Graham Barton Struggles Outlined By Coach
November 13th, 2025
No, this has nothing to do with the Bucs’ seven failures at or within the 1 yard line against the Saints a few weeks ago.
It’s rare to get candid insight of a player’s struggles from a position coach, so Joe enjoyed this nugget after the loss to the Patriots from Bucs offensive line coach Brian Picucci.
He was a guest on the Buccaneers Radio Network and noted how and why Sunday was a special game for center Graham Barton, a comeback of sorts after a couple of rough outings in Detroit and New Orlans.
“We had a pretty good talk about this: Graham, myself [and co-offensive line coach Kevin Carberry]. I think two games prior to the Patriots. I don’t think [Barton] played to the level that he wanted to play at, especially in the drop-back pass game in the protection world,” Picucci said.
“I think sometimes he’s so athletic, he gets out too fast in some of his slides or sets that gets himself in trouble and overextends. So, he did a great job this week of really tightening down, anchoring down fast with his hands, playing long, and I was really happy.
“I was actually texting with him [Sunday] night and just said, ‘Really happy where you took it, you know, from two games ago where you weren’t excited with your play to where you were [Sunday]. And I think he really did a good job of stressing that [against New England].”
Joe loved the candor. It’s easy to forget Barton is 23 years old and didn’t play much center in college. He’s a good player and still developing.
Joe looks forward to seeing Barton on Sunday against the Bills’ soft run defense.