The Cowboys are inching closer every day to being on the clock with the 24th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, yet there is still zero clarity on what they might do with that selection. Offensive line seems to be the most likely position they’ll target, but even then there are questions as to whether they’ll look for a left tackle or land a center.
If it’s the latter, there are two center prospects that have emerged as popular fits for the Cowboys: Duke’s Graham Barton and Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson. Both players have landed in Dallas in a handful of mock drafts, and it’s entirely possible that the Cowboys could find themselves picking between the two when they’re on the clock Thursday night. But which one is better? Let’s take a look.
Barton’s prospect profile requires some projection, as he played left tackle the last three years for the Blue Devils. He played center as a freshman and earned freshman All-American honors as a result, but that was quite some time ago and also came in a Covid-shortened season in which Barton played just six games.
Nearly every draft analyst projects Barton to move inside in the NFL, with most believing he’s best suited for the center position. That makes Barton a tricky player to rank. He has all of the traits to succeed at center, but can a team afford to invest a premium draft pick in a player who hasn’t played the position in three years and, even when he did, had a small sample size to work with?
Barton’s college production was modest, with good-not-great grades in both run blocking and pass blocking from Pro Football Focus. Of course, those grades also came with Barton playing left tackle, and it seems unlikely Dallas would draft Barton to play that spot. Athletically, Barton was wildly impressive.
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler had this to say about Barton, who he ranked as the best center in the draft:
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