Should Joe Barksdale Be A Priority For The St. Louis Rams?

By Blaine Grisak | Mar 6, 2015

Offensive tackle, Joe Barksdale, is just one of many St. Louis Rams set to hit the free agency market come Tuesday. Last offseason it was a priority for the Rams to re-sign Rodger Saffold, but does the same apply for Barksdale?

After all, without Barksdale, the Rams are left with:

RT: Jake Long???

RG: Anybody not named Davin Joseph

C: Scott Wells(WHY?!)

LG: Rodger Saffold

LT: Greg Robinson

In other words, the Rams offensive line situation was in rough shape before Barksdale possibly leaves, but there are serious questions if he does in fact go elsewhere.

While possibly underrated, Barksdale’s status has quite a bit of impact on what the Rams do with the line. Should he test the market and ultimately leave St. Louis, it forces the Rams to sign and possibly draft at the position. If he stays though, the Rams can if nothing else scratch that need off the board and focus on guard and center.

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The Rams have to decide if Barksdale was a solid right tackle that they’re comfortable moving on from or if he’s someone they can peg their offensive line successes to over the course of a new contract.

Last season, Barksdale was the 25th ranked tackle on Pro Football Focus while having the 15th best pass blocking grade. This of course was while playing next to Harvey Dahl and not Davin Joseph.

While the offensive line was healthy this year, Barksdale ranked as a top 15 tackle through the first half of the season. After that however, he fell off a cliff, finishing the season with a negative 5.9 grade of Pro Football Focus ranking him 48th.

Speaking of health, it is obvious that the Rams offensive line has struggled to stay healthy over the past two seasons with the exception of Barksdale. In 2013 and 2014, the tackle played in all 32 games, most of them being starts.

The Rams are going to have to consider and evaluate whether or not Barksdale’s production this season or lack thereof was because of the instability at the quarteback position and offensive line or if his production just dramatically fell.

The fact of the matter is, while having solid play at guard next to Barksdale, he was one of the best tackles in the NFL, however, being forced to block the entire right side of the defensive line, he obviously struggled.

Barksdale may not be a priority for the Rams to bring back per say, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t make a solid effort to bring back the tackle and only for the right price. It is likely that a team could overpay for Barksdale as he could be considered the second best tackle on the market next to Bryan Bulaga.

If the Rams want to keep a solid offensive line, signing Barksdale is a big part of that. However, he isn’t a player worth overpaying for, and is certainly someone they could replace through free agency or the draft.

Next: St. Louis Rams Must Re-Sign Kenny Britt

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