S Mark Barron now a Ram….

Newly acquired Rams safety Mark Barron speaks to the media for the first time at Rams Park.

http://www.rams-news.com/mark-barron-its-on-to-new-things-video/

Bucs send Mark Barron to the Rams
Posted by Mike Florio on October 28, 2014, 4:13 PM EDT
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/10/28/bucs-send-mark-barron-to-the-rams/

As Buccaneers coach Lovie Smith tries to remake the defensive roster into a unit that will better employ his preferred defense, they’ve moved on from one of the safeties acquired by the prior Tampa regime.

Per a league source, Mark Barron has been shipped to the Rams. The former Alabama standout was picked eighth overall by the Bucs in 2012. At the Jimmy Graham franchise tag grievance hearing, former Bucs assistant Butch Davis testified that Barron was drafted specifically because of Graham.

Barron, a strong safety, started 16 games as a rookie, 14 in 2013, and all seven in 2014.

The Rams inherit Barron’s rookie contract, with runs through 2015 but which carries an option for 2016. To extend the deal, the Rams will have to agree to pay Barron in 2016 the average of the 10 highest-paid safeties in 2015.

He’ll make the remainder of his $1.7 million salary this year. Next year, Barron’s pay bumps to $2.3 million.

Barron trade interesting, because I'm told McLeod's injury isn't serious and that he might miss only a game or 2 _ if he misses any time.

— Jim Thomas (@jthom1) October 28, 2014

Coady is probably gone, sooner or later or TJ might move to LBer.

• This reply was modified 10 years ago by Agamemnon.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000419401/article/buccaneers-trade-mark-barron-to-rams?campaign=twitter_atn_sessler
Vid on the trade

“barron will play the R.Harper role with the rams”

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• This reply was modified 10 years ago by wv.
• This reply was modified 10 years ago by zn.
• This reply was modified 10 years ago by zn.

I love the trade at this point…

Barron is a hitter and this defense needs guys who can blitz and hit. McLeod can hit, but he can’t blitz worth a lick.

John Clayton breaks down why he is a little bit surprised by the Buccaneers’ decision to trade Mark Barron to the Rams. Clayton wonders why they would trade a 25 yr. old former #7 pick in the draft who has a good future ahead of him.

http://www.rams-news.com/john-clayton-breaks-down-the-barron-trade-to-the-rams-video/

i suppose it’s a can’t lose trade, but the bucs got rid of him for a reason…

ranked 66th at his position? maybe it was just a wrong fit…

Rams acquire safety Barron from Tampa Bay
• By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-report/rams-acquire-safety-barron-from-tampa-bay/article_e5a7d91a-568d-5142-97d6-9282161837f4.html

It was not a blockbuster move by any stretch of the imagination, but the acquisition of Tampa Bay safety Mark Barron by the Rams in exchange for a pair of 2014 draft picks was the “headliner” of Tuesday’s trade deadline day in the NFL.

It’s a curious move in the short-term, because Barron plays strong safety. The Rams already have a young up-and-coming strong safety in T.J. McDonald. But it certainly provides an upgrade of overall talent in the secondary over the long-term.

Barron, who turned 25 on Monday, was the No. 7 overall pick by Tampa Bay in the 2012 draft. He is the highest-drafted defensive back in school history at Alabama, where he was a two-time All-American and two-time national champion.

In the NFL, he had started 37 of a possible 39 games for the Buccaneers, making the Pro Football Writers of America all-rookie team when he recorded 88 tackles, 10 pass breakups, and an interception.

Last season he had an identical tackle total (88), with two sacks, two interceptions, and three breakups. In seven games this season for the Bucs, he had 49 tackles and three breakups.

According to observers in Tampa Bay, Barron didn’t excel in coverage and didn’t seem like a fit in the Cover 2-based defensive scheme of new Buccaneers head coach Lovie Smith.

At 6-2, 213, Barron is a collision player. He’ll miss a tackle from time to time, but packs a wallop on contact. The consensus in Tampa seemed to be that Barron had plenty of potential but never played up to that potential. Nonetheless, there was some surprise that the Bucs gave up on him after just 2 1/2 seasons. But sometimes that’s the case when there are regime changes as was the case in Tampa.

The Bucs received fourth- and sixth-round picks from the Rams in exchange for Barron.

How the Rams use Barron this season remains to be seen. It’s hard to imagine Barron replacing strong safety T.J. McDonald, a third-round draft pick in 2013 who already is one of the Rams’ better defensive players and arguably their best defensive back.

The Rams feel that McDonald is capable of playing free safety even though he’s got a strong safety’s frame at 6-2, 219.

Free safety Rodney McLeod suffered a knee injury, what has been described as a sprained MCL, Sunday in Kansas City. However, it’s not believed to be a serious injury, but rather something that might sideline him for a week or two _ if at all.

Barron is in the third year of his original four-year deal coming out of college, so the Rams inherit about $900,000 of his $1.705 million base salary for 2014. He’s due to make a base of $2.3 million in 2015.

One other factor to be considered in the trade for Barron: The 2015 draft does not look strong at the safety position. At this point, the feeling by some at Rams Park is that there may not be a safety of Barron’s caliber available in the ’15 draft.

The Rams made several other moves Tuesday, but still have some work to be done. The team released QB Case Keenum from the 53-man roster, and released sixth-round draft pick Garrett Gilbert from the practice squad.

zn wrote:

That suggests he’s moving him to FS.

He moved Sean Taylor to FS so why not.

Jim Thomas:

The Rams feel that McDonald is capable of playing free safety even though he’s got a strong safety’s frame at 6-2, 219.

Well that answers that.

Barron won’t be playing much at first this season anyway, you would think.

Nick Wagoner retweeted
Andy Benoit ‏@Andy_Benoit 1h1 hour ago
My guess is #Rams will become a dime sub-package D now that Barron is aboard.

from Rams add Mark Barron but where does he fit?

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/13109/rams-add-mark-barron-but-where-does-he-fit

Barron…is third among safeties in pass breakups since 2012 with 17.

…

One other option is to use Barron or McDonald in a nickel linebacker role which would allow Williams to devise blitz schemes with both McDonald and Barron and McLeod (when he returns) on the back end.

This acquisition confuses me. This guy is essentially TJ MacDonald all over again.

Grits

Quick-Hit Thoughts on Rams’ Acquisition of Mark Barron
By Anthony Stalter

http://www.101sports.com/2014/10/29/quick-hit-thoughts-rams-acquisition-mark-barron/

I usually use my weekly column space to break down the three plays that defined a Rams win or loss, but you saw the Kansas City game. It wasn’t pretty. If you want to relive that 34-7 monstrosity, then be my guest. However, just thinking of re-watching that game again (and from different angles, no less!) makes my head hurt.

So here are my quick-hit thoughts on the Rams’ decision to acquire safety Mark Barron from the Bucs in exchange for a fourth- and sixth-round pick on Tuesday at the trade deadline.

Did the Rams just trade for T.J. McDonald? As previously noted, Barron’s strengths come when he’s playing closer to the line of scrimmage, where he can make an impact defending the run. But he struggles in coverage, frequently getting himself out of position when asked to cover a lot of ground.

Barron’s attributes aren’t unlike T.J. McDonald, who delivers big hits when defending the run but who can also get lost in coverage himself.

So with Rodney McLeod currently battling a knee injury, we could potentially see both Barron and McDonald on the field together at the same time. That’s ostensibly good news for the run defense, but I shudder to think what future opposing quarterbacks Colin Kaepernick, Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers could accomplish against the Rams’ deep coverage.

The price was right. Barron was a two-time first-team All American under Nick Saban at Alabama and was viewed as one of the safer choices in the 2012 NFL draft. He was expected to be an immediate playmaker after the Bucs selected him with the No. 7 overall pick, but in 37 games he’s created just four turnovers. That said, there’s no question that his strength is defending the run, which is an area in which the Rams have struggled all season. He’s not the complete safety that some believed he’d be coming out of Alabama, but the Rams only parted with a fourth- and a sixth-rounder to acquire him from Tampa Bay. Even if he doesn’t pan out for the Rams, Les Snead bought low on a player who once had tremendous upside (and maybe still does, although the results to this point have been unsatisfactory).

What does this acquisition mean for Alexander? The Rams raised eyebrows when they selected Mo Alexander in the fourth round of May’s draft. As an in-the-box safety with limited coverage skills, Alexander is cut from the same mold as McDonald and Barron.

What’s the point in having three safeties who all do the same thing? It would be one thing if Alexander were a special teams maven, but that hasn’t been the case. Granted, the selection of Alexander and the acquisition of Barron don’t have to be mutually exclusive. After all, the drafting of Alexander shouldn’t preclude Snead or Fisher from landing a potential bargain in Barron.

It would have made zero sense for Snead or Fisher to say, “We really like the price of Barron and see him as a potential fit here in St. Louis. But we’re going to pass on a trade because, you know, Mo Alexander.”

That said, it’s entirely fair to ask why the Rams decided to draft Alexander when McDonald was already on the roster and quarterbacks Zach Mettenberger, Tom Savage, A.J. McCarron and Aaron Murray were still on the board.

How will Barron be used? This is perhaps the most intriguing question because it produces plenty of tentacles. Barron wasn’t a fit under Lovie Smith in Tampa because Smith wants his safeties to cover both deep and in man, and Barron simply doesn’t fit into that mold. So how is he a fit in St. Louis? Under Gregg Williams, the Rams have utilized a lot of single-high looks with McLeod as the deep safety. If Barron and McDonald are essentially the same player (which they are), then who plays free safety with McLeod out? Do the Rams try to get by with Barron and McDonald until McLeod returns in a few weeks? Do they ask rookie Lamarcus Joyner to play free safety considering that’s one of the many roles he served under Jeremy Pruitt at Florida State? Will they put Barron in a hybrid OLB/S role where they ask him to play on first and second downs in place of Alec Ogletree, who has had major issues defending the run? It’ll be interesting to see how creative Williams gets with Barron.

Ram Bytes: Trading for Barron is a smart move
• Bernie Miklasz

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bernie-miklasz/ram-bytes-trading-for-barron-is-a-smart-move/article_7c5e9cb1-5607-5ede-a396-2647ad9cbd4b.html

Good afternoon.

Let’s talk about the Rams…

1. I view the trade for Tampa Bay strong safety Mark Barron as the Rams’ first move of the 2015 offseason. Sure, Barron can help the Rams now. He’s a box safety, a run enforcer, and a weak Rams’ run defense need his muscle. And Barron can do his part to strengthen a vulnerability: containing outside runs that have repeatedly gone for big gains.

2. In 2012, Barron (as a rookie) was rated No. 9 among NFL safeties by Pro Football Focus in “stop percentage” on running plays when lining up within eight yards of the line of scrimmage. (In other words: in the box.) Last season, Barron was ranked No. 2 by PFF in stop percentage among safeties when setting up in the box. This year his stop percentage is down; Barron clearly has struggled to adjust to coach Lovie Smith’s Cover 2 defensive scheme. I would imagine that the Rams will keep it relatively simple for Barron by turning him loose to make tackles.

3. And if Barron gets lost in Gregg Williams’ system, then maybe it’s time to look at the coordinator’s system and the failure to put players in position to maximize their talent. But make no mistake, the Rams need a tough cop to stop the run. According to Pro Football Focus, safeties T.J. McDonald and Rodney McLeod and linebackers James Laurinaitis and Alec Ogletree all rate below average in performance against the run this season. Barron fills a need. And he’ll do a good job if the coaching staff uses him the right way. And I think they will. But if Williams thinks Barron is strong in coverage … that would be a miscalculation.

3a. Ogletree is having an awful second NFL season. He’s the Rams’ most disappointing player so far in 2014. He’s frequently lost out there, takes wrong angles, and teams have exploited him to click off huge runs to the outside.

3b. More on the Rams’ horrible defense against outside running plays: according to STATS LLC, opponents have gained 312 rushing yards on 55 runs to the left sideline, an average of 5.67 yards per attempt. And on 62 rushes to the right sideline, opponents have 376 yards — averaging 6.06 yards per run. No NFL defense has done worse in this area.

4. I don’t care that the Rams gave up a No. 4 and a No. 6 draft pick for Barron. Several reasons: (A) He’s a young player with considerable upside; (B) his contract includes a team option for 2016, so the Rams have Barron under control for the next 2.5 seasons, and can always work up a new contract for him if he’s a fit; (C) there’s no reason to assume those picks would have resulted in good players coming here. Barron has been a Top 10 box safety in this league already… and he’s only in his third season.

5. And then there’s this: the Rams have to put an end to this cycle of being the league’s youngest team every year. I’m not saying they should sign a bunch of aging, declining, injury-prone players; they’ve gotten into trouble doing that in free agency. (Cortland Finnegan, Scott Wells, Jake Long.) But it’s good to have young, potentially ascending veterans in place. This perpetual rebuilding project of GM Les Snead and coach Jeff Fisher has to evolve and firm up, or this team will never get better.

6. I’m in favor of playing any young Rams player that has potential. Find out what these guys can do. That’s the best thing that can come out of this season.

Moving on from Barron…

7. Can T.J. McDonald play free safety? When the Rams drafted McDonald, they said he was capable of playing either position, strong or free safety. We’ll find out.

8. Pardon me if I don’t join others in freaking out over Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein. Yes, he had a bad day in Kansas City. But good grief, The Leg has made 32 of his last 34 field-goal attempts from inside 50 yards. Since coming to the NFL in 2012, Zuerlein ranks 6th among qualifying NFL kickers in percentage (60.9%) of kickoffs that result in touchbacks. And since the start of last season, when it became easier for kickers to get touchbacks, Zuerlein ranks 4th in the league with a touchback percentage of just under 65 percent. Cut him? Really? For the love of Novo Bojovic, calm down.

9. I don’t mind a running back by committee thing … but usually committee members have specific roles and assignments. There seems to be no real pattern or rhythm for how any of the Rams’ backs are being used. This committee lacks definition. And that isn’t good.

Finally…

10. If you’re craving something positive about the Rams, check out this piece by Sam Monson at Pro Football Focus. In analyzing the outstanding play of Rams’ rookie defensive tackle Aaron Donald, Monson says Donald may be the NFL’s best DT.

Thanks for reading …

-Bernie

————
Bernie: 3a. Ogletree is having an awful second NFL season. He’s the Rams’ most disappointing player so far in 2014. He’s frequently lost out there, takes wrong angles, and teams have exploited him to click off huge runs to the outside.

3b. More on the Rams’ horrible defense against outside running plays: according to STATS LLC, opponents have gained 312 rushing yards on 55 runs to the left sideline, an average of 5.67 yards per attempt. And on 62 rushes to the right sideline, opponents have 376 yards — averaging 6.06 yards per run. No NFL defense has done worse in this area.
——————-

Major questions :
Is Greg Williams a significant cause of this?
Can Greg Williams fix this?

I ‘hate’ bad run defense.
It makes me want to watch Heidi.

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