Barton’s play is greatly impacted by the two guards we’ve deployed.
This is the point. If you were making a judgment on Barton based on this year you'd have to adjust your gauge to account for the two Gs. That doesn't mean he's an "NFL Center," but it certainly means everyone should withhold judgment.
He could get better but I'm just not seeing what Biggs is seeing.
But we all have our bias
I think JPJ isbetter but it's hard to assess how good he's been. Raiders moved him to guard. The last game I saw him he was playing great then got hurt and I think he got placed on season ending IR. Since that injury the Raiders have been atrocious at creating lanes for Jeanty.
The raiders have arguably the worst line in the NFL so I'm not entirely sure how to grade him. His PFF isn't flattering.
JPJ was taken much later too... Like it or not, where they are drafted affects expectations.
I may not have been clear enough, so I'll try to be more clear:
If JPJ was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the 26th overall selection as you were advocating, would his play thus far in the NFL (wasn't good enough at Center - on a shitty OL, as you correctly pointed out - and missed significant time) justify the 26th overall selection?
Yes, because he's a better player and has played better despite having even worse players around him and worse coaching/development.
But the margin isn't substantial
That simply doesn't make sense to me. I'm not sure how a guy who was drafted to be a Center, but wasn't good enough to stay at Center (on a team with many other shitty iOL) and has missed significant time (started 21/32 possible games) is justified @ 26th overall. While Barton has been good enough to stay at Center - with better iOL than the Raiders and has started 31/32 possible games is not justified @ 26th overall. Those things are pretty substantial differences in favor of Barton.
I can appreciate that you say the margin isn't substantial, but I think you're letting your bias affect you here.
