Tag: graham barton

Top ACC players Notre Dame will be playing in 2023

Keep your eye on these players when the Irish face them.

In exchange for retaining its football independence, Notre Dame plays a certain number of ACC opponents every season. The only other sport in which Notre Dame is not an ACC member is hockey, which plays in the Big Ten. While old-school Irish fans might long for the days of the program being able to schedule almost anyone at anytime, some often forget that this arrangement means some thrilling football. The home wins over recent powerhouse Clemson in 2020 and 2022 are two examples.

College football isn’t back yet, but you still can look at the rosters and see which quality players play for whom. Twitter’s Big Game Boomer has done just that and come up with a list of the top 50 ACC players for the upcoming season. When you look at the list, you’ll see the Irish have many of them set to face them. Let’s see who the Irish are playing when you take away the players whose teams aren’t on their schedule:

PFF says Jets should keep an eye on Duke tackle Graham Barton

An early start to the 2024 draft cycle

The 2023 NFL season is right around the corner but behind the scenes, it’s also the start of the 2024 draft cycle.

Of course, this cycle will be a bit different than others for the Jets. While not official yet, it’s very likely the Jets will not have a first-round pick in April as a result of the Aaron Rodgers trade. As a reminder, if Rodgers plays 65% of the snaps this season, the Jets will send a first to the Green Bay Packers. If not, it will be a second-round pick.

So the draft board starts a little deeper for the Jets and, with the help of Pro Football Focus, we have a name we can start with. PFF’s Dalton Wasserman named one prospect to watch for each team. For the Jets, that player is Duke offensive tackle Graham Barton.

The Jets won’t have a first-round pick next season unless Aaron Rodgers suffers an injury that causes him to miss more than 35% of their total snaps. The weakest spot on their team currently is offensive tackle where it appears they will start 38-year-old Duane Brown and the injury-riddled Mekhi Becton.

If Rodgers is healthy and successful, it is likely that the Jets won’t be picking inside the top 50. That being the case, Duke left tackle Graham Barton is someone who could interest them. Barton was the fourth-highest-graded tackle in the FBS last season. He was the only Power Five tackle to grade above 85.0 in both pass blocking and run blocking. A continued breakout could vault him out of the Jets’ range, but he is a player they will be watching in Round 2.

Barton, six-foot-five, 311 pounds, has played in 25 games over the past two seasons and only allowed two sacks last season. Duane Brown and Mekhi Becton are both set to become free agents after the season, so the Jets could need some depth and extra options to replace those two, if neither come back, particularly Becton. New York did draft Carter Warren in the fourth round this year.

Another potential needs next year in the eyes of PFF are linebacker and safety.

Top 10 returning offensive tackles in college football per PFF

Sophomore Kelvin Banks is among the best offensive tackles in college football this season. Should he be ranked higher on this list?

One of the bright spots of the 2022 college football season for Texas was the dominant play of freshman left tackle Kelvin Banks. Continue reading “Top 10 returning offensive tackles in college football per PFF”