Random Ramsdom: Nov 12th, 2009

by ram_rod on Nov 12, 2009 2:02 PM CST in Random Ramsdom Comment 11 comments

Mike Sando takes a look at a list of Alex Barron replacements- I mean college OT's that should come out for the draft. Never to early to start...
The Rams filed for an extension to keep the blackout at bay. 1,500 tickets left. That would be a nice donation to veterans, especially with the current promotion going on...Just saying.
Our old friend Anthony Hargrove is coming back to town. He feels guilty for things he did here. Can you blame him?
Jason Brown weighs in on Veterans Day.

Enjoy your Thursday's everyone. It's about time we got back into the Sunday grind..

0 recs | Comment 11 comments

Comments

Why?

Does everyone hate on Alex Barron? Why has he become the scapegoat and red headed step child of this organization? Has anyone actually been watching the Rams games this year? Did it elude you that Barron totally shut down Jared Allen (who leads the NFL In sacks with 10.5) and held him to ZERO sacks and ZERO knockdowns? Barron has been credited with ONE sack this year and has a grand total of TWO false start penalties. If you actually look at the numbers, Incognito had just about as many penalty yards called against him in ONE GAME as Barron has all year. So where is all the hate coming from? Fine, he got benched for a portion of ONE game for not playing with enough passion. But what is worse? Playing with nothing enough passion or playing with so much passion that you get multiple personal fouls called against you in one game alone (Incognito)? This constant criticism seems childishly petty and unreasonable to me. You can’t judge his performance in 2009 on past performances. He has played well this year.

by BigMac545 on Nov 12, 2009 2:20 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

yeah alex

really hasn’t done too bad this year. I think we should keep him until a clear solution is available because the o line is really playing well right now. I know he isn’t the most consistent player but he helps out and hes rarely injured i say dont go out of your way to blame him he isn’t the biggest “problem”. I think in the next few years we will have a very powerhouse offensive line and depending on how the season turns out he may be a part of that.

by keeperskillz24 on Nov 12, 2009 2:39 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I will tell you this

Any time someone has to ask “What is worse?” to prove how good someone is, you don’t have a lot to brag about.

He’s not a fan favorite because he has been a flag-prone knucklehead with low effort, for much of his time here. Simple as that. He has sewn seeds of frustration and didn’t really seem to care.

Hate is a strong word, I don’t hate the guy, but I would love to see him hit the road. If he stays, he has a lot of good playing to do to erase the memories of garbage he has shown me in the past. A couple of good games is a nice start, but its only a start.

My heroes had the heart to lose their lives out on a limb
And all I remember Is thinking, I want to be like them

by CoachConnors on Nov 12, 2009 4:05 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

+1

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

by VTramsFan on Nov 12, 2009 4:46 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I'd rather see

Goldberg at RT and Smith at LT. Either way, Smith needs to start on the left. Smith is the better tackle.

I believe in 2010

by ram_rod on Nov 12, 2009 7:28 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Conners

Your reply proves the point I am trying to make. You are using all of Barron’s faults from previous years to try to prove that he has been bad this year. That is terrible logic.

In fact, he hasn’t been a flag prone knucklehead this year (Only two false starts). And I would suggest that it would take a little more than low effort to shut out Jared Allen.

I understand that he has been terrible and early as last year. However, he has had a huge jump in production from last year. I, like most fans have been endlessly frustrated with the Rams the last few years (perhaps more so) and tend to be a Rams skeptic and pessimist. I just don’t think you can attribute the lions share of the blame to Barron this year. He has been pretty good.

by BigMac545 on Nov 13, 2009 12:24 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Two False Starts

what about the penalties where he lined up too far back? Did he not have two of those?

You can’t piecemeal select penalties and select performances and say he does a great job overall. That’s faulty logic as well.

I believe in 2010

by ram_rod on Nov 13, 2009 2:08 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

You guys need to do your research...

he has 6 penalties in 8 games. That is is roughly .66 penalties a game. You could hardly consider him penalty prone. You are just basing your opinion of the fact that he has been far more penalty prone in the past.

And you need to look at my argument ram_rod. I site more than his domination of Allen. I also sited the fact that he has only allowed one sack all year. Which suggest that he has played well over the course of the whole season. The Vikes game against Allen is just a single example of what I have seen all year: Barron has been an above average LT. Furthermore, the Rams have played half there games against teams in the top echelon of the NFL in sacks:

Seattle – 11th (20 sacks): Kerney 4 sacks, Jackson 4 sacks
Washington – 7th (21 sacks): Carter 6.5 Sacks, Orakpo 5.5 sacks
Minnesota – 1st (31 sacks): Allen 10.5 sacks
Colts – 5th (22 sacks): Freeney 9.5 sacks, Mathis 6.5 sacks

Each of these teams have significant production for one or both of their DEs. Despite this, Barron has still only given up one measly sack. There is no reasonable basis to suggest that Barron has been terrible this year. The only way you could come to that conclusion is by being biased from years past.

by BigMac545 on Nov 14, 2009 12:44 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Not trying to prove he's bad this year, I admit he's has a couple good games.

…this year.

I did not say his past play made him bad this year. I also did not say this year’s play makes him good.

Im just saying his play has not been what I call ‘good’ for his first 3 years in the league and it’s going to take more than the few good games — in his contract year — to make me think he has turned it around from here on out.

Maybe he just finally got it, I don’t know. I’m not pessismistic at all, but I don’t change my opinion on a game or two, whether they were better or worse than I expected.

Damn near every player outpeforms in his contract year and he’ll be a FA at the end of this season. I hope he can put together a whole season or a whole career.

by CoachConnors on Nov 14, 2009 12:05 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I agree with you

Bigmac is right on this one. I understand some of the animosity towards Barron. The biggest issue with Barron is his image. Whether real or artificial, it appears that while he is physically gifted, he isn’t very passionate about football or the Rams. He just isn’t a guy that makes you want to root for him. This is why fans don’t really rush to his defense and way many people wouldn’t mind seeing him out of here.

Thank being said, he has really done a nice job this season. Having watched every snap this year, he has been better than average. I don’t think he has been totally dominant, but he has really held his own. I personally would rather see Jason Smith at LT just because I think it would be better for the team in the end, but you can’t really be too hard on Barron for his performance this year.

I don’t think it is intended to be hateful, but I think it has become pretty commonplace for there to be little barbs at Barron in most Rams commentary. Most of them are unfounded given his level of play this season and relative lack of penalties. Sadly for Barron, I think he has probably lost a lot of respect from the fans and there are some people that don’t even want to see him on the field. That is a shame because he is playing well. He really just needs to win over the fans…similar to what Jackson has done since he sort of fell out of favor with some of the fans. I don’t know if he can, but I think it is more of a PR problem than a quality of play problem.

by Hetfield72 on Nov 13, 2009 12:12 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs