2015 St. Louis Rams: DC Gregg Williams Sees a Little Sean Taylor In S Mark Barron

Gregg Williams talked to the media on Friday afternoon, less than two days before his St. Louis Rams take on the Washington Redskins.  Williams, who many think runs the league’s top defense, had some very kind things to say about one defensive player in particular...and it wasn’t Aaron Donald.

Now, to be fair, he had some very nice things to say about Donald, but that wasn’t the player that he seemed to praise the most.  That player was Mark Barron.

Barron has proven to be one of the most versatile players on the Rams’ defense, having the ability to serve at both the linebacker and safety positions.  Here’s what he had to say when asked what Barron brings to his defense:

Wow. Not only can he play the safety position, he can play the linebacker position. You’ll see, we call it a fancy term, but he basically plays like a linebacker because he has the size and the strength and the burst to do that too. And then he does a lot of the things that a nickel and a safety does. But, I thought he played very, very well and I’m challenged each and every week to make sure I give him enough reps. As you’ll see, he’ll play quite a bit this week too.

He’s right...about a lot of things.  One being that Barron played very, very well.  He was all over the field last Sunday against the Seahawks.  And it’s evident that Williams makes it a point to fit him in whenever possible.

Williams continued on about Barron’s versatility, and whether or not he’s coached a player that possesses as much:

I’ve had this particular package that we call that we put him in, I’ve had it every stop. But, I’ve never had anybody with that skill set. I’ve had guys that I’ve had to adapt that package to, to fit them, because we still want to do that three and four safety package at times. But, with him, it’s almost like playing with another linebacker in there. But, he still does all of the DB things you want him to do. He’s very, very, very good at what we want. He’s a joy to coach. I really, really, really like the way he plays. And the other thing I like about him too, do you see him overly talking about how good he is? He just goes out and plays and he shows you how good he is. His silence is not poor leadership. His example is great leadership and that’s what he does.

Ok.  You’ve got our attention, Gregg.  Anything else you’d like to say about Barron?  Maybe a player comparison...

I’ll tell you what and I don’t want to throw this name out because we’re heading up there right now, but there’s some similarities on what he can do that Sean Taylor could do. Sean did some other things in the back end that Mark is not as strong on. But, around the line of scrimmage, there’s some similarities of some of the things I used to do with Sean down and around the line of scrimmage. I know that that’s somebody that he has looked at too and there’s kind of a smile on my face when he and I talk about Sean Taylor

Oh my.  And oh yes.