Retrospective: Alex Barron
by Eric Nagel on May 11, 2010 10:54 PM CDT
in 2010 St. Louis Rams offseason
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PrintAlex Barron has to be the most polar player on the Rams. Some people think highly of him as a depth guy, someone who might not be the best guy to start, but would be good depth. Others, like me, view him as a penalty-prone lazy stump of a player who isn't worth his grain in salt. That's what opinions are for, right?
On a side, unrelated note, I thought it was funny that Brian Cushing was busted for a fertility drug. The US Anti-Doping agency said that the only way it would show up is if he took it (not by accident), so Brian, thank you for denying James Laurinaitis a chance at the Defensive Rookie of the Year award.
But back to the topic at hand! Last year, believe it or not, the Rams had a ton of success running the ball on the left side. I can't give Barron all the credit, because obviously sometimes it wasn't just him, but it's quite impressive that the Rams ranked 2nd in the league for runs off the left tackle, and 12th in the league for runs off the left end. The middle and right side weren't so impressive (28, 22, 30, respectively). Unfortunately, Alex was inconsistent (like that is a surprise) for pretty much every year before that. On the right side, way back when, the Rams were as good as 4th, and as bad as 27th.
Eventually, everyone knew he would be dumped. The good thing we can look forward to is that while Alex Barron was more of a peak guy (penalty here, penalty there...another penalty, good play, back to a penalty...), Bobby Carpenter was equally unimpressive throughout his career with the Cowboys. He's displayed some flashes throughout the years, but a fresh start with the Rams (and a 4-3 defense) is the best thing for him, which is good for this growing team.
In conclusion, think of this way: The Rams could certainly have used a good tackle as depth, which Barron could have been. But he was penalty prone. He never lived up to expectations. His main knack was that his heart wasn't in it. Is this the type of player you want on the team? Mentoring young tackles such as Jason Smith and Rodger Saffold? Can you honestly find yourself saying, if a tackle was injured, "It's OK everyone, Alex Barron can pick up the slack." I don't know about you, but I sure can't.
It's definitely better to get something for him then nothing. And that is just what the Rams did. Bravo.
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Cushing was stripped of the Rookie of the Year award
their supposedly having a re vote today, from reports I’ve read JL isn’t even on the ballot. If I remember correctly it was Byrd, Clay Matthews, and Brian Orakpo as they were the 3 other players who received 1st place votes.
+1
As much as I would like to see Animal Jr. grab DROY, he’s not even in the running. It was 39-6 in votes of Cushing vs Byrd for first place. Besides, who knew Cushing was DROY before this week? I didn’t. I’ve also heard Cushing still might take DROY after the revote. Reguardless, this is the NFL. It’s not a giant personal awards league like baseball or hockey. It’s all about who wins the Super Bowl, and after that, maybe remembering who the Super Bowl MPV was. DROY of the year might look good on the resume when you’re looking for a new contract but it’s not putting fear into the eyes of anyone lined up opposite you.
I bet Cushing wins in the re-vote
I know a lot of voters have said they won’t change their vote. It’s a little strange how sometimes people lose their awards and sometimes they still keep them.
by CoachConnors on May 12, 2010 10:44 AM CDT up reply actions
Good point.
Barron’s ceiling is probably 3rd or 4th OT on a team.
Barron’s lackadaisical attitude about NFL had to be a huge thorn in Devaney’s side. He represented everything that was a joke about the Jay Zygmunt era. We are finally purging ourselves of all of the leftover garbage.
Our 2 new OT’s can now be coached-up, mentored, and be ready to be true professionals without Barron’s presence on the practice field and in the locker room.
Can’t wait to see if Barron actually plays for the Cowboys. I will get a great laugh when his false starts are replayed on their giant HDTV screens.
Talk about another slap in the face. With all of the talk about a revote for Defensivr Rookie of the Year, the list of candidates still does not include Laurinaitus ! ESPN is a joke!
Haha I was thinking about that
replaying Barron’s big absent stare on 50yds of HD.
As it turns out,
JL did get one vote for DRoY this time.
Barron isn't lazy
He just isn’t aggresive and lacks awareness. He is just missing some things upstairs that makes one a great football player.
If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back, find it and kill it.
that being said, I agree with the post
If you love something, set it free. If it doesn't come back, find it and kill it.
Isn't aggresive and lacks awareness...
good observation… there is a difference between laziness and lacking the mental fortitude to drive you to be a great player. I think your right with Alex… He is who he is and unless he has an epathiny (sp?)… then he’ll continue to be just Alex…. good… but not great.
I'm still pissed the left themselves with only a rookie RT and a half-rookie LT
This is not to be confused with wanting Alex on the team.
Yea its not ideal, but let them take their lumps and brusies.
They obviously need to stay healthy of course, which will probably not happen. Let Bradford sit until they feel comfortable with the stability of the line and then see how he does.
barron
So we traded an avg. OT who would only give you depth for a guy who will get 30 downs a game. Right now, worse case is you didn’t improve OL but improved you D. Seems like trade was worth the risk.
I would agree except
he was’t just depth, he was a Rams starter. As bad as that is, and still would have not been beaten out by this year’s rook for the RT.
I’m still hoping they might get a vet by the time the next cuts come around but it’s unlikely they’ll pick up a starter that way. Maybe, who knows
by CoachConnors on May 12, 2010 10:43 AM CDT up reply actions
It will be amazing if Carpenter gets 30 downs a game.
10 downs on obvious passing plays is more like it. While nothing is certain, my guess is that next year at this time we’ll be complaining about Carpenter having no heart and saying we need an OLB to replace him.
Jerry Jones was even ragging on his(lack of) game
Not that many owners would address a players lack of physicality, but obviously Jerry is one of them. I’m hoping Carpenter uses the fresh start, and I am really trying to look at is a clean slate, and at the same time I’m having a hard time completely ignoring the stuff that his coaches and owner said because Spags an Co. are really building a hard-hitting bluecollar D, so Carp needs to leave the old self behind and bring it every single down or he’ll fall out of favor here too.
by CoachConnors on May 12, 2010 11:16 AM CDT up reply actions
We just wanted Barron gone ... and we got something for him.
… not a replacement tackle, but at least something.
I can take a beating ... I'm a Rams fan.
Barron was a starting caliber tackle and Carpenter a situational LB at best.
Ok, so we gave up a starter for a situational (3rd string) linebacker. That is my first problem with this deal. The second deals with the fact that a decent starting offensive tackle is much harder to find than a starting OLB. There just aren’t many guys in the league that have the physical stature to play tackle let alone the footwork and quickness that they display at that size. So IMO we not only traded away a position that is harder to find but we got inferior talent in return. I have to think that there was a better trade out there and if not, keep him! With our injury history, even if he wasn’t a starter Barron would have been a huge asset later in the season. Right now I see coaches and management just giving away players for peanuts just because they didn’t draft them. Barron would have been our starter at RT, Carriker didn’t even get a shot at his natural position and Atogwe was arguably our best defensive starter. I am not seeing how these are sound decisions or how they are making our team better. Maybe someone can enlighten me using facts but, I doubt it. It’s really beginning to look like edjr and I were right a few months back about ownership issues handcuffing our ability to sign anyone but back ups to our starting back ups and cutting payroll by giving good players away. I can not accept the fact that Devaney is that stupid, there has to be something more to it.
I feel the same way about the positions
Some guys are trying to tell me Saffold is going to step in and be better, but I have seen way too many years of rookies to think that’ll true for his first year.
Barron was only good for one more year…still, I really don’t like the Tackle position’s lack of experience on this team now. Simply saying mindless crap like “Barron sucks” doesn’t fix that.
According to Sando, the Rams felt like they didn’t want to deal with Barron’s inconsistancy anymore. I feel like that decision — when it comes to OT’s — is a luxury fro the coach when you consider a rookie QB and a workhorse RB coming off back surgery.
by CoachConnors on May 12, 2010 11:21 AM CDT up reply actions
Yeah Barron sucks so bad that they couldn’t keep him off of the field. He may have been average but, on this team; average earns you a gold star.
Yeah, that's a point I was trying to make too
If they had someone better, they definitely would have been playing him instead of Barron. Definitely. So ok, they drafted Saffold…which is fine with me, you can’t let the OT position fall into old age…but to think that rook will be better than Barron this year is just silly fandom and not reality.
Saffold was actually the depth in this case, not Barron.
by CoachConnors on May 12, 2010 11:37 AM CDT up reply actions
Rookie OTs have been pretty good lately
Jake Long, Mike Ohrer, Ryan Clady to name a few. I don’t think rolling the dice on Saffold is a bad move. I think the plan is to let Saffold, Smith and the O line gel and mature before getting Bradford in there (so you don’t risk getting him killed) The future is now. Games 1-8 are all about seasoning the O line.
As for Carpenter I think it’s worth noting he was situational in Dallas’ 3-4. Meaning not big/physical enough for ILB, not enough of a pass rusher for OLB. He could easily morph into a good weak side backer in 4-3, and still play nickel or dime passing situations. Although if / when the Rams return to prime time I loathe to see Carpenter, Diggs and Animal Jr all state they are from , “THE Ohio state.”
Outside of Bradofrd and Saffold and I’m actually most interested in Selvie. His pick came from shipping Tye Hill to Atlanta. If he turns into a good situational pass rusher, thats truly getting something back for nothing.
I saw someone else post a long list of guys he said were UNBELIEVABLE
but I guess either I have seen to many Tackles or he hasn’t seen enough, because they were pretty believable to me.
I don;t think drafting Saffold was bad move. I don;t htink getting rid of Barron was a bad move. I do think going with 1 rookie and a half-rookie is a bad move though.
by CoachConnors on May 12, 2010 1:42 PM CDT up reply actions
We aren't going to the playoffs this year ...
… so really, who cares about depth yet? Maybe we go 3-13 this year. So what? We already knew we weren’t a playoff team this year.
This trade is mostly about setting the table for 2012 and beyond … mostly by getting rid of who we KNEW we didn’t want on the team.
It really isn’t about who we got.
Coach, you of all people on this blog know we need to be patient. What value does Barron offer this year to a team that won’t make any playoff noise and won’t keep him next year? I am not saying he’s crap or he’s good but if he’s not wanted, at least we got something (anything) in return.
This is like cleaning out the garage. Sometimes you just throw stuff away that is still good because you are tired of your garage being cramped. It isn’t a sound financial decision but it gives you peace of mind to have your garage clean.
I can take a beating ... I'm a Rams fan.
I'm patient
I’m saying don’t expect Saffold to be able to replace Barron right away. Eventually, sure.
by CoachConnors on May 12, 2010 1:43 PM CDT up reply actions
I care about depth
a couple injuries and we have to worry about our shinny new QB when he’s in
You can pick your friends and
you can pick your butt.
But you can't pick your friends butt.
JohnnieWarthawgism
by johnniewarthawg on May 12, 2010 2:34 PM CDT up reply actions
I think the Rams do need to care about depth on the offensive line
or our QBs and Steven Jackson will be on IR halfway through the year. Another injury to SJs back and he could be just about done. It isn’t about winning more games this year, it’s about keeping important people healthy.
No we are not going to the playoffs this year but we do need to show major progress. How long do you think ownership will allow 2 or 3 win seasons before getting rid of coaches and management? Most coaches get around 3-4 years to turn things around, some less than that. If we go 2-14 or 3-13 this year, Spags will be on the hot seat. It’s great to be optimistic but, at some point you have to be realistic. Next year, next year becomes 8-9 years, fans stop coming to the games and stop caring due to blackouts. So progress is very important this year, not next or in 2012. Garage cleaning project? I usually don’t throw out useful tools (Atogwe, Barron, Holt) and take in more garbage. What it sounds like is that any tool that the previous owner left in the garage is just being thrown out no matter how useful or important they are.
I guess we can agree to disagree then. I don't have a problem with the purging.
… in a few more years, we’d better be good. But right now, have at it.
I can take a beating ... I'm a Rams fan.
I read that and I thought
same thing a supermodel says
by CoachConnors on May 12, 2010 4:05 PM CDT up reply actions
Hey I am happy with the trade.
We traded a backup unimpressive tackle, that we won’t be able to resign next year, for a starting OLB. Maybe everyone seems to put more value on the Rams players than they are worth. JMO
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