Barton is one of those guys that intrigued me. He seems to have gotten every ounce out of his ability without any room to grow, so everyone kind of shied away from him. But, the kid is determined, disciplined and has the physical strength to play the position. Every season we see veteran linemen who went undrafted or were late round draft picks that didn't have the dominant physical abilities. Those guys usually end up at guard, where the lack of lateral agility and/or the lack of long arms is minimized by the fact that you're flanked on both sides by other linemen. I see Barton as someone who looks like one of those many successful veteran linemen we see around the league. I don't expect him to ever be dominant or even to be a pro bowler, but I definitely can see him being a good NFL lineman down the road. Personally, I was hoping we'd pick him in the late rounds or as an UDFA, so I'm happy to give him a shot.
On another note, I'm happy to see we added Andy Alleman (sp?). I remember the year he was drafted and he seemed like a kid with some real ability to develop into a good lineman. If I recall correctly (correct me if I'm wrong), he dropped down to a lower level of competition and had an arrogantly insecure bad attitude. If that's the case, this might be a good environment to break him of that bad habit, train him how to be an NFL lineman, and steal a kid with some pretty good athletic talent buried under that bad attitude. Maybe Sparano can bring that ability to the surface. I'm kind of surprised there hasn't been more chatter about him. I think his problems may be psychological and correctable, and this firm handed regime is exactly what he probably needs.
Two good flyers. If they don't work out, ship 'em out and look for more to develop. If they do work out; nice finds Ireland.
