Barron practices... at left tackle - AP

[Nick]

Barron practices . . . at left tackle
By R.B. Fallstrom
Associated Press
Monday, Aug. 15 2005

Alex Barron, the Rams' first-round pick, practiced for the first time on
Monday after ending a two-week holdout last week and landed at a new position.

All of his snaps came at left tackle, Orlando Pace's position, a clear
indication that for the immediate future the Rams consider him a high-priced
backup.

"He's got a long ways to go to learn how to play," coach Mike Martz said.
"When he gets to the point where he can play, and he's ready to play, then
we'll make a decision on what he does."

Martz named Barron the starting right tackle shortly after the team took him
with the 19th overall pick, but demoted him in a minicamp. Barron struggled
with technique and the move from left tackle, his primary position in college,
to the right side. Martz believes he's missed too much time to be of much help
at least early in the season.

For the time being, the Rams have Matt Willig and Rex Tucker manning the
right side. Tucker, who had signed as a free agent to become the new left
guard, played the entire exhibition game at the position on Friday.

"I thought he did exceptionally well," Martz said. "I was shocked. He's
still learning but most of the night we left him in there to get experience and
boy, he did a terrific job."

Willig joined the team only last week. Still, that's longer than Barron, who
arrived in training camp on Friday after signing a five-year, $9.2 million
contract.

"We've got two right tackles over there, two veterans that are ready to
play," Martz said. "They're both playing well."

The remedial work began for Barron on Saturday and Sunday, when the rest of
the team was off following a 17-13 victory over the Bears in their preseason
opener. On a rotating basis, offensive line coaches John Matsko, John Benton
and Jackie Slater spent about an hour each drilling fundamentals into the
Florida State rookie.

"It helped out a great deal," Barron said. "This caught me up on some of the
things that had been going on in camp, new plays and different techniques and
stuff.

"The other guys were off; they deserved to be off."

The tutoring continued despite thunderstorms that knocked out electrical
power at Rams Park on Saturday.

"It was all right for a while and then it started getting dark," Barron
said. "When it got dark there wasn't anything to do about it so we had to
leave."

Monday's morning practice was another positive step.

"He had a very impressive day," Matsko said. "The most impressive thing was
his toughness. He was competing and going after people."

On Sunday at San Diego in the second preseason game, the Rams will throw him
into the fire. Matsko said Barron would play the entire second half.

"Oh yeah, Alex will play this weekend. Absolutely," Martz said. "He needs to
play now. He'll have plenty of time to get himself ready."

Ready or not, Barron is just going with the flow.

"We'll see on Sunday," he said. "I'm just here and taking this all in.
Hopefully, I can put it all together and be successful."

[Tony Soprano]

I'm not confident we're set at Right Tackle... How many did we go through before and Martz Publicly said he liked them all.

John St. Clair, etc, etc, etc..

Bulger and Warner almost got killed and we had to assign a back to help out on that side for parts of two years. Remember the opener at the Giants when Warner was pummeled unmercifully?

The Team (Charlie Armey, Martz, and the scouts) certainly thought we needed a ORT when we used our first round draft choice on Barron. We know that Jamal Brown (OKLAHOMA) was
also a priority to the Rams.. So, the ORT was Identified as the Need. Now, it's all good and Barron can play backup on the
LEFT ??? I don't think so.


.

[AvengerRam]

Here's my take.

A few months ago, Martz said Barron was the starting RT.

After a few practices, he was 2nd string.

Today, Martz said that Barron is the 2nd team LT.

Do any of us know what Martz might say after a few more practices and some preseason games?

Stay tuned.

[sprtsmac]

I would just hate to see us waste a 1st round pick on a backup LT. Hopefully sometime soon he goes over to the right side and learn the position that he was drafted for.

[Nick]

IT'S HIS FIRST PRACTICE!!!! Why are we talking about our having wasted a pick on a back-up LT? Let's not overreact and be premature in our judgments here! For all we know, he could be starting on the right side sometime during this season because Tucker and Willig don't work out.