Every Wednesday from now until preseason I’ll be going through each position group in the NFC South. I’ll rank them from worst to first. Here is a list of the positions already covered:

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Bucs DT Vita Vea – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

For the fourth time in this series thus far the Falcons take the top spot. Drew Dalman is low-key one of the best centers in football. This is largely on the back of his run blocking skills, which are Top 3-5 in all of football.

He has had some issues with penalties in the past (2022) but cleaned up some of that last year. Dalman’s pass blocking isn’t as dominant as his run blocking. His pass block efficiency ranked 32nd in the NFL last year and 33rd the year prior.

Behind Dalman is Ryan Neuzil who has 208 career snaps of solid play since entering the league in 2021 as an undrafted free agent. The former Appalachian State Mountaineer has allowed just three pressures in 116 career pass block opportunities.

Saints

Bucs DT Vita Vea and Saints QB Derek Carr – Photo by: USA Today

On a line that has fallen in quality over the past several years, Erik McCoy remains the one constant. He might be one of the more underrated offensive linemen in all of football at this point. And he is coming off of perhaps the best season of his career. He’s both a good run blocker and pass protector.

McCoy has allowed a pressure rate of just 2.6% over his five-year career, although that rate climbed to a career high 3.9% last year. But he buoyed that step backwards in pass pro with the best run blocking season of his professional career.

Lucas Patrick gives the Saints a veteran backup with over 3,700 snaps of experience. Those snaps have not always been of quality play as he has just one good season of play (2020 in Green Bay). Last year he started for Chicago and his 11 penalties led the NFL amongst all centers. If pressed into service the Saints could rest assured they would get above replacement level play, but with a very low ceiling.

Bucs

Bucs C Graham Barton – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Depending on your evaluation of where Troy Fautanu should ultimately play, Graham Barton was either the highest or second-highest rated interior offensive lineman in this year’s draft. Barton played left tackle for the Duke Blue Devils in each of the last three years but was forced to play center his freshman year. That was some of his better tape and he earned second-team All-America nod from The Athletic.

Barton has incredible grip strength and a knack for improving on his deficiencies. He will need to adjust to re-learning the center position. But how good can he be in year one?

I looked at all of the centers taken in the first round of the NFL draft since 2014. The list is five players long. It includes some high-profile hits such as Frank Ragnow, Tyler Linderbaum and Ryan Kelly. But it also includes Billy Price. And even when you look at some of those talented players, not all of them hit the ground running in their rookie years.

Best projection for year one for Barton is that of a league average center. And at a position where the NFL South is fairly stacked like center, that is good for the third-best starter with a likely arrow up.

Robert Hainsey is much maligned in Tampa Bay, but he is now one of the best backup centers in the NFL. And if he is pressed into the starter role for the third year in a row for any reason, Hainsey is a competent starting option if not a great one. Most teams would kill for a backup with that profile.

If Barton pans out to the tune of the draft investment the Bucs sank into him the Bucs could move up a spot or even two on this list in a year or so. But for now, they are a high-variance third place in the NFC South when it comes to center.

Panthers

Panthers C Austin Corbett – Photo by: USA Today

It’s not that the Panthers can’t get solid play out of the center position. But they are the team that is least likely to. For the second year in a row Carolina will turn to Austin Corbett. The former Ram has had several seasons of quality play from 2020-2022 stretching between LA and Carolina. But all of that came as a guard. Corbett looks to be making a transition to center late in his career as the Panthers spent $150 million on free agent guards this offseason.

Corbett is built best for a zone blocking scheme and should see a boost in play working with new head coach Dave Canales after a down year in 2023 where his pass block efficiency fell to a career-low and he graded out with his worst run blocking season of his career.

Behind Corbett is another center convert in Brady Christensen. He played some tackle and guard his rookie year in 2021 before switching to left guard full time in 2022. Last year Christensen got one start in Week 1 before being lost for the season due to a torn bicep. Christensen lacked the requisite length to stick at tackle and struggled at times with play strength at guard. Personally, I think he may be the Panthers best option at center moving forward as he is an elite mover who is technically sound.