Where on the O-line is Barksdale playing now?

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ALAMEDA -- When the Raiders selected Joe Barksdale out of LSU in the third round of the 2011 draft, it only seemed a matter of time before he assumed the reigns at right tackle.But while veteran Khalif Barnes has maintained his grip on the position, Barksdale has added some versatility to his game while being lauded by quarterback Carson Palmer.Barksdale has worked evenly at both right tackle and left tackle, behind Jared Veldheer, this spring after seeing time at guard as a rookie and sees himself a natural fit in the Raiders' new zone-blocking scheme."I think I fit into it well," he said Thursday, after the Raiders wrapped up their three-day mandatory minicamp. "It was something we did a lot in college. Most offenses nowadays are trying to be balanced so there's a little bit of everything -- we did a good deal of man-blocking and we also did a good deal of zone-blocking. So as far as me fitting into it, I think I fit into it just fine."RELATED: Raiders roster Raiders depth chart
Asked about the depth of the offensive line, Palmer said, "Joe Barksdale (is) another guy who can play. It's a deep group."Barksdale said he was a left tackle at LSU as a freshman and a senior but was at right tackle as a sophomore and junior.Now, entering his "sophomore" season in the NFL Barksdale is getting the taste of a preseason program that was wiped out by last year's lockout."I'm happy that we do get a chance to work together as a team before camp, just to be able to pick up on the playbook and find things," he said. "It helps you play a little bit faster when you know beyond a shadow of a doubt what you're doing. I think that it helps in that respect. Just team camaraderie, working together, seeing it against a moving person instead of a bag. That kind of thing."

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