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Joseph Barksdale (OL Arizona Cardinals)

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crazybuckfan40;610625; said:
This is what I had been hearing from a couple michigan people that had seen him play. I didnt know if it was just sour grapes or what. They said his ranking is based on combine stats.
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He's very impressively built, very well put together. Which is why I love him on OL. He's not much of a penetrator, but he's a wall. A perfect RT or RG. If he goes to ND (lords knows), they'll play him at DT and he'll become another Trevor Laws which isn't too bad, but it isn't too great either IMO. I think he's warranted a four star ranking, he's need to become more aggressive and keep low, he has the tendency to look like a grizzly bear when the ball is snapped, which he can get away with in high school, especially in the league he plays in.
 
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Published: September 22. 2006 3:00AM
Preps
THE TECHNICIAN: Detroit Cass Tech's Joseph Barksdale is one of the top linemen in the country
September 22, 2006

This is not what Rita and Joseph Barksdale envisioned almost four years ago when they decided to send their eldest son, Joseph, to Detroit Cass Tech.

Although Cass was not the first choice of their son, the Barksdales did not open this for negotiation. Joseph and his two younger brothers will all attend Cass, Rita's and Joseph's alma mater.

Rita is a 1976 Cass grad and a graduate of Lawrence Tech. She is a math instruction specialist for the city of Detroit while her husband is a '75 Cass grad who graduated from Wayne State and is a Detroit social worker.

"He did not have a choice," Joseph's father said. "He wasn't paying the bills, so he wasn't making that decision."

The Barksdales' interest in Cass had absolutely nothing to do with its fine athletic tradition and the number of football players who earn athletic scholarships to colleges across the country.

"Cass has a more broad-based curriculum," his father said. "When you graduate, that is important when you are deciding on what college you want to get into."

Football? It never entered the equation.

"He didn't play PAL or Pop Warner," Joseph's father said. "He had a minor interest in basketball, but he didn't excel in football."

How times have changed.

Today, Barksdale, 6-feet-6, 305 pounds, is one of the top linemen in the country and has led the Technicians to a 3-1 record heading into today's 6 p.m. game at Denby.

The Barksdales don't quite know what to make of all of the interest their son is attracting from college coaches who come bearing scholarship offers. This was never in their plans, and they approach it as if they are waiting for someone to say, "Just kidding."

Ask him for a list of schools he is considering, and the names Barksdale rattles off seems like everyone you see in the top 25: Louisiana State, Miami, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Southern California, Texas, Michigan, Michigan State and Florida State.

Although he was a good-sized freshman, Barksdale did not go out for football because he had a potential scholarship in mind. To be frank, he was 6-4, and a flabby 320 pounds and didn't like the way he looked compared with the guys he watched going to football practice.

"I saw how all of he other football players looked," he said. "I was pretty out of shape. I looked like an average high school lineman who hasn't lifted any weights or run any sprints."

That changed, too. With the direction of head coach Thomas Wilcher, who played football and ran track at Michigan, Barksdale began to get in shape.

"He used to come down in fourth hour during lunch and we'd talk," Wilcher said. "One day, I took him into the gym and asked him if he could dunk. He did it once and 'BOOM!' I told him: 'Oh my gosh, you can't dunk any more. You're going to rip down the backboard.' "

That was the first indication of the type of athleticism Barksdale possesses.

From there, it was just a matter of harnessing that energy and molding him into a football player, which was a gradual process.

"The first day of practice," Barksdale said when asked when he thought about giving up football. "I came up for summer conditioning and for a while, I would fake injuries. I said I hurt my ankle or I felt dizzy. I started to make stuff up. It's fun when you play; practice is not fun."

But it didn't take long for the lightbulb above Barksdale's head to go on. He realized the only one he was cheating by loafing was himself.

After his freshman year, he was hooked on football and almost became a pest.

"I was always in coach's ear, asking about different techniques he could teach me," Barksdale said. "I was finally motivated."

That spring, Wilcher took Barksdale to U-M for its spring football game, and he caught the eye of several U-M coaches, who were impressed with his size.

"I heard coaches asking: 'Can he run? What are his feet like?' " Barksdale recalled.

Barksdale's feet were fine, and he began working to improve his speed.

The next adjustment had to be his temperament. Like a lot of big kids growing up, Barksdale was told repeatedly not to be too rough on smaller kids, which is not exactly good advice if you want to play football.

"I was real timid," he said. "I had to realize football is a violent game. Between my 10th and 11th grade, I realize it didn't hurt to hit someone else, but it did hurt to get hit."

That was the last piece to the puzzle, because Barksdale showed a willingness to work hard to improve his strength and speed.

"In his junior year, he set goals," Wilcher said. "He would stay here until 6 o'clock. He'd work on his footwork, doing different drills. He'd do technique drills. It took him awhile to understand he could be a real strong person. I told him his 10th grade year, he could be the No. 1 player in the state."

Although Muskegon's Ronald Johnson is the consensus No. 1 player in the state, Barksdale isn't far behind him.

Over the last year, he has developed a reputation throughout the Detroit Public School League, which has spread across the state. After he attended several college camps over the summer, his reputation spread across the country.

With that reputation comes a responsibility, he believes, to play up to a certain level each week.

"I learned my name is out there," he said. "The first time somebody puts me on my butt, it will be on the Internet and all 119 Division I schools will hear about it. Every week, every day, I can never give up. But I'm not letting this mess with my head.

"I want to stay humble and hungry."

Although Barksdale has the size to play on either side of the ball in college, he likely will end up on defense because of his speed.

"I like playing defense better," he said. "Offense is controlled aggression. Defense is unbridled and relentless aggression."

It took him awhile to learn to play that way. He had perfected his technique to the point that he often tried to dazzle opponents with his footwork and moves without punishing them.

"I ran a lot of suicide sprints and different drills, and I can change direction quickly," he said. "I tried to finesse people. Coach told me all I had to do was hit the guy. He told me when the game is over, if the other guy isn't afraid of me, something's wrong."

Of course, all of his success in football wouldn't amount to a hill of beans if he didn't have the grades to go to college. But that was never a problem.

Barksdale has a 3.5 grade-point average and did well enough on the ACT that he will be eligible to play as a college freshman.

And everyone in his family credits Cass Tech for that.

"This is a tough school," he said. "It's hard. It's like any school in that, if you apply yourself, you'll be OK. But I'm in one of the hardest curriculums here -- chemical engineering."

That means he hasn't been able to float through high school with a myriad of fluff classes. Among the classes he is taking this semester are economics, organic chemistry, calculus and English.

"All it takes is studying," he said. "I study a lot. I have a PlayStation 2, but I only play it on weekends. If I play it during the week, I might rush through my homework. That was my parents' rule last year, but I carried it over to this year."

It has resulted in a transcript college coaches can look at without breaking out laughing.

"Coaches see my transcript and they say, 'Wow, there are some real classes here,' " Barksdale said.

That is precisely why the Barksdales sent him to Cass Tech in the first place.

"A lot of coaches see him for what he can do for them," his father said. "I see him as my son. Joseph sets an example for his brothers. I want him to be a good kid and a great man. I want him to be a role model from the public schools.

"I want him to be a positive African-American young man not doing X, Y and Z."

The bonus in all of this is that Barksdale will soon be off to college at an outstanding academic institution and it won't cost his parents a dime.

"That will be a blessing for us," his father said. "But I won't believe it until he gets into college."
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http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060922/SPORTS09/609220419
 
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"He did not have a choice," Joseph's father said. "He wasn't paying the bills, so he wasn't making that decision."
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"I see him as my son. Joseph sets an example for his brothers. I want him to be a good kid and a great man. I want him to be a role model from the public schools.
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Regardless of where Joseph ends up you gotta love his dad!
 
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Muck beat me to it with the "he didn't have a choice" quote. That, and seeing he's a fellow '75 high school grad, shows me that he's a quality father and that Joseph probably has his head on straight...
 
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BG - Bill Kurelic - 09/24/06

Joseph made an unofficial visit to Ohio State this weekend. He will make official visits to LSU (November 11th), Southern Cal (November 24th), and Ohio State (December, date not yet set); others in the running for an official visit are Tennessee, Miami, and Florida State.

BN - Dave Biddle - 09/24/06

Similar to the Buckeye Grove article; confirms that his last official visit will be to Ohio State, some time in December.
 
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FOOTBALL: Cass Tech player named to bowl

Joseph Barksdale, a defensive tackle from Detroit Cass Tech, was selected as a U.S. Army All-American and will play in its bowl game Jan. 6, 2007, in the Alamodome in San Antonio.

The game, which will be televised by NBC (Channel 4 in Detroit), features 80 of the nation's top high school football players.

"Joseph Barksdale is a truly dominant defensive tackle," said Garrett Shea, director of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. "He is a force on the field, getting off the ball quickly, demanding double teams and wreaking havoc in the backfield."

Link
 
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