The Tampa Bay Buccaneers‘ selection at 26th overall in the 2024 NFL draft was the right one. The Bucs selected Graham Barton from Duke with the pick, and according to Zachary Pereles of CBS Sports, he would not have made it close to that selection if the draft were done again.
In a 2024 re-draft, Pereles had Barton get taken with the 16th overall pick by the Seattle Seahawks. To be fair to the Seahawks, the player they had selected at 16th overall was also gone by that pick. He went 13th. Still, their consolation prize would have the Bucs searching for a new first-rounder in this re-draft.
“Barton has the versatility to play pretty much anywhere on the offensive line — he played left tackle early last year when Tristan Wirfs was on the mend — and would have been an ideal pickup for the interior of the Seahawks’ line,” noted Pereles. “Seattle ended up addressing the area one year later with 2025 first-rounder Grey Zabel, so why not get a one-year jump with Murphy already off the board?”
Graham Barton Gets Drafted 16th Overall in 2024 Re-Draft
GettyTampa Bay Buccaneers center Graham Barton.
Barton was a left tackle at Duke, but when he was going through the draft process, all projections had him at center. His body type and movement skills have him more set for center. Fortunately for the Bucs, despite the projection at his position, he hit the ground running.
Barton has 33 starts in 34 games, missing just one game in his career. Barton played every snap at center during his rookie season. However, when Tristan Wirfs was injured to start the year, the Bucs asked Barton to slide over to left tackle for three weeks to start the season.
Barton was able to handle the job and has 209 snaps at left tackle to go with 2,036 snaps in his career.
The combination of reliability, versatility, and talent at the position that he was drafted to play makes him an easy selection in the first round. Plenty of other teams are wishing they made the pick themselves.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Pivot in the Re-Draft
In this re-draft, the Bucs ended up taking Dallas Turner, edge rusher from Alabama. He was selected 17th overall by the Minnesota Vikings in the actual draft. Turner had just three sacks during his rookie year, but turned it up to eight sacks in his second season.
A lot of his early struggles were related to playing time. However, the Vikings traded Jonathan Greenard to open up more time for Turner. So, while Barton has played more and looked more reliable than Turner so far, there is still immense upside in his ability. That is why Turner initially went ahead of Barton and why Turner is still a clear first-round pick in the re-draft.
The Bucs obviously would have needed an edge rusher, considering they drafted Rueben Bain in the most recent draft. They would have filled that issue with Turner in the re-draft.
Another interesting name that popped up in the first round was running back Bucky Irving. Tampa Bay passed on him with the 26th overall pick, but he rounded out the draft by going 32nd overall.
Considering Irving was drafted 125th overall, this pick is looking very good for Tampa Bay. While Irving exploded onto the season with 1,514 yards from scrimmage during his rookie year, injuries held him back from achieving the same heights in year two. He still did enough to get discussed in the back end of round 1.
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