Graham Barton is mathematically the most athletic center prospect in 40 years

Tampa Bay drafted Graham Barton to play center, and his testing numbers give him the highest athletic score in the history of the position.

Should Graham Barton end up playing center for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he’d be an unprecedented athlete at the position.

The 6-foot-5, 313-pound offensive lineman played tackle for the last three years, and he earned First Team All-ACC nominations in both 2022 and 2023.

Barton played center for the Blue Devils as a freshman, however. Tampa Bay listed the former Duke star as a center in their social media announcement of his selection, and general manager Jason Licht confirmed that was the position they had in mind for Barton after the pick.

According to the measurements from Barton’s NFL combine and pro day, he has the highest relative athletic score among all 619 center prospects since 1987. Kent Lee Platte, who created the R.A.S. calculation, shared the information on Thursday night.

His height, 40-yard dash time (4.95 seconds), and 3-cone shuttle (7.31 seconds) all tested in the top percentiles in the history of the position.

Barton would replace Super Bowl LV starter Ryan Jensen, who officially announced his retirement in February after battling injury issues.