When a reporter informed Barham of Schottenheimer’s comments, he remarked, “you want to do it?”
Barham was drafted to play inside linebacker for the Cowboys, a position he manned his first two years at Maryland before transferring to Michigan where he moved to outside linebacker.
The Cowboys view Barham as an off-the-ball linebacker in their 3-4 scheme because he has the ability to make tackles in space. In his last season at Michigan, Barham had 32 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and four sacks.
“I started off the ball at Michigan, too,” Barham said during the first day of practices for rookie players at The Star. “So if you just go back and watch my first three years at college football, I was an off the ball [linebacker] but I always got some third down rushes or second and long rushers. It was a build up.”
Barham, 6-3, 240 pounds, said his favorite linebackers in the NFL are some of the past and present hardest hitters.
“I like Ray Lewis, Azeez [Al-Shaair] from the Texans, Fred Warner, a couple of guys for sure,” he said. “I feel like they’re all different types of players. Ray Lewis, straight hitter, he’s a commander of the defense. Azeez, a take-your-head-off kind of guy and Fred is more like a cover, chill guy. He can run sideline-to-sideline. I want to be all three so I can hit, so I can show how smart I am but for right now I’m definitely the hitter.”
When asked if he still wanted to do the Oklahoma drill with a reporter, Barham said, “It can still happen.”