Graham Barton (born June 1, 2002) is an American professional football center for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Duke Blue Devils, earning all-conference honors in 2022 and 2023, and All-American honors in the latter year. Barton was selected by the Buccaneers in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft.
Early life
Barton was born on June 1, 2002, in Brentwood, Tennessee, and attended Ravenwood High School. His parents are Philip and Heather Barton. Graham also has one sibling, Anna Barton. Considered a three-star recruit by the 247Sports rankings, Barton was listed as the No. 14 offensive guard in 2020, and the No. 10 prospect in the state of Tennessee. He committed to play college football at Duke over offers from Michigan State and Vanderbilt.
College career
Barton first saw playing time during his freshman season at Duke after both the first and second string centers suffered season-ending injuries. He started the Blue Devils' final five games of the season and was named a second team Freshman All-America by The Athletic. Barton was named Duke's starting left tackle entering his sophomore season. He was named first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) as a junior.
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | Wingspan | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 5+3⁄8 in (1.97 m) |
313 lb (142 kg) |
32+7⁄8 in (0.84 m) |
9+3⁄8 in (0.24 m) |
6 ft 7+3⁄4 in (2.03 m) |
4.97 s | 1.68 s | 2.82 s | 4.55 s | 7.31 s | |||
| All values from NFL Combine/Pro Day | ||||||||||||
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Barton in the first round (26th overall) of the 2024 NFL draft. He was the first center drafted in 2024 and was the seventh offensive lineman.
On June 23, 2024, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Barton to a four-year, $14.02 million contract that's fully guaranteed at signing with a signing bonus of $7.02 million.
Throughout training camp, Barton competed to be the starting center against fourth-year veteran Robert Hainsey, who was the starter the previous season. Head coach Todd Bowles named Barton the starting center to begin the season.
