Barron Exits With A Bang
October 29th, 2014
Yeah, it is too easy to pile on former Bucs safety Mark Barron. Now it’s Jeff Fisher’s problem to teach him how to cover NFL receivers.
Barron, for reasons unknown, regressed each year he was in the NFL. Joe swears Barron wasn’t this bad as a rookie. Even as a rookie, Barron was damned good on rush defense and tackling and on an occasional blitz.
Barron never was good in pass coverage and regressed to the point that he simply couldn’t be trusted any longer. Joe thought surely Barron turned the corner at New Orleans last month when he may have had his best game as a pro. That game actually turned out to be more of an accident than a harbinger of the future.
Joe was on the field for the final two minutes of the Vikings’ game-tying drive, and twice Joe noticed that cornerback Alterraun Verner released a wide receiver down the right sideline that he had strong coverage on, clearly expecting help from Barron.
Oh, Barron came, about five steps after the ball was caught for a reception and a first down.
That, apparently, was the final straw for Bucs general manager Jason Licht. The spreadsheeters over at Pro Football Focus also agreed. They hammered Barron for his ole’ defense Sunday, documented by John Breitenbach.
Mark Barron, SS: -2.6
Breakdown: Barron is yet to live up to his status as the seventh overall pick and he’ll want to forget this game in a hurry. The majority of his poor work came in run defense where he missed three tackles and made only one. Jerrick McKinnon had his number at the second level, evading him with ease on a number of occasions. In coverage he was targeted twice and gave up one catch for 28 yards.
Signature Play: Pick any of the run plays from 10.18 to 9.09 in the third quarter as Barron missed the tackle on three straight plays.
If a safety known for rush defense can’t make tackles and cannot cover himself with a blanket at night for pass coverages, then what the hell good is he?
The fact Licht found anyone not just to cough up a couple of draft picks for such a safety, but to also pick up his $2 million salary, well, Joe has a hunch Licht was nursing a top shelf bourbon on the rocks last night admiring his work.
October 29th, 2014 at 5:27 am
If he was a character problem as well, as Joe suggested with the preseason punishment, then this was a great move.
With that said, you jameis watchers need to keep in mind that lovie speed his problem kids as soon as he could. I know a lot of you like to think lovie will straighten out character problems. He didn’t drafty Manziel and shipped these two. Doesn’t look like he wants to deal with these people’s nonsense
October 29th, 2014 at 6:24 am
Good take Patrick. Lovie dumping “mattress in the yard” Williams is another example of this staff not wanting to deal with character problems.
October 29th, 2014 at 6:46 am
As long as Lovie is our coach we will continue to suffer. I just hope the suffering is over this year and it doesn’t continue into next year. This team has gotten worse every year since Jon Gruden left.
October 29th, 2014 at 6:58 am
Speed=shipped
draft=draft
Patrick in VA=dumb
October 29th, 2014 at 7:02 am
I love the way Lovie treats them like men.
IMO- the moment the start getting paid they better be ready for adulthood.
And tantrums should be quickly eliminated.
Great job Lovie & Licht!
For those who thought the defense blew the game, Lovie & Light took care of the problem. ATTENTION mob members when the defense only allows 13 points is not their fault if we loose.
Hmmm… about that o-line….. what is next there?
In Lovie & Licht I TRUST!!!
October 29th, 2014 at 7:11 am
Great job lovie…woohoo licht you da man….
Tampa fans deserve these clowns. Fml
October 29th, 2014 at 7:14 am
Lol at the last line. Licht has gone something like 1/10 in signings/trades, so congrats Jason on finally not doing something horrible (yet, who knows where this trade looks in 18 months). Oh yeaj, team is still 1-6 and has a ceiling of 3 wins. So job well done Jason.
Man we really suck as a franchise. “Celebrating” what so far is a nothing accomplishment and could ultimately go the other way is we’re in the dumpster fire wer are.
October 29th, 2014 at 7:24 am
Hey….lets place the blame where it lies…..is there anyone who thinks Barron played up to his #7 pick?……..not even close.
Now….he might have an attitude and may end up being a superstar somewhere else…..but like many….not in Tampa. All you have to do is look at players like LVD to know that type of player is what we need. One that gives 100 % no matter who the coach or what the record is or what the score is in the game.
Dominick’s overall drafts were a disaster. Barron was a bust for us and at least we got something for him!!!
October 29th, 2014 at 7:26 am
Winston won’t be in our plans. It’s a character front office, and this kid has none. Nice moves yesterday. If they could have only moved some O-linemen….
October 29th, 2014 at 7:29 am
WOOOO ya great we have a coach that is teaching these guys to be men!!! That is sooo awesome…UNFORTUNATELY HE WAS HIRED TO BE A FRIGGIN FOOTBALL COACH AND TAMPA BAY NEEDS HIM TO DO THAT NOT BE A SOCIAL WORKER….GREAT SOCIAL WORKER TERRIBLE TALENT EVALUATOR AND FOOTBALL COACH
October 29th, 2014 at 7:48 am
So it is official. Lovie has given up on this season. While I realize the chances of a playoff run are slim to none, a turnaround could have still happened.
All this did is create a need at the strong safety position and once again prove that Jason Licht cannot get a high round pick in any trade deal he does.
Patrick in VA Says
“If he was a character problem as well…”
EVERY player ever traded from the Bucs is said to have a character problem. I think its more of a claim to help fans feel better about the trade.
Example, Joseph was a stand up guy, but as soon as he was gone, we saw “character issue” claims. Same with Penn.
I don’t believe it for a moment.
October 29th, 2014 at 7:51 am
The question is this…can the 4th round pick fill the hole created by losing Baron? Going forward it is possible, but not a sure thing.
Remember our offense line? The whole line gone without replacements ready, and we ended up with crap. That’s what is happening with the strong safety position.
Maybe we’ll get lucky, but I haven’t liked ANY of the player acquisitions Jason Licht has negotiated. They are all over paid or we get bad returns on trades.
October 29th, 2014 at 7:52 am
Just curious though…anyone know hw many picks the Bucs have built up so far?
October 29th, 2014 at 7:53 am
By the way Penn has, at least according to reports, been playing pretty well for the Raiders.
#lovienandlichtdon’tknowtalent
October 29th, 2014 at 8:09 am
There is not a single position on our team that is playing worth a damn. To point out Barron as the culprit is ludicrous. Yes, he missed tackles in the Minnesota game. And I like how profootballfocus pointed out a good series of missed tackles by Barron. However, they fail to mention that McCoy missed tackles in that series too. Well, he did not really miss them so much as did not even try to tackle the runner as he went by, but my point is that more than Barron is to blame here. NOBODY on this team is playing good. NOBODY. That is a coaching problem.
October 29th, 2014 at 8:14 am
Patrick in VA Says:
October 29th, 2014 at 6:58 am
Speed=shipped
draft=draft
Patrick in VA=dumb
——————
Quit name-calling, Patrick in VA…that’s so dumb 🙂
October 29th, 2014 at 8:14 am
Talent evaluation and coaching of these players is lacking….dominck…has what 2 picks left of his regime? Who has Lovie brought in, Mike Evans….so maybe he is batting 1-18???
October 29th, 2014 at 8:17 am
Didn’t he get into a fist fight over where to sit with Brian Price his first day as a Buc?
October 29th, 2014 at 8:20 am
If you look at the history of this it comes back to Tanard Jackson. If Tanard could have stayed on the field we would not have drafted Barron. Sort of like how Talib cost this organization two number one picks. One for Talib, and the other to get Revis for one year.
The Bucs are atrocious at evaluating talent.
October 29th, 2014 at 8:35 am
JIm, great points, and Iunderstand what the bucs were doing philsophically drafting barron to matchup and shutdown the TEs in the NFC South but the league has turned into a flag football league and you need a front 7 that is physicall to stop the run and also put pressure on the qb and then some smart fast back end guys who can no longer be john lynchesque but know routes and study film………….but again have no clue if lovie and licht have any plans because the bucs are terrible and far away….
October 29th, 2014 at 8:37 am
And with Barron departing say goodbye to another Dominick high draft pick. Barron highlight real- body slamming RG3 on 3rd a long. Then being penalized 15 yds for unnecessary roughness.
October 29th, 2014 at 9:02 am
bucrightoff Says:
October 29th, 2014 at 7:53 am
By the way Penn has, at least according to reports, been playing pretty well for the Raiders.
———-
The number of people calling for Penn’s head after last season was beyond reasonable. I gave up defending him because I was attacked for it. Penn was not a huge weakness last season, he was okay, not great, but definitely not terrible. If the fans want to blame somebody for players not playing well, they can look at themselves. Every time a player or coach doesn’t live up to the highest expectations, the fans call for their heads… and then the guy is booted and we start all over again. Firing people simply because you aren’t happy isn’t the best way to go about things.
October 29th, 2014 at 9:08 am
Touch_Down_Tampa_Bay Said:
For those who thought the defense blew the game, Lovie & Light took care of the problem. ATTENTION mob members when the defense only allows 13 points is not their fault if we loose.
___________________________________________________________
I seem to re4call a fumble by ASJ.
October 29th, 2014 at 9:42 am
Im w Ralph Phillips
Okay Joe. So the Rams coughing up a 4 and 6 round picks doesn’t tells me that Barron was awful as you preaching. All our players are missing tackles and blowing assignments. Rams btw knows and can do more w Barron
October 29th, 2014 at 9:54 am
Lamarcus:
Joe has a story later this morning about Lovie and safeties you may want to read.
October 29th, 2014 at 9:58 am
As I’m sitting here reading some of the comments I see a lot of
People are saying lovie is teaching these guys how to have character
And be men. I just want to say this is football. Mistakes happen
In coverage. Sometimes someone will slip up and not cover someone
They should be covering. Character has nothing to do with that. It’s like
Bucs fans want that Dungy feeling to come back, guess what it’s not.
These days you gotta let this guys play football an try to win games. Show
Up perform, and do your job. The bucs are setting their selves
Back more and more each year. I was actually happy that lovie was returning
Back to the Bay Area but nothing has change. Maybe if he wasn’t running this
Tampa 2 Barron would still be here. It’s time to run a new defensive scheme because what’s happening now is not working and it probably won’t anymore. Seattle is getting exposed more and more and Dallas’ d is on thin thin ice. My whole point is that if the bucs keep this up they will go another seven years not in the playoffs. Smh
October 29th, 2014 at 10:16 am
Joe says he doesn’t like PFF yet continually references them…
October 29th, 2014 at 10:36 am
Seems like every player the Bucs draft regresses from his rookie year. You can say that about Martin….
October 29th, 2014 at 11:08 am
Celebrating another WASTED 1st Round pick…
This franchise is so F**KED, it’s not even funny.
Nothing but busts and botched trades except for McCoy and David in the past ten years.
Go Sucs!
October 29th, 2014 at 2:15 pm
“Licht was nursing a top shelf bourbon on the rocks”
Try Jim Beam’s Devil’s Cut. I highly recommend it.
October 29th, 2014 at 2:40 pm
Lovie is more likely to draft a Safety than Crablegs (although a DE, or OT would be my guess). If you like and want Crablegs, then don’t set yourself up for disappointment, it’s just not gonna’ happen, so put it out of your mind and think about Rachel Watson instead.
October 29th, 2014 at 4:57 pm
I think Licht is exerting control over this team…the Lovie puppet thing is only going to get him killed…the way I see it Lovie is out of touch…use him as a figure head and build around and in spite of him…