Tag: Duke football

Last USA TODAY Sports mock draft pairs Graham Barton with a popular team

There’s a legendary AFC team that needs some help along the offensive line, and one USA TODAY Sports writer thinks they’ll turn to former Blue Devil Graham Barton.

USA TODAY Sports writer Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz released a final mock draft ahead of the NFL draft on Thursday, and he thinks the Pittsburgh Steelers will take a chance on former Duke Blue Devil Graham Barton at 20th overall.

Barton, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs about 315 pounds, played left tackle over his last three years in college. He started as a center during his freshman season, however, and pundits think he could play anywhere along the line. Middlehurst-Schwartz thinks the legendary AFC franchise slots him at center.

“While Barton doesn’t have the towering build of some of his peers in this class, Pittsburgh likely would value his tenacity and efficiency,” Middlehurst-Schwartz wrote.

The Steelers emerged as a late favorite for Barton over the last week. They took over as his consensus landing spot on Mock Draft Database in the last week, and they’re by far the most popular match for the former Duke lineman in most draft day mock drafts.

Graham Barton to the Dallas Cowboys? One expert’s mock draft says so

Longtime NFL draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah paired Barton with Jerry Jones and his historic Dallas Cowboys franchise during his last mock draft on Wednesday.

Could Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys target former Duke offensive lineman Graham Barton? Longtime NFL draft expert Daniel Jeremiah thinks so.

In Jeremiah’s fourth and final mock draft released on Wednesday night, he forecasted Barton would come off the board with the 24th pick to the Cowboys.

The former Blue Devil spent the past three seasons as an offensive tackle with the Blue Devils, but he started at center as a freshman. Jeremiah thinks the middle of the offensive line is Barton’s best fit in the NFL.

“This feels like a perfect marriage to me,” Jeremiah wrote. “He has the flexibility to play any of the five O-line spots, too.”

Barton was the eighth offensive lineman off the board in Jeremiah’s projection, but he was the first non-tackle among those.

Will the former All-ACC lineman end up protecting Dak Prescott in Dallas? Duke fans will need to wait until Thursday night to find out.

2024 NFL Draft prospects Junior Colson and Graham Barton have a really cool connection

This is a really neat piece of 2024 NFL Draft trivia.

As the 2024 NFL Draft is about to get underway, it’s always interesting to see which prospects have unique connections with each other.

For former Michigan linebacker Junior Colson and former Duke offensive lineman Graham Barton, their connection goes all the way back to Brentwood, Tennessee.

The two were high school teammates for a time at Ravenwood High School, part of Williamson County’s excellent prep football scene.

Barton graduated in 2020 and joined Duke to forge his likely first-round bona fides as a top offensive lineman prospect for this year’s draft, while Colson graduated a year later in 2021 and helped Michigan win a national title this past winter.

Colson also won the Lott Trophy for defensive impact player of the year in 2023.

Both former Raptors should hear their names called this weekend in the first few rounds of this year’s draft, with Barton expected to go on Thursday and Colson expected to go on Friday.

Ravenwood is no stranger to sending a few of its former players into the NFL. Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Van Jefferson graduated from the school, as did DC Defenders receiver Chris Rowland, former NFL defensive end Jonathan Woodard and former USFL running back Seth Rowland.

Notable Ravenwood alumni at the college level include Mississippi State quarterback Chris Parson, Clemson tight end Jake Briningstool, Michigan defensive back Myles Pollard, former Oklahoma defensive end Reggie Grimes II and Northwestern kicker Luke Akers (son of legendary NFL kicker David Akers).

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The Athletic beat writers predict the NFL draft; where did Graham Barton go?

The Athletic’s NFL beat reporters put together a mock NFL draft on Wednesday, and a NFC wild card team ended up with former Duke lineman Graham Barton.

The Athletic put together a mock NFL draft on Wednesday with each beat reporter making the picks for the respective teams they cover.

In the projection, Green Bay Packers reporter Matt Schneidman had the NFL wild-card team take former Duke offensive lineman Graham Barton with the 25th overall pick.

After the emergence of quarterback Jordan Love, Schneidman thinks the top priority should be his protection. Barton, who played both tackle and center in college, could fit wherever Green Bay needs.

“At the very worst, Barton can provide much-needed depth on the interior,” Schneidman wrote.

Barton’s most frequent suitors in mock drafts, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Miami Dolphins, both picked offensive tackles instead of the projected guard.

Duke wide receiver Mehki Wall enters the transfer portal

Duke wide receiver Mekhi Wall, a former three-star prospect from the Class of 2022, entered the transfer portal on Wednesday.

Duke wide receiver Mehki Wall entered the transfer portal on Wednesday, as first reported by 247Sports’ Adam Rowe.

Wall, a three-star prospect from the Class of 2022, was the second Blue Devil to enter the portal on Wednesday. Redshirt freshman Ethan Hubbard threw his name to the market earlier that day.

Last season, as a redshirt freshman, Wall hauled in six passes for 38 yards. He caught his first collegiate touchdown against Virginia on November 18, when he recorded five of his six career catches for 36 yards.

Even without Wall, the Blue Devils had 13 other receivers on their 2024 spring football roster. Star wideout Jordan Moore caught a long touchdown from new quarterback Maalik Murphy during Saturday’s spring game, and graduate student Eli Pancol hauled in a one-handed catch during spring practice.

Whether he addresses the receiver position or not, first-year head coach Manny Diaz said that the Blue Devils would pick up more players in the transfer portal before the season begins.

Which team takes Graham Barton in the latest mock draft from NFL.com’s Charles Davis?

Plenty of playoff teams could use former Duke lineman Graham Barton, but which team pulls the trigger (according to NFL.com’s Charles Davis)?

Former Duke offensive lineman has been linked to multiple playoff teams throughout the NFL draft cycle, but only one team can pull the trigger on the former Blue Devil.

According to a mock draft from NFL.com’s Charles Davis on Wednesday morning, that team will be the Miami Dolphins with the 21st overall pick.

The Dolphins routinely come up in connection to Barton, especially considering the injury history of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Miami lost two starters to free agency this offseason when guard Robert Hunt signed with the Panthers and center Connor Williams chose not to return.

Davis thinks Barton can take Williams’ role in Miami’s offense as the snapper.

“Agile physically and mentally, Barton moves from college left tackle to NFL center…and anchors Mike McDaniel’s lightning-speed offensive attack,” Davis wrote for his prediction.”

The Dolphins were also Duke Wire’s final prediction for Barton’s eventual landing spot.

Manny Diaz says Blue Devils will get more than ‘a guy or two’ from portal before August

When he was asked if Duke could still pick up a player or two from the portal this past Saturday, head coach Manny Diaz immediately said “It’ll be more than that.”

The 2024 Duke football team is still under construction, and new head coach Manny Diaz is under no illusions about that.

During an interview with ACC Network on Saturday, in the midst of Duke’s spring Blue & White Game scrimmage, Diaz was asked about the potential of more transfer portal additions over the summer.

The ACC Network broadcasting crew asked, “There’s still some room to find another guy or two potentially to help you before you come back to camp, I guess, in August, right?”

“It won’t be a guy or two,” Diaz said immediately. “It’ll be more than that.”

“We want to build a team to compete this year,” the first-year Blue Devils coach said emphatically.

One area to circle could be the offensive line. After redshirt freshman Ethan Hubbard announced his decision to enter the transfer portal on Wednesday, the Blue Devils trimmed down to eight offensive linemen on their spring football roster.

Blue Devils down to eight offensive linemen without Ethan Hubbard

With Graham Barton and Jacob Monk headed for the draft and Ethan Hubbard now in the transfer portal, the trenches are thin in Durham.

With redshirt freshman Ethan Hubbard announcing he entered the transfer portal on Wednesday, the Blue Devils have just eight offensive linemen on the roster.

Hubbard was one of nine linemen on the 2024 spring football roster after Graham Barton and Jacob Monk, two longtime starters, both left for the NFL draft. The position group is so thin that head coach Manny Diaz played more than half of the spring game as a 7-on-7 scrimmage with no linemen on the field.

Graduate student Jack Purcell, redshirt senior Calib Perez, and redshirt junior Justin Pickett are the only upperclassmen in the group. Two of the other five are redshirt sophomores, and the other three are redshirt freshmen.

In an interview during the spring game last weekend, Diaz ensured the Blue Devils weren’t done with the transfer portal ahead of the 2024 season, implying he wanted to bring in multiple players before the Aug. 30 debut against Elon. He’ll likely have to in order to protect new quarterback Maalik Murphy.

Duke offensive lineman Ethan Hubbard enters transfer portal

Former three-star offensive line prospect Ethan Hubbard announced on Wednesday that he’d entered the transfer portal.

Duke offensive lineman Ethan Hubbard entered the transfer portal, he announced through social media on Wednesday.

A three-star prospect from Alabama, the 6-foot-6 lineman redshirted as a true freshman last season. Hubbard was one of 26 three-star enrollees from the Class of 2023 for the Blue Devils.

The departure hurts the Blue Devils at an already thin position. Duke only listed nine offensive linemen on its 2024 spring football roster, and Hubbard’s decision to leave trims the number down to eight. Three of those remaining eight are redshirt freshmen.

With a number of potential options still in the transfer portal, expect new head coach Manny Diaz to seek more options before the team reconvenes in the fall.

What did anonymous scouts tell The Athletic about Graham Barton?

Duke offensive lineman Graham Barton seems like a sure bet to be a first-round pick on Thursday, but what did anonymous scouts tell The Athletic about him?

The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman released his ‘2024 NFL Draft confidential’ piece on Tuesday when scouts anonymously tell him how they feel about the best prospects in the draft.

Former Duke offensive lineman Graham Barton, a presumed first-round pick, was included in the breakdown of this year’s offensive line class, which could see 10 linemen drafted in the opening round. Feldman only included one quote from a single scout on the former Blue Devil; here’s what they had to say.

“He’s a neat prospect. He can play all over the line and I think he can be a great center. I think he’s tailor-made for a zone scheme team. Very intriguing. I do think he’s better inside than at tackle. I think he could play it if you need him to but the lack of length could get him in trouble out there.”

Barton is expected to be drafted in the mid-to-late range of the first round, anywhere from the 20th pick (Pittsburgh) to the 31st (San Francisco).