
Bert Faibish
CFL.ca
In sports, high draft picks are often handed their job on a silver platter. No sooner is their name called from a podium by the commissioner then they find themselves anointed as the starter at their position. Particularly a player selected first-overall.
Not so for those chosen in the CFL draft, which is certainly not a rookie’s league and not so for Dylan Barker, who all of a sudden finds himself with the job he has sought after for over two seasons.
With the retirement of Sandy Beveridge, who left for greener, if not slightly more dangerous pastures, Dylan is now the starting safety and quarterback of the defence.
“I know what I’m doing back there so it’s just a case of relax, go out there and make the calls,” said Barker, after his first practice as the starter.
While it may not have necessarily been the way that he wanted to earn the starters job, the culmination of his years of hard work is something worth appreciating.
“It obviously feels really good, last year I got my shot for four games there, so I’ve already been out there,” he said.
“Last year really helped me a lot, being out there with the guys, playing with them,” added Barker.
Barker has had the advantage of playing in coach Marshall’s system for the majority of his career, growing with it and becoming accustomed to its demands and concepts.
“It’s always nice to be in the same system, sometimes in the CFL you could be switching your defensive system every year,” said Barker.
“It’s been two years learning in it now and it’s a defence that I understand really well and it’s a defence that we all buy into,” he said.
The void left by Sandy’s departure is not only physically manifested on the field, but felt in a leadership capacity. Sandy was the longest tenured player with the Tiger-Cats, playing in Hamilton for eight seasons.
Dylan is ready to step up and be a leader for the team, just in his own way.
“As a safety, you have to be a leader out there but at the same time, I’m not a ‘rah-rah’ guy, I’m not the talker kind of guy I just like to go out there and lead with my play on the field,” said Barker.
Even though he’s started games before, this weekend will be the first time he will be starting for the foreseeable future, and it will happen in his home province.
Dylan is a native of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and played four years at the University of Saskatchewan as a safety before being drafted by the Ticats in 2008.