Barron gets a second chance

by VanRam on Oct 5, 2009 3:31 PM CDT in 2009 regular season Comment 29 comments

St. Louis Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo met with left tackle Alex Barron today to discuss the lineman's costly outing this Sunday and his role with the team going forward.

Apparently, Barron will get a second chance.

In the comments of today's earlier post about whether or not to play Barron again, 3k summed up the decision harkening back to the Richie Incognito example:

You do play him if the Spagnuolo effect that worked on Incognito works on Barron.

Without a doubt, Spagnuolo had an effect on Incognito. He's been one of the better linemen since he got pulled in week 1 after a series of dumb penalties. And now Barron gets a chance to see if his talk with the head coach has an effect.

I have my doubts. Barron's had a lot of chances, more than Incognito, whose penalties come because sometimes his intensity gets in the way of his head. There's nothing intense about Alex Barron. I'm willing to wait and see how it works out, but I suspect lots of Rams fans won't be as patient...and it's hard to blame them.

The truth is, the Rams may not have much choice in the matter of giving him a second chance. If Jason Smith isn't ready to go, which he might not be, they don't have much depth at OT.

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I have my doubts too

I think it’s much more reasonable to believe you can reign someone in than to gear somebody up. Incognito has the fire. You just have to contain it in the fireplace. Barron is a pile of ashes, and ashes don’t catch on fire, no matter how much lighter fluid you douse them with.

Your uncle molests collies.

by 3k on Oct 5, 2009 3:38 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Great point 3k

So what happens if we pull Barron… Smith to LT and Goldberg in at RT (who doesn’t look horrible there btw).

Honestly, I have always questioned why we took Smith and put him at RT to begin with, moving him away from his natural position.

"The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall." - Vince Lombardi

by VTramsFan on Oct 5, 2009 3:52 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

To give Barron a chance at succeeding

He failed at RT, might as well see if he’d work at LT with one year left on the contract. Not exactly playing his way in to great position as a free agent next offseason…

Your uncle molests collies.

by 3k on Oct 5, 2009 4:11 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

So...

we lose a year sharpening J. Smith by shifting him to RT just to give Barron a chance. I do agree that if it DID work, they’d look like geniuses and obviously we’d be having a different conversation now.

Obviously Barron has totally ruined his shot… and I hope we don’t have to go through another year of adjustments if we move J Smith back to LT, where I believe, he should have been in the first place.

"The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall." - Vince Lombardi

by VTramsFan on Oct 5, 2009 4:29 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

And think of the learning curve he's been afforded

working on the right side. He’s been able to adjust to NFL speed against weaker DEs and developing his run blocking, since the majority of tackle-dependent runs go to the strong side. I’ll say this. The development of Jason Smith is waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyy down on the list of issues the Rams have to deal with.

Your uncle molests collies.

by 3k on Oct 5, 2009 4:32 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

+1 can't disagree

"The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall." - Vince Lombardi

by VTramsFan on Oct 5, 2009 4:35 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Then again

He didn’t fail at RT because he wasn’t able/skilled enough to play the positon. He failed because he doesn’t really care about being on point, mental mistakes and malaise.

Why would those things change just because he stands over there now?

Lived in LA during the Rams and Raiders days. Now based in NorCal, I am still a die hard Rams fan and Raiders season ticket holder.

by CoachConnors on Oct 6, 2009 6:02 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Who knows.

but Spags should get the opportunity to fix it.

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

by Tackle Box on Oct 6, 2009 8:47 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

As much as I hate to say it, I'd like to give him another chance...

We can’t have THREE first round picks go into the toilet this year…if we can salvage something from him to finish out the year, I would like to try to do that… Psychologically, it can’t be great to have so many first picks fail so totally, back to back…turning around the mental state of the franchise is just as daunting as getting enough talent in here to compete week after week…if Spags can get Barron to carry his share of the load, at least for the rest of the season, that little thing can mean a lot…if we have to go out and get another guy off the street to play because someone else wasn’t up to the task mentally, well, those are the things that wear on a team. At least that’s how I see it.

by tbell61 on Oct 5, 2009 4:01 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

How many first round picks are on this team?

Not too many. I think it says more about the collective team when your first round picks fail. The problem is that you don’t get a lot of first round talents in the rest of the draft. The Rams don’t get many first round talents at any point in the draft anyway, so I don’t think this really hurts the team mentally. If anything, it strengthens it

Your uncle molests collies.

by 3k on Oct 5, 2009 4:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

MIN defense

has a pretty stout pass rush too.

Turf Show Times

by VanRam on Oct 5, 2009 4:12 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

They have a pretty stout everything

But if Barron is struggling, what do we have to lose? It’s not like we’re favored in this game

Your uncle molests collies.

by 3k on Oct 5, 2009 4:14 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

and MN has an offense

that can move the ball better than any team we’ve played thus far. I hate saying this, but the way we are playing, this game could be a lot different this week… with it being over before the halftime whistle sounds. Yes, very possible (and I’m being realistic not negative).

"The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall." - Vince Lombardi

by VTramsFan on Oct 5, 2009 4:34 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't expect that

MN will be playing on the road and on a short week after a big game tonight against GB. They figure to not be at their best against us and the game could remain competitve into the fourth quarter.

by WestCoastBuc on Oct 5, 2009 4:40 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

?

I love your blissful optimism. Unfortunately, Adrian Peterson shakes optimism and sprints for 24 yards. 1st down at the Rams’ 3…

Your uncle molests collies.

by 3k on Oct 5, 2009 4:52 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

No point in arguing about wait until Sunday and we'll see who is right

by WestCoastBuc on Oct 5, 2009 7:21 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Dear lord let you be right

But you can’t argue that MN represents the toughest test of the year, and we are EXTREMELY suspect on offense…. Brett Favre / Peterson vs Boller/Bulger SJAX gotta give the nod to MN… SJAX can’t do it alone, neither can the D.

Asking a lot from our D this week.. that’s an understatement

"The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall." - Vince Lombardi

by VTramsFan on Oct 5, 2009 7:29 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

How is a team that scored zero points against Seattle and SF...

…gonna beat the Vikes??? That would rank right up there with the greatest upsets ever to occur in the NFL. It’ll only happen in some parallel universe where Kurt Warner is in his 11th year as Ram QB.

by edpjr on Oct 5, 2009 9:10 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Anyone watching the Packers/Vikings game

… I can’t see how they wouldn’t be thinking blowout right now lol Dear lord they are a very talented football team.

"The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall." - Vince Lombardi

by VTramsFan on Oct 5, 2009 9:32 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

No realistic way

anyone can think we will pull out a W vs Minn.

Free Brandon Wood!

by gorams77 on Oct 6, 2009 10:57 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, if I thought there was much chance that MN

would bring there A game to StL on Sunday, I am sure you would all be right. There’s not much chance of that though under the circumstances. Also, all I predict is that we will be competitive into the 4th quarter, not that we’ll actually win.

by WestCoastBuc on Oct 6, 2009 12:21 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

You have...

seen this team play recently haven’t you? You do know we are the worst team in the league? And have the longest losing streak at 14 games? And have no QB or WRs? And haven’t yet figured out how to block or that there are only supposed to be 11 players on the field at a time? And that fumbles aren’t good? And that…

by victorian on Oct 5, 2009 10:37 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

.. may I continue?

.. nah, I don’t think I will

"The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall." - Vince Lombardi

by VTramsFan on Oct 6, 2009 9:39 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree, they'll not be at their best

that’s a given, Monday night emotional game and all, and yet it likely won’t matter much since they have a few playmakers on both sides of the ball aand we have 1 in Jackson.

Without playmakers there is no winning.

Lived in LA during the Rams and Raiders days. Now based in NorCal, I am still a die hard Rams fan and Raiders season ticket holder.

by CoachConnors on Oct 6, 2009 5:52 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The sad thing is that after 4 weeks into this year there is nothing that I can say gives me at least some hope for the future other then Laurenitis.This team could possibly be the worst ever, and is it the players or the coaches not getting them motivated and prepared, I mean the Rams seem to get slamed by injuries every year and that speaks of preparation and conditioning issues, but yet we have had a revolving door of coaches so can it be that all of them were equally bad?My point is that every year they suck and every year the loyal fans talk about things and how to fix them and no matter what it never gets fixed, so really what gives?

by peteyweestro on Oct 5, 2009 7:08 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs