Could Mark Barron Start?

[RamInferno]

Does anyone think Barron could start this year next to McDonald?

The reasoning against this would be that they are both strong safeties and you need to have one free safety on the field.

On the other hand, Fisher has said that both safety spots are interchangeable in his system and he definitely has quite the collection of "strong" safeties on this roster. Do you think Fisher traded a 4th and a 6th round pick to get a guy just to use in sub-packages? Or would he be "Bobby Wagner mad" about not getting Mo Alexander in the 2014 draft if the guy was just going to be a bit player?

Last year Barron was used as a 3rd safety in sub-packages, but this is after coming over in a mid-season trade. He didn't know our defense, so they eased him into things by giving him just a few packages to learn at a time. This year, after a full training camp under his belt, plus half of last year, could his role be expanded to the point that he would be a starter and on the field for the majority of the snaps?

With all the moves the Rams have made, what do you think their vision is for the two safety spots?

 

[Barrison]

I think if he shows his predraft potential it's certainly possible. I don't think there's a system in the nfl that fits him better than GWs, if he does take McLeod's spot I think Alexander could fill Barron's old role nicely.

 

[iced]

No - he's a role player, and Mcleod has consistently improved every year

I think a better question is will they resign him after declining his option

 

[Fatbot]

I don't think Barron will play McLeod's role. True I'm not a huge lover of McLeod, but I was shocked at how awful Barron was in deep coverage last season. Maybe most of it was not knowing the defense scheme but some of it was inexcusable embarrassment (see Beckham Jr. 80 yd TD that I don't have the heart to post a link to). If he can't cover deep worth a lick I see him interchangeable with Ayers or Ogletree in passing situations, not McLeod.

From Fisher's comments and Joyner now only getting reps at CB, it seems pretty clear that McLeod is entrenched as the FS and will play every snap unless injured. If McLeod is injured we'd see Cody Davis short term and perhaps Joyner moved over if it was a significant injury.

There could be a training camp battle for the backup FS role between Cody Davis, Christian Bryant, UDFAs Hughes and Jacob Hagen -- Hagen being really intriguing based on his INT potential!

 

[iced]

I don't think Barron will play McLeod's role. True I'm not a huge lover of McLeod, but I was shocked at how awful Barron was in deep coverage last season. Maybe most of it was not knowing the defense scheme but some of it was inexcusable embarrassment (see Beckham Jr. 80 yd TD that I don't have the heart to post a link to). If he can't cover deep worth a lick I see him interchangeable with Ayers or Ogletree, not McLeod.

He's never really been good in coverage - was his knock in Tampa too

 

[DaveFan'51]

Does anyone think Barron could start this year next to McDonald?

The reasoning against this would be that they are both strong safeties and you need to have one free safety on the field.

On the other hand, Fisher has said that both safety spots are interchangeable in his system and he definitely has quite the collection of "strong" safeties on this roster. Do you think Fisher traded a 4th and a 6th round pick to get a guy just to use in sub-packages? Or would he be "Bobby Wagner mad" about not getting Mo Alexander in the 2014 draft if the guy was just going to be a bit player?

Last year Barron was used as a 3rd safety in sub-packages, but this is after coming over in a mid-season trade. He didn't know our defense, so they eased him into things by giving him just a few packages to learn at a time. This year, after a full training camp under his belt, plus half of last year, could his role be expanded to the point that he would be a starter and on the field for the majority of the snaps?

With all the moves the Rams have made, what do you think their vision is for the two safety spots?

I don't see any reason why Barron shouldn't see a lot of action, I just don't know about a starter or not!

Off-Topic: I like your avatar. The Rams Head makes me think of a fire engulfing the entire west coast and into Arizona, with the Horn coming down into Missouri! Just the way my mind works!!

 

[BonifayRam]

Any time the offense can get Mark deep in coverage its usually a win for our opponent. If Mark can be placed so he can be in a position to operate near the LOS then the defense has the edge. Having Mark starting @ the Rod McLeod post would be BAD!

As far as to why Snead traded for Mark Barron .....you might want to go back & take a look as to the injuries in our secondary in the game just before we made the deal. The amount of DB's hurting was.......many.

 

[iced]

Word was when the trade went down they didn't mind giving up a 4th and 6th because they didn't like the safeties in this draft - but i think the bigger reason was injuries. Trumain Johnson and Jenkins were out/questionable, Cody Davis (concussion) and Mccleod (knee) were also hurt and missing practice, Brandon Mcgee had just been put on IR.

Injury report day after he was traded:

Trumaine Johnson (knee), Tim Barnes (shoulder), Kenny Britt (hip), Marcus Roberson (ankle), and Lamarcus Joyner (hip) were all limited participants in practice.

William Hayes (foot), Rodger Saffold (shoulder), Janoris Jenkins (knee), Aaron Donald(shoulder), Rodney McLeod (knee), Jo-Lonn Dumbar (toe), Scott Wells (elbow), and Cody Davis(concussion) all did not participate.

View: http://www.stlouisrams.com/news-and-events/article-practicereport/Practice-Report-1029/d4ad6524-74c6-49e8-aa77-176d3e1806b8

 

[iced]

yea, TJ Mcdonald... we had injuries at safety too

A 'starting quality' SS became available. It was a yes/no decision and they said yes. They would probably have said yes even if everyone was healthy.

Yet they hadn't all season, and didn't do anything until the deadline was upon them with 4 key members of their secondary out or injured (Trumain hadn't returned yet).

Barron has been one of the worst safeties in the league, and was also a key problem in what was one of the worst secondaries ever for the Bucs I think in 2012 or 2013. he's not even a starter on this team and I don't think he's a key rotational player like a william hayes.

 

[Amitar]

Then why did the Rams trade a 4 & 6 for him?

 

[LACHAMP46]

As I have preached for some time, TJ McDonald will (should) primarily man the deep FS position, with Barron stationed near the box. Occasionally he will rotate deep. I can not see a reason why Barron doesn't play the deep position well, he learned from one of the best defensive coaches in college and is an excellent player. McLeod is a great special teams player, and probably an adequate backup at safety. He will continue to make HUGE mistakes, and I would imagine that Barron would actually be an upgrade at FS over him as well, as soon as he can figure out Greg Williams system...
The tampa-2 is an outdated defense, that continues to get shredded by modern offenses, it requires a LB that can basically man the deep middle like a safety, and Monty Kiffin had TJ playing in it in college were it was routinely exploited...Without LB's like Derrick Brooks & Brian Urlacher no way to really patrol the middle seam on these teams...Physical corner play is a must too.
Primary job of a safety IMO is to tackle in the open field, patrol your zone (usually deep), and man up occasionally on the TE, Backs, and some wrs (don't do this often)...missed tackles, missed assignments, and missed reads would put any player on the bench in high school. Don't know how McLeod has lasted this long (as a starter) with all the mistakes....
Barron & McDonald are the best players, and should be on the field most (all) of the time...I'd like to see Mo out there as well..kinda like Barron was last year

 

[Fatbot]

TJ McDonald will (should) primarily man the deep FS position, with Barron stationed near the box. ...

I like what you're saying except I'm not as sold on Barron after watching his awful coverage last season. Also TJ is not suited to be the FS either. I agree with you about McLeod, but I think you (and I) are going to have to accept that Fisher has a bromance with McLeod and he is 100% the starting FS next season. There will be zero competition for starter, only battle will be backup FS. When Barron sees the field it won't be McLeod that comes off, it will always be some package of Barron-McDonald-McLeod (barring injury).

 

[LACHAMP46]

I think you (and I) are going to have to accept that Fisher has a bromance with McLeod and he is 100% the starting FS next season.

 

[TheDYVKX]

Like it or not, McLeod is the starter, and if they have their way, he's the starter for the next 10 years (or however long the Fisher era lasts at the very least).

He's not being replaced anytime remotely soon. And I think he's better than he's given credit for.

 

[lockdnram21]

it was that but it was more of how they vieed the draft as a whole.

 

[BonifayRam]

Right after the KC game the Rams had one ready to play safety...McDonald. SS Alexander was simply not ready to play in the NFL. Bryant who was not on the 53 player roster has not been involved much in TC & PS due to previous college injury. Rodney McLeod knee took one serious hit in that KC game & they left Cody Davis in Hospital.

I think the thinking was to play both TJ McDonald & Mark Barron as the starters.....but Rodney show'd just how tough he really is when he was able to start a week later. Snead also had an issue with one of the OSLB'ing post with Jo Dunbar who was having a bad time with a really sore toe. So what we saw the rest of the 2014 season was Barron playing both SS & OLB'er.

Even though Barron has safety size he sure holds up very well @ OSLB'er post. This may sound dumb but I think LB'er Alec Ogletree plays much better than Barron deep in the secondary. Finally I would tend to agree that the safety prospects in the 2015 draft was very poor.

 

[jrry32]

I don't see him playing FS. If anything, he'll step into that 3rd LB role and platoon with Ayers depending on the package.