Calhoun brings versatility to Detroit

By Darrell Laurant  |   Saturday, May 06, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

Detroit Lions
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Like the giant agricultural machine that shares its name, the NFL combine is a winnowing process. The only problem is, sometimes the grain gets cast aside along with the chaff.

Take Brian Calhoun, for example. The 5-10, 204-pounder from Wisconsin rushed for 1,636 yards his senior year against Big Ten competition, then added 213 more in a bowl victory over Auburn. He also totaled 543 yards in the passing game and scored 26 touchdowns.

So why did Calhoun drop to the third round on April 29? Blame the combine, at least in part.

And also, perhaps, Calhoun's initial cockiness. When he arrived in Indianapolis, the Badger product was comparing himself to Reggie Bush ("When you look at the numbers, you can't say he's better than me.") Then he ran a 4.6 in the 40, which he blamed on a sore Achilles tendon.

Sure, said the skeptics.

A few weeks later, Calhoun did, indeed, reel off a 4.38 at Wisconsin's Pro Day, but the damage had apparently been done. Once doubt begins to take hold about a prospect, it seems to spread through the NFL ranks like a quick-growing fungus.

Nevertheless, the Lions are happy to have him. By all accounts, Calhoun fulfills several of the requirements of a successful pro back. He obviously can catch passes out of the backfield, and his running style includes a little bit of hesitation -- just enough patience to see if a hole is developing -- and then the acceleration to make up that split second lost.

"I think what defines me is my versatility," Calhoun has said. "My role model has always been Marshall Faulk -- he's the guy I patterned myself after."

What he needs to improve upon, say Lion coaches, is his blocking.

Two years ago, Detroit used one of its two first-round picks on running back Kevin Jones from Virginia Tech. Big and fast, Jones rambled for 1,133 yards his rookie year and was an alternate to the Pro Bowl. Last season, however, a series of nagging injuries (first a sore shoulder, then a pinched nerve in his neck, then a quadriceps pull, then a banged-up elbow) limited him to 664 yards, an average of 3.6 a carry and only three carries over 20 yards.

A healthy Jones will undoubtedly hold onto the starting RB job. But backup Artose Pinner has gotten on the negative side of the new coaching staff by missing offseason workouts, and runner/return man Eddie Drummond is coming off knee surgery.

Now that he's a pro, Calhoun set aside his earlier bravado and said the right thing to his post-draft interviewers: "I just want to help the team any way I can."

If things go well for the Lions, he can ease into the NFL as a third down back or slot receiver (ironic, because Calhoun transferred from Colorado to Wisconsin because Buffalo coach Gary Barnett wanted to make him a wideout). If Jones is snake bitten again, the rookie could get the chance to show a lot more.

"I think I could be a feature back," he said. "I had 400 touches last year in college, and only one fumble."

But he can wait, just as he was willing to sit out a year in Wisconsin. Whether running the football or off the field, patience seems to be a Brian Calhoun virtue.
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