Oakland Raiders third-round draft pick Joe Barksdale wasn’t able to make it to the player-organized workouts in Atlanta last month. He doesn’t have a copy of the team’s playbook either.
So, the former LSU Tiger is turning to unconventional sources to pick up the team’s offensive game plan… his father’s TiVo and NFL.com.
Barksdale’s father is a big Raiders fan and recorded most of their games on his DVR last season.
“I go home and watch them, kick the door in, take his chair,” Barksdale told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “I don’t know the names of the plays, but I’m able to pick up on the plays from looking at the games. I’ll be ready.”
It’s an interesting approach for a player who is hoping to help sure up an offensive line that was questionable at best last season and will lose its anchor, Robert Gallery, to free agency.
Barksdale has been training near his native Detroit with Kyle Vanden Bosch and Cliff Avril of the Lions in advance of the start of his first NFL training camp.
He admits the NFL Lockout has hurt his development heading into the season, but is ready for what lies ahead once it’s resolved.
“It’s going to be a steep learning curve, but at the end of the day these are the cards we were dealt and we just have to pretty much roll with the punches and be ready to come in and contribute when we can,” he said. “I don’t think it’ll affect playing time because, like I said, if you want it bad enough, you’ll get it.”
I’d like to let some of y’all know one thing. He did not attend the workouts in GA with the rest of the team because he still had classes. He’s a blue collar type guy and with the right coaching he will be just fine. No need to worry about him. He’s a homebody. He will do what it is we need to do and that’s get down and dirty when it counts.
The knock on this guy coming into the draft was his desire to work. He is a great athlete who needs to improve his mechanics, then he doesn’t attend his first team related work-out. It doesn’t sound like he has reached out to anyone to get a playbook. I’m starting to think we missed on this guy already and I’m still in DHB’s corner. At least he works his tail off. I don’t think anything bad about a guy who doesn’t have the talent as long as they worked hard for it. But I cant stand a guy with great talent who doesn’t try.
I hope Barksdale finds another way to study the offense besides watching Tivo at his dad’s house. Surely he can call Jason Campbell, who reportedly has a playbook, and get some help with the terminology and assignments of the offense. Also, I’m sure one of the veteran OL men wouldn’t mind answering some questions about the OL assignments. Barksdale needs to be a bit more proactive if he wants to start this season.
Just a side note – I’m not trying to be a jerk by pointing this out, and I’m sorry if I come across that way, but it’s a little pet peeve of mine. Barksdale is “a player who is hoping to help ‘shore up’ the offensive line…”, not “sure up.” Shore up is a common idiom that means “support” or “make stronger”. Just a small tip to help you ‘shore up’ your writing for the future. I enjoy reading your articles.