Rams must bench Barron to salvage some credibility

by Ryan Van Bibber on Oct 5, 2009 8:30 AM CDT in 2009 St. Louis Rams regular season

The St. Louis Rams have lots of questions to answer, but one of the first is whether or not to hand the starting left tackle job back to Alex Barron after his unceremonious benching this week. The truth is, there should be no debate; Alex Barron needs to ride the pine for the rest of the season. It might be one of the few things the Rams can do to preserve a shred of credibility going into next year.

How can head coach Steve Spagnuolo look at the players who really do play their butts off and make the case for putting Barron back in as a starter? It's an affront to team and a sign that every game might be a blowout. He's arguably the most important part of the offensive line.

And what about the fans? How would you honestly feel if you buy your ticket next week and there's a guy playing who has/had talent but not a care in the world about using it.

Make Jason Smith the starting LT. The early returns on Smith have been positive. The former Baylor OT has shown improvement with each outing, before a knee strain last week. Go back to something 3k said about Smith in his post-game last night, "IMO, when he's not on the field, you can feel the lack of purpose." Smith represents the future of this team; Barron the past. Now seems like as good a time as any to start looking forward.

Maybe there's some case to be made for not benching Barron...a case that hasn't already been made over the last three seasons. I doubt it. Spagnuolo will have a credibility issue to deal with if Barron starts next week.

Poll

Will the Rams and coach Spagnuolo have a credibility issue if they do not bench Alex Barron?

Yes, how can they honestly tell fans he deserves to start

284 votes

No, Barron has the talent and you have to go with that

97 votes

381 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

I would vote "no", but for a different reason

You don’t play Barron for a talent reason. We don’t have much talent on offense anyway, so it’s not like he’s going to make a huge difference. You do play him if the Spagnuolo effect that worked on Incognito works on Barron.
Cogs pulled his week 1 crap, got pulled briefly, and pissed off every Rams fan. Since then, he’s been un-Incognito, keeping his head down and making sure his name isn’t announced for any on-field hijinx. If Spags feels he can coax a similar reversal out of Barron, then you play him. If you’re going to get the same disinterested, indifferent Barron, then don’t even dress his ass. Cut him, and let some other team deal with the head case that comes along with the talent.

Your uncle molests collies.

by 3k on Oct 5, 2009 8:44 AM CDT reply actions

You beat me to it.

That’s exactly why i voted “no”.

If for no other reason than with Spags, every player got a bit of a do over. You have to let Spagnuolo see if he can motivate him. I figure this is the last straw. He got benched and he’ll only get benched once more this year. If it happens again, he won’t get back off the bench and Barron better know it.

Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.

by Tackle Box on Oct 5, 2009 12:34 PM CDT up reply actions

If Spags do the same thing with Barron then he is a football god.

It’s one thing when you have plenty of intensity and passion but lack discipline to use it. It’s a completely different thing when you lack the intensity and passion which causes you to have no discipline.

Spagamania is in full bloom

by Eric Nagel on Oct 5, 2009 4:52 PM CDT up reply actions

Cut Barron now! Make an example of him.

He’s long gone after this season anyway. Barron is another tribute to the previous regime’s wizardly drafting skills.

by edpjr on Oct 5, 2009 8:54 AM CDT reply actions

What exactly did Barron do (or not do) besides the inopportune penalty?

by WestCoastBuc on Oct 5, 2009 9:07 AM CDT reply actions

block

as in he didn’t do it very well yesterday

Your uncle molests collies.

by 3k on Oct 5, 2009 9:23 AM CDT up reply actions

reversal

that’s the real question. Can you get a reversal out of Barron? He’s had plenty of opportunities to turn his career around over the last four years, but he hasn’t done anything with it.

Turf Show Times

by Ryan Van Bibber on Oct 5, 2009 10:51 AM CDT reply actions

Yeah, under Linehan.

Like that means anything….

Let Spags have a crack at him. If he doesn’t turn him life around after this benching, Spags will take care of it.

Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.

by Tackle Box on Oct 5, 2009 12:35 PM CDT up reply actions

35-0 to the fortyniners

Someone better have a bad week this week.

by dbcouver on Oct 5, 2009 5:55 PM CDT reply actions

Hey trying to put everything on Barron is Whack!

I noticed while watching this horrible game, the Rams aren’t as bad as they look. But for some reason it seems like anything that can go wronge for them, will. I don’t know how you can just single out Barron for the Rams play, it seems like more then just him commiting penalties. Anyone that think Jason Smith is better then Barron is Nutt’s or just haven’t watched him play. Hey Spags, I’m with the ideal of looking for the future, this season looks like no magic turn around so why not look at some of the young talent, like Null and keep Flecther in there at CB, let them get the expirence for next season. I also think we should have traded Bulger a few years ago when we could have got a high draft pick for him. Coach, think about the future, we don’t need Bulger, try trading him and maybe a 4th and 5th round pick for a 1st or 2nd/3rd round. We need to bring the best players possible here, starting with QB and then Defensive End and Tackle. That’s two number 1’s oh yeah do your home work on these players, make sure that they dominated in college not just at the combine. If you need help picking talent email me coach and I’ll bring winners here to the Rams. Had it been up to me last year, Sanchez would have been our QB and we would have got a tackle in the second round. Oh yeah maybe we can also try to get Crabtree next year because he is going to fall so far in the draft, I’m thinking we can get him in the 3rd round, only if he agrees to a contract before the pick.

by Stacy3424 on Oct 5, 2009 6:49 PM CDT reply actions