
Just the fact hes in conversation makes him very valuable, We saw what a trainwreck that line became toward the end of last season, it cost the team a home playoff game..Trenches! Both sides of the ball period!
June 30th, 2026 at 2:47 pm
Coaching. Watch the regression this season, it will be epic.