Oakland Raiders: Shilique Calhoun’s turnaround shows coaching matters

Coming into the offseason, Oakland Raiders defensive end Shilique Calhoun seemed like a long shot to make the 53-man roster, but he’s changed the narrative.

When a high draft pick doesn’t measure up to expectations, he wears the “bust” label. At times, we overlook the possibility of the coaching staff’s inability to optimize talent, which may have factored into Shilique Calhoun’s slow start with the Oakland Raiders.

Calhoun recorded 27 sacks at Michigan State through four seasons, which ranks third in the category for career numbers in the Big Ten since 2005. However, the 2016 third-rounder came into the league with a flat entrance. Former head coach Jack Del Rio and his staff moved him to linebacker, a hybrid role new to the former Spartan. The experiment failed. He logged five tackles and a half-sack during his rookie campaign.

The Michigan State product also underwent a knee procedure during his first year and landed on injured reserve, limiting him to 10 appearances.

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In the following offseason, the Raiders waived Calhoun then added him back to the practice squad. He made it to the active roster last October but remained ineffective in 102 snaps.

Oakland tendered Calhoun as an exclusive rights free agent (one-year, $555,000) in March, but he needed to make a good impression on the new coaching staff to hold his roster spot, especially with the influx of new talent in the front seven.

The third-year veteran took the field as a new player and flashed immediately as a consistent penetrator off the edge through three preseason games. He’s logged 12 tackles, two sacks, four quarterback hits and has been effective against the run.

Did Calhoun temporarily forget how to play football for the first two years? No, he credited the coaching staff after a 13-6 victory over the Green Bay Packers Friday, per NBC Sports Bay Area reporter Scott Bair:

"I think the style of defense they run really fits me as a player. 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."

Apparently, defensive coordinator Paul Guenther and defensive line coach Mike Trgovac have put Calhoun in a better position to succeed. In fact, they’ve done it for a majority of the players in the front seven. In the last outing, the Raiders constantly crowded the pocket and finished with five sacks and eight tackles for losses.

Perhaps critics applied the bust label too hastily to the No. 75 overall pick in the 2016 draft. Calhoun has made a strong case to stick the 53-man roster, which is a major turnaround from his outlook last year as a summer cut.

If the 26-year old looks anything like he did at Michigan State, the Raiders have a solid rotational pass-rusher alongside Arden Key backing up Khalil Mack (assuming he reports to the team) and Bruce Irvin.