If you look near the top of most NFL draft big boards, you won’t find many interior offensive linemen. After all, the rankings are usually adjusted for positional value, and despite the importance of the trenches, a great quarterback or wide receiver can change a franchise overnight.
Let that sentiment reinforce how impressed Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice is with Duke prospect Graham Barton.
In his recent big board published last week, Tice had Barton as the 12th overall player in the draft class.
Even in a stacked offensive line class (15 prospects in Tice’s top 50), Barton stood out. He finished as the sixth-highest lineman in the rankings.
Barton played both tackle and center with the Blue Devils, but he’s expected to start out as a guard with whichever team calls his name during next week’s draft. Tice thinks he could play wherever a team needs him, even moving back to tackle if a team really needs him.
“Barton wins with quickness and hand placement that gives him a chance against better athletes, with enough bend and strength to hold up against more powerful rushers,” Tice wrote.
The former Wisconsin quarterback said he wasn’t sure how Barton could hold his own against the game’s elite pass rushers, but he thinks the former Blue Devil has a high floor.