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Many mock drafts have the Jets picking Alabama safety Mark Barron with the 16th pick of the first round. While mock drafts are pure guesswork, this conjecture makes a lot of sense.
Barron is the best safety in this draft, and it’s not even close for second.
The Jets have got to come with a better plan to cover tight ends, a big problem for them the last couple of years, and Barron would be a huge help.
He’s a tad under 6-2, around 215 pounds, and runs in the 4.5 area.
Everyone wanted this kid coming out of high school in Mobile (Five-star recruit), Alabama where he was not only a football star, but excelled in track.
He chose to stay home and play for the Crimson Tide, and he didn’t disappoint.
After playing mainly special teams as a freshman, he stepped into a starting safety spot as a sophomore, and was superb from the get-go.
In 2009, on a team that won the National Championship (with Greg McElroy at quarterback), he led the SEC in interceptions with seven, and was second on the team with 74 tackles.
In 2010, with all new starters around him in the second, he finished with three picks and 77 tackles. If he entered the draft after that season, he likely would have been a first round pick, but he chose to go back to school.
While he did help lead the Crimson Tide to another national championship, he’s now dealing with a player’s biggest fear in coming back for his senior year – late in the season, he suffered a torn right pectoral muscle,, needed surgery, and missed the Tide’s bowl game.
He also had another small problem that might hurt his draft stock just a little – two days before spring practice was to begin at Alabama, Barron was arrested in Mobile for second-degree hindering prosecution.
Here is the report from the Mobile newspaper – “Barron was arrested Sunday morning in Mobile for second degree hindering prosecution. Barron was released within an hour of his arrest after posting a $500 bond.
“According to MPD spokesman Chris Levy, police were called to the scene of a single-car accident at 5 a.m. at the intersection of Interstate-10 and Michigan Avenue in Mobile. That’s where an officer found an abandoned Chrysler 300, which belonged to Barron, Levy said.
“Barron was the lone person at the scene. He did not drive the car and was not injured, Levy said.
“Barron told the officer had been at Shotgun Willies, a nightclub on Airport Boulevard. He would not tell the officer how he arrived at the scene, Levy said.
“Barron told the officer his car had been taken without permission by a man he only knew by the nickname “Bull,” Levy said. The officer determined through questioning the car had been taken by Barron’s cousin, Jeremy Lang, who fled the scene, Levy said.
“The officer offered Barron multiple chances to provide more concrete details even calling Baron’s mother and grandmother at their home on Butts Street, Levy said.”
Does this make him a risk? Probably not. He just needs to stay away from “Bull,” and some of his old acquaintances in Mobile.
This kid was as two-time captain for the Crimson Tide, and considered a model player.
And just what the Jets need to help them cover the tight end better.
In Part II of our look at Mark Barron, will be examine him more as a player.
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