Lanschaften » After rough first two seasons now ‘confident’

Shilique Calhoun showing complete turnaround in new Raiders defense Ask me a couple months ago and I would have said Shilique Calhoun’s days in Oakland are numbered. He hung around on the Raiders roster for two seasons Art Shell Jersey , primarily because he carried the promise of a third round pick. That draft status was based on his college production. None of that production has shown up in the NFL and he was largely seen as a ‘dead man walking’ with a new staff whose opinions were not made based on draft position.As it happens, however, it was that new staff that appears to be the largest contributor to Calhoun looking revitalized. He has now legitimately earned his shot at the Raiders roster, regardless of where he was drafted or what he did in the college ranks.At Michigan State, Calhoun was a pure pass rusher. He put up 26.0 sacks over his final three seasons, showing increased production each season, and ultimately putting up 10.5 sacks his senior year. But many questioned if he could translate that to the pro game. Mainly because he was pushed off the line too easily by blockers.In many respects he was the antithesis of Jihad Ward, who was taken by the Raiders in the round before him. Ward was all potential with little production. And with Ward getting shipped off to Dallas during the draft, it was a strong sign the scholarships were over, at least with respect to players who have had two seasons to show up.Calhoun is now showing up. HIs numbers in Friday night’s game against the Packers were outstanding. One sack, two tackles for loss, and QB hits. And this didn’t come out of nowhere. At least it didn’t this preseason. Calhoun has 2.0 sacks, 6 QB hits, and 5 tackles for loss in three games. Those hits and tackle for loss numbers are both second in the league this preseason.This is coming from a guy who had a total of a half sack and 11 combined tackles in two NFL seasons, and was sent to the practice squad last season.How is this happening? A guy who was utterly invisible for two years looks unblockable. Mind you, this is coming against mostly backups Jerry Rice Jersey , but even still, he isn’t just playing well among them, he’s dominating.Calhoun just smiles and says “It’s confidence.” Confidence it what, you ask? Confidence in knowing what he is being asked to do. Confidence in his role in the defense. And confidence that his skillset it being maximized.“Mostly it’s being confident in myself. That’s the biggest thing is the last two years I haven’t been really confident in what I have been doing, my identity,” Calhoun told me after the Raiders preseason opener against the Lions. “I think this year more so I’m settling into my role and understanding what I need to do and being confident in myself as I progress through the game, so it’s really helped me out.”The previous staff took a pure pass rusher, who couldn’t shed blocks and made him a linebacker. That only made things worse because as much trouble s Calhoun had not giving ground against blockers, he was in a complete foreign country in coverage. What Calhoun described as “staying back on your heels, [not] punch you in the mouth football” which is how Calhoun made his hay at Michigan State.”I think the style of defense they run really fits me as a player,” said Calhoun after another solid performance Friday against the Packers. “It allows me to be aggressive, allows me to be the person that I was before I got here. It lets me be the person I was in high school, the person I was in college. It allows me to be aggressive and make plays.”Clearly this is a situation in which ‘coaching matters’. But it’s not entirely fair to place the blame solely on the coaches. Calhoun needed to get bigger. He needed to get stronger. He had rookie growing pains. When you look at his physique now, he’s clearly bulked up which is paying off. He is able to not just rush around the edge, but overpower and bull rush defenders.Coming out of college there were criticisms of him lacking a mean streak necessary for the position. Essentially, they were saying he was soft. Well Tim Brown Jersey , he doesn’t look soft at all now. Whatever he went through his first couple seasons and whatever the new staff has said to him has made all the difference in the world.“I’m more driven, more focused. I understand what I have to do now and I’m gonna try to play at a high level.”Follow @LeviDamien The Oakland Raiders spent the first quarter of the season getting close before finally breaking through for their first win against the Cleveland Browns.A lopsided loss to the Los Angeles Chargers looked like a step back, even if coach Jon Gruden tried to put a positive spin on the game Monday.“I think there’s a lot of good things, honestly, that happened yesterday,” Gruden said about the 26-10 loss before ticking off a list of problems. “The scoreboard was lousy, the field positon was bad, we gave up some big plays that was not good. Terrible interception in the red zone. There’s some negative things that are still resonating with me and Raider Nation.”Gruden then went on to praise the play of eight rookies, including tackle Brandon Parker and defensive tackle P.J. Hall, fill-in left guard Jon Feliciano, and some good plays made by Derek Carr outside of a costly interception on first-and-goal from the 1.“I’m going to continue to emphasize the good and do everything I can to fix the things that are bad, because most of the things that are bad, my fingerprints are all over,” Gruden said.It was not easy to sugarcoat this game, which marked the first time all season the Raiders (1-4) never held a lead. The pass rush generated little pressure, the defense created no turnovers Ted Hendricks Jersey , special teams provided no short fields, and Carr threw an interception at the worst time possible.With the Raiders trailing 20-3 and looking to mount a comeback late in the third quarter, Oakland had the ball first-and-goal from the Los Angeles 1. Despite the presence of powerful back Marshawn Lynch, Gruden opted to call for a play-action pass on first down.When no one broke open immediately, Carr held onto the ball before trying to force it to Derek Carrier in the end zone instead of throwing the ball away. Melvin Ingram was right there for an interception, marking the second time this season the decision to use Lynch as a decoy at the goal line backfired.Fullback Keith Smith was stopped on a fourth-down run from the 1 in a 20-19 loss at Denver last month. And of course, Lynch is still smarting from another goal-line interception that cost him a Super Bowl title in Seattle back in the 2014 season.Lynch tossed his helmet up in frustration as he left the field and didn’t play the rest of the day as the Raiders were in their hurry-up offense for their only remaining drive.Gruden said he threw his visor and helmet in anger as well, and that frustration was something he had in common with Lynch. He still stood by the play call even if the execution didn’t work.“We were down 20-3. It wasn’t the last play of the Super Bowl. We were down 20-3,” he said. “It was first-and-goal, trying to save as much time as we can with a play-action pass.”The Raiders have little time to dwell on this loss with a trip to London coming up this week to face the Seahawks. Rather than request an East Coast game before the long trip and either practice there or in London for the week, the Raiders opted to stay at home for most of this week.They will practice Tuesday through Thursday at their facility in the Bay Area before taking the long trip to London on Thursday night. They will arrive Friday afternoon and then get ready for the game Sunday night.“I hope I can make it, honestly,” Gruden said. “I’m not great. I get claustrophobic. My son was a weightlifter and he won a powerlifting competition in Belarus. I had to fly 14 hours. I had to fly home 14 hours. I had vertigo for a month. I couldn’t even lay down, the house was spinning. I am hoping I don’t get vertigo. I’m not a great traveler. I’ll be honest with you, I hate it. I’m not good. I’m concerned. I’m more worried about that than our goal-line offense right now.”___