Kipers last Mock - Barron is dropping Big Time

So he didn't take what he was hearing from the teams over his own opinion until now?

 

Barron's not what he appears

I read this in The State newspaper today (Sat.) :

Posted on Sat, Apr. 23, 2005

Despite concerns, Alex Barron insists he can be as nasty as he wants to be . . . when he has to be

By DAVID NEWTON

Senior Writer


CHARLOTTE — Whenever Alex Barron hears that his son lacks the nasty streak it takes to be a top NFL offensive tackle, he remembers the time his namesake’s helmet was ripped off by a defensive end from Aiken High.

At the time, the younger Barron was a star at Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School.

“I was sitting in the stands and said, ‘The next play, you’ll see. He’ll put him on his butt,’” the elder Barron recalled. “And sure enough, they ran that play behind him, and he put that guy right on his back.

“That’s the kind of kid he is. He’s not going to physically fight you. He’s just going to play the game like it should be played.”

Nasty streak or not, the 6-foot-7, Alex Barron Jr., a 320-pound senior from Florida State, likely will be the first offensive lineman taken in today’s NFL draft.

He is projected to go anywhere from the 10th to 15th pick but is unlikely to get past the Carolina Panthers at No.14.

“I really don’t know what to expect,” Barron said. “There has been a lot put out there about me not having a mean streak. I don’t believe that is a question.

“At times it may not look like I have any desire or heart for the game, but I’ve got it all.”

Barron’s father, the basketball coach at O-W, said those who say his son lacks a nasty streak are groping.

“If you watch film on him, he just goes about getting his job done,” he said. “You don’t have to have a nasty mean streak. If that’s the only thing they judge him on then they’re wrong.”

The elder Barron offered as evidence three facts.

First, his son was a two-time All-American at Florida State who allowed one sack last season.

Second, FSU coach Bobby Bowden said the younger Barron could become the best tackle he has coached. That is a strong statement considering Bowden coached Walter Jones (sixth pick in ’97) and Tra Thomas (11th in ’98).

Third, Barron ran the 40-yard dash in 4.83 seconds during Pro Day at Florida State. That time was faster than that of half of the tight ends at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

“He got the job done in a quiet way, but he’ll block you into the ground before he lets you get to that quarterback,” Barron Sr. said. “I remember in the last bowl game when the big defensive end from West Virginia knocked his helmet off. The next several plays he just went after the guy.

“That is a mean streak that is not really exposed, but it’s a mean streak.”

New Orleans-based draft analyst Mike Detillier said the nasty streak concern is overblown. He said people used to say the same thing about tackle Willie Roaf when he came to the Saints.

Roaf became a nine-time Pro Bowl player.

“He used to laugh at that,” Detillier said. “He said when you play left tackle, the biggest thing you have to do is play under control because you have the best defensive end in the world coming at you.”

Detillier said the drawback on Barron is technique and strength, a problem he has seen with other Florida State linemen the past few years.

Detillier agrees with most draft experts that Barron can be a potentially dominant NFL left tackle in the mold of Orlando Pace, who was the top pick of the 1997 draft.

He said that Tom Shaw, a pro football speed and performance enhancement coach in New Orleans who has prepared Barron for the draft, “raves about what type of athlete he is.”

“Does he have a nasty streak?” Detillier said. “You’re about the third guy that has asked me that.”

Barron heard the question many more times at the combine, where he did not participate in all of the drills on the advice of his agent. He simply told coaches and general managers if they were looking for a rah-rah player he wasn’t that guy.

“Turn on the tape and you’ll see what I can do,” Barron said. “Look close enough, and you’ll see there is a real passion simmering below (the surface) with me.

“I mean, there’s probably been a couple of times in my career where I’ve gone after a lineman and screamed, ‘What the hell are you trying to do to me?’ But no, not too often.”

Barron said he’s not the type of player to grab an opponent by the facemask to get his attention. He prefers to let his speed, agility and size do his dirty work.

“Part of it is attitude, too, like feeling you have to treat the quarterback as if he’s a family member,” he told reporters at the combine. “You think like, ‘Yeah, what if that was my mother or sister back there, and somebody is trying to mess with them? What if that (defensive player) was a thief, trying to break into our house?’

“It’s kind of like the commercial where the players screams, ‘We must protect this house!’ “

Barron opted not to protect quarterbacks at the Senior Bowl, again on the advice of his agent. Some read that to mean a lack of passion.

“Hey, a two-time All-American playing in the Senior Bowl ... he didn’t have anything to prove,” his father said. “If he had played he wouldn’t have helped his stock, and he could have been injured.”

Barron visited three teams: Miami (No. 2), Tennessee (No. 6) and St. Louis (No. 19). Detillier expects Barron to go to Houston at No. 13 or Carolina a No. 14.

The Panthers don’t appear to have reservations about the mean streak. Three years ago draft analysts said North Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers took plays off.

Peppers had 12 sacks as a rookie despite missing four games and was named to the Pro Bowl this past season.

“He’s regarded as one of the top players in the draft, and certainly one of the top tackles,” Carolina general manager Marty Hurney said of Barron.

Barron will wait for his call at the ESPN Club at Disney’s Boardwalk in Orlando, Fla. He will be joined by a small group of family and friends, none of which are concerned about his nasty streak.

Reach Newton at (803) 802-2091 or [email protected]

 

If we were keeping Gross at LT then Brown makes a lot of sense. I am not sure about it now though. Brown seems like more of a RT than an LT. I would probably have to go with Barron and hope he stays healthy. After seeing that mock I would have to do it just to keep Barron from going to the Vicklanta Mexicans.

 

Jacksonville has needs at WR, CB, and DE, but I don't see how they could possibly pass on Barron if he even made it that far.

 

still dropping..........