Ramblin' Fan » Ron Bartell

Bartell, Robbins on Rams cut list

Justin Stine — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:51:55 +0000

Dec 21, 2008; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams defensive back Ron Bartell (24) is tackled by San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Bryant Johnson (82) after intercepting a pass during the second half at the Edward Jones Dome. The 49ers defeated the Rams 17-16. Mandatory Credit: Photo by Scott Rovak-US PRESSWIRE

With free agency opening Tuesday, the Rams have already begun making roster cuts to clear cap space. Cornerback Ron Bartell was cut, as were defensive tackles Fred Robbins and Justin Bannan, center Jason Brown and defensive end James Hall. With the moves, the team freed up almost $19 million in cap space, which is a pretty nice number.

As far as the players go, I don’t think anyone is surprised by Brown or Bannan being gone. Brown was benched last season, and although Bannan wasn’t terrible, last year was his first with the team and he didn’t blow anyone away.

Hall has been playing good ball since he came to St. Louis, but he is 35 years old. He would have counted $3 million against the cap, so I guess it’s not a huge surprise. Word of Bartell’s possible release hit a few weeks ago after he missed the season with a neck fracture. Bartell has been cleared medically, so it will be interesting to see what happens with him. I really like Bartell, and I hope he can continue to play at a high level when he returns.

Bradley Fletcher Out For The Season

Justin Stine — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 06:57:08 +0000

I thought things were about as bad as they could get after Sunday’s loss to the Redskins, and I was really hoping this bye week was going to be the start of some good things for the 2011 version of the St. Louis Rams. So much for that. Rams cornerback Bradley Fletcher is going to miss the remainder of the season after tearing his ACL during practice Wednesday on a collision with wide receiver Mike Sims-Walker. Honestly, I don’t really know what to say anymore. Things were already awful on the corner depth chart with Ron Bartell and Jerome Murphy gone for the year, not to mention the fact that Justin King was already seeing far too much time on the field.

Now, the man who was our top corner after the injuries and who was already the number two behind Bartell heading into the season is done as well. That means that our corner group will look something like Al Harris, King, Rod Hood (signed last week) and Josh Gordy (practice squad). This secondary was already awfully bad, and now the one bright spot we had (in addition to Quintin Mikell) is gone. Read more on next page…

Rams Fall To Giants 28-16 On MNF

Justin Stine — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 04:56:57 +0000

Another week, and another disappointing showing for the St. Louis Rams, as they fell to the New York Giants 28-16 in New York on Monday Night Football. First of all, I thought it was evident that the Rams were better than the Giants. This is a game we should have won. The fact of the matter is that this team just makes too many mistakes. The offense had their way with the Giants in the first half but tallied just six points. You have to be able to put the ball in the end zone, and the Rams didn’t. The red zone offense looks exactly the same as it did last season after the team addressed that issue in the offseason with some of their additions. Defensively, I thought the Rams did a great job early. Unfotunately, the Giants made them pay on the few times they broke down in coverage. Justin King just isn’t good enough right now. I’m certainly not putting all of the blame on him, but with Ron Bartell out for the season he needs to be better.

As far as the mistakes go, the good news is that they are things that can be fixed. I still believe these receivers can catch a football, but other that Danario Alexander and Mike Sims-Walker they didn’t show it again this week. DX was great by the way. I imagine we won’t be seeing him on the inactives again this season unless he gets hurt. Greg Salas continues to be disappointing, and I know he’s a rookie, but he doesn’t look like he’s ready to play at this level. I think the team needs to seriously consider scaling back his snaps until he proves he is capable of being consistent in both the passing game and return game. More after the break…