Don’t look now, but Duke offensive lineman Graham Barton is picking up serious first-round momentum.
After the former Blue Devil went within the first round of mock drafts from The Athletic and Pro Football Focus earlier this week, ESPN’s Field Yates had the Duke lineman go 26th overall to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in his most recent draft projection.
Yates praised Barton’s versatility, as the Blue Devil started at offensive tackle the past three seasons but started his Duke career playing center as a freshman. The longtime ESPN analyst pointed out that recent Tampa draft picks like Cody Mauch and Robert Hainsey were also flexible interior linemen.
PFF’s Trevor Sikkema had the Buccaneers select Barton with the exact same pick in his mock draft on Tuesday, so the draft world can clearly see a pairing starting to form.
Barton was the third interior offensive lineman taken in Yates’ mock behind Oregon center Jackson Powers-Johnson and Washington guard Troy Fautanu. Nine offensive linemen came off the board in Yates’ first 32 projected picks, including six tackles.