From now until the preseason, I will go over every NFC South position group on Wednesdays. I’ll order them worst to best. This is a list of the roles that have already been filled:
The Falcons take the lead in this series for the fourth time so far. Without a doubt, one of the finest centers in football is Drew Dalman. His run blocking abilities, which rank in the top three in all of football, are mostly responsible for this.
He had previously (2022) experienced some penalty-related concerns, but he resolved some of those last year. Compared to his run blocking, Dalman’s pass blocking is less effective. In the NFL the previous year, he was ranked 33rd in pass block effectiveness, and 32nd the year before.
Ryan Neuzil trails Dalman in the standings with 208 career plays of strong play after joining the league as an undrafted free agent in 2021. Only three pressures have been allowed by the former Appalachian State Mountaineer in 116 pass block opportunities during his career.
Erik McCoy is the only constant on a line whose quality has declined over the last few years. Right now, he may be one of the underappreciated offensive lineman in all of football. Furthermore, he just finished what may have been his finest season to date. He is an effective pass defender as well as a run blocker.
Over the course of his five-year career, McCoy has only allowed a pressure rate of 2.6%; but, last year, that number reached a career-high of 3.9%. However, he made up for that setback in pass pro by having his greatest run-blocking season to date.
The Saints gain a seasoned backup with more than 3,700 snaps in Lucas Patrick. He just had one successful season of play (2020 with Green Bay), therefore those snaps haven’t always been of high caliber play. His 11 penalties from the previous season lead all centers in the NFL. He started for Chicago. The Saints could be certain that, if forced into action, they would receive performance that was above replacement level, but with a very low ceiling.
Graham Barton was regarded as the top or second-best interior offensive lineman in this year’s draft, depending on your assessment of Troy Fautanu’s final position. Barton was forced to play center his rookie year, but he has played left tackle for the Duke Blue Devils the previous three years. That was some of his best video, and The Athletic named him to the second team of the All-America squad.
Barton has a remarkable grip strength and a talent for strengthening his weak points. He’ll have to get used to having to relearn how to play center. However, how excellent can he be in the first year?
Since 2014, I have examined every center selected in the first round of the NFL Draft. There are five players on the list. Some well-known singles from it include Ryan Kelly, Tyler Linderbaum, and Frank Ragnow. But Billy Price is also a part of it. Not every one of those gifted athletes had an immediate impact during their first season, even when you consider some of them.
Barton’s best-case scenario for his first season is league average center. And it is advantageous for the third-best starter with a likely arrow up at a position where the NFL South is very stacked like center.
Despite receiving a lot of flak in Tampa Bay, Robert Hainsey is currently among the NFL’s top backup centers. Hainsey is a serviceable starting option, if not a fantastic one, if he is forced into the starting lineup for the third year in a row for whatever reason. With that profile, most clubs would kill for a backup.
In a year or so, the Bucs may move up one or perhaps two spots on this list if Barton lives up to the extent of the draft investment they made in him. But as of right now, they are third in the NFC South in terms of high variance.
It’s not like the Panthers can’t have a reliable center perform. However, their squad is the least likely to do so. Austin Corbett will be the man Carolina turns to for the second straight year. Between 2020 and 2022, the former Ram had many seasons of excellent performance spanning from Los Angeles to Carolina. However, that was all a precaution. After the Panthers invested $150 million in free agency guards this year, Corbett appears to be transitioning to center at a later stage of his career.
Corbett, who is most suited for zone blocking schemes, should experience an uptick in production under new head coach Dave Canales following a dismal season in 2023 in which he graded out with his lowest run blocking season of his career and had a decline in pass block effectiveness.
