HELLO, PITTSBURGH
Free-agent arrival easily made switch from safety to inside LB with Rams
Mark Barron, signed by the Steelers Sunday, is introduced to Pittsburgh Tuesday at the team’s South Side facilities.
Mark Barron’s football career was trending downward. Tampa Bay had given up on the No. 7 overall pick in the 2012 draft. The Buccaneers traded Barron, a trained safety, after just 2½ seasons. The then-St. Louis Rams, his new team, were using him as a backup defensive back in his fourth NFL season until a teammate’s injury changed the course of his career.
Former Rams linebacker Alec Ogletree was injured in the fourth game of the 2015 season, and former Rams coach Jeff Fisher told Barron to enter the game as his replacement. Barron had never practiced at Ogletree’s position, but it might have been the best thing that happened to him in his professional career.
Ogletree missed the rest of the season, and Barron played so well as a linebacker that the Rams signed him to a $45 million contract the following season.
“At that time I was a guy they used in certain packages because I wasn’t a starting safety,” said Barron, who signed with the Steelers this week. “But they wanted me on the field more. When Alec went down, that was a way to put me on the field. They told me to go out and play football. And I’ve been playing linebacker ever since. It wasn’t a thing that was talked about, discussed or anything like that. They threw me out there and told me to go play.”
Now he’ll help man the middle of the Steelers defense next to fellow inside linebacker Vince Williams. Barron, who is 6 feet 1 and weighs 214 pounds, is undersized for an inside linebacker, but he’s one of a growing number of hybrid players defensive coaches are using as linebackers.
Teams are passing so often that defensive coordinators need more athletic linebackers who are capable of playing against the run and the pass.
The Steelers were criticized last season for having their run-stopping linebackers in unfavorable matchups against receivers, running backs and tight ends. The Los Angeles Chargers, for example, targeted receiver Keenan Allen 19 times because they continually got him matched up on linebackers Jon Bostic and L.J. Fort. Allen finished with 14 catches for 148 yards. Seven of those catches came when a linebacker was the nearest defender.
The addition of Barron gives defensive coordinator Keith Butler a versatile player who won’t be as susceptible to so many mismatches.
“I’ve done it for a good portion of my career,” Barron said of his skills as a pass defender. “I’ve been playing DB since I went to college. It’s natural.”
While undersized for a linebacker, Barron does not view his height and weight as detriments. Rather, he uses his athletic skills to his advantage when taking on much bigger linemen on running plays.
“If you’re going to be a smaller linebacker, you have to be tough, physical and strong,” he said. “You also have to be smart and understand that you are undersized so you have to do some things differently in how you attack playing the run. If you’re a smaller guy and you have a 300-pound offensive lineman coming at you, you either have to use your leverage or you’re going to use your speed. You have to know yourself and have an understanding of the game and know how to make things work for you. You have to know football.”
Being a smaller linebacker can bring challenges when opposing teams commit to running the ball. The Patriots, for example, adapted their offense late in the season to run bigger personnel against teams with lighter linebackers, including a run-heavy game plan in the Super Bowl against Barron’s former team, the Rams.
Barron, however, does not believe he is a target.
“I don’t think that’s the case,” he said. “I know there might be a perception because I’m a smaller linebacker. I feel like a lot of coaches and players have respect for me in this league. I don’t feel like they think they can run at me. I don’t think that’s the case.”
Barron expects to be a three-down linebacker for the Steelers, but his exact role in the defense is still to be determined, he said.
Barron had two years remaining on his contract when the Rams cut him loose this month. One of the things main things that attracted him to the Steelers was playing for head coach Mike Tomlin.
“I always had a lot of respect for Mike Tomlin; it was just the opportunity to play for him,” Barron said. “The things I’ve heard about him, I think it might be a good fit for me — just the way he goes about things, how straight up and down he is about his work and the way he handles his players and communicates with his players. I feel like I’m a similar type of person. I’m straight up and down. I like things to be on the table — clear-cut. I operate in that fashion. To work for someone who operates in the same fashion, I felt like that would be a good fit for me.”