DE Vernon Gholston (Official Thread)

[osucollegebuck]

Check out my McFarlane creation!!! Go Vern!!! Go Bucks!!!

 

[MONTbigBuck]

Vern was again interviewed on Serius 124 last Thurs. by Adam Schien and Solomon Wilcotts. They host the "Blitz" from 11 to 3 eastern time. After a schedule change this looks like this will be the window that big Vern will be interviewed in each Thurs. up to the draft. I will try to monitor the situation.

Big Vern says that the Dolphins, Raiders, Jets, and Patriots have been showing interest.

 

[osucollegebuck]

please keep giving updates on vern.

 

[Buckskin86]

Their eyes are on versatile Buckeye
By Mike Reiss
Globe Staff / March 20, 2008

For a few hours yesterday morning, the Patriots explored the possibility of having Buckeye bookends in their linebacker corps, as they put Ohio State's Vernon Gholston through a private workout in Columbus, Ohio.

The 6-foot-3-inch, 266-pound Gholston is considered one of the top prospects available in next month's draft. Although he played mostly defensive end at Ohio State, he would project as an outside linebacker in the Patriots' 3-4 scheme, where he would likely line up opposite fellow Buckeye Mike Vrabel.

The Patriots, who have the seventh overall selection, schedule numerous private workouts leading up to the draft. The workouts don't necessarily indicate surefire interest, but it does reflect that more information is being sought before making a determination.

Gholston has impressed scouts in workouts at the NFL Combine last month, and at Ohio State's Pro Day this month. He totaled 37 repetitions on the 225-pound bench press at the combine, the most of any player at any position. He also ran the 40-yard dash in 4.58 seconds this month on Ohio State's campus, while posting a 42-inch vertical jump, according to NFL.com.

Gholston, who entered the draft after his junior season, is considered one of the premier pass rushers available. His 22 1/2 sacks rank fifth in Ohio State history.

The Buckeyes' all-time leader in sacks is Vrabel, who had 36 from 1993-96. At the combine, Gholston talked about how he enjoyed seeing Vrabel on campus.

Patriots' eyes are on Buckeye Gholston - The Boston Globe

 

[Buckskin86]

'V' is for virile

Vernon Gholston has developed from football neophyte to powerful force on the field ? and a likely top-10 pick

By Eric Edholm
March 20, 2008


The following article is featured content from the 2008 Draft Guide, PFW's annual magazine that features scouting reports on more than 350 players, draft analyses for all 32 teams and rankings of the prospects by position. The magazine is on sale at newsstands and bookstores throughout the country, and it can be purchased at PFWstore.com.

Years from now they might tell the story, a la Michael Jordan, as inspiration of the hard-to-believe variety.
Ohio State?s Vernon Gholston, soon to be a top-10 draft pick, was kicked off his high school football team. For not being tough enough.

Keep that in mind when you look at his impossibly sculpted and sinewy frame, now almost fully developed at 6-foot-4 and 264 pounds of mostly rock. That comes from his countless hours spent in the weight room, dating back to his freshman year at Detroit?s Cass Tech High School when head football coach Thomas Wilcher spotted the quiet Gholston ? then 14 years old ? wandering the halls. He was 6-foot-2, already weighing more than 200 pounds.

?I thought he was a parent,? Wilcher said. ?He had his books in one hand and his Bible in the other. I asked him if he was looking for his son or his little brother.?

?And he was here for academics, not football,? Cass defensive coordinator Charleston Fobbs said. ?We?re a test-taking school. You have to apply to get in here.?

Gholston eventually convinced Wilcher he was indeed in the ninth grade, but not before Wilcher received confirmation from Gholston?s teacher. After that, it didn?t take long for Wilcher to convince him he should be playing football. Gholston had never played organized sports but had started weightlifting a little in his basement. He was looking for a passion in his life, something he hadn?t had since his father had died when Gholston was in the eighth grade.

?One of the biggest things that I took from him before he passed away was he told me, whatever I do, just try to be the best at it. Even if it?s being a bum ? be the best bum out there. That?s something I tried to bring to football,? Gholston said.

Gholston?s early days as a player were rough-cut. Wilcher started him out at offensive guard ? ?A guard who runs a 4.5 (40-yard dash) and is 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds,? Wilcher said with a hearty laugh. ?He was just strong, that?s it. I knew he could block somebody and go straight ahead. That?s all we asked him to do.?

?He didn?t know what an A-gap was when he showed up,? Fobbs added.

But Wilcher knew that kind of talent had to be on defense, so he put him in at rush end, believing it was where Gholston?s raw athleticism would fit best. Fobbs was not impressed.

?(Fobbs) told me, ?He?s not tough enough,? ? Wilcher said, ?and kicked Vernon off the team. Sent him home. He swore at him a little bit, told him to get off the field and (not to) come back. Vernon left with his head hung low.

?Vernon told me, ?All I want to do is play football. I didn?t come out here to try to kill anyone.? He said, ?I just want to make the tackle. Isn?t the tackle good enough?? I said, ?Yeah, but you have to have some type of intensity to it. That?s all he was talking about.? ?

Before Gholston?s senior season, colleges became aware of his athletic prowess. And it was at the Michigan Nike camp that he became a star. He showed up at 6-3 and 248 pounds, and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.45 seconds. ?Everybody saw Vernon run,? Wilcher said. ?They saw how big and strong he was. Everyone was oohing and ahhing over him.?

Everyone except Michigan.

?I was surprised they didn?t offer me (a scholarship) until everyone else did,? Gholston said. ?I had been at their camp every summer.?

Ohio State was the first team to show the love, making it clear how much it wanted him before other teams jumped in with scholarship offers. Gholston was flattered, but he was a Detroit kid, and his mother, Cheryl, liked Michigan a lot. Wilcher brought Gholston and CB Allen Langford, another Division I prospect at Cass Tech, and presented them to head coach Lloyd Carr and the Michigan coaching staff.

?I said, ?These two kids right here are Michigan players and they would love to go to your school,? Wilcher said.

Michigan?s response?

?They told me, ?OK, we?ll look at him,? ? Wilcher said.

The offer didn?t come until almost every other school recruiting him had offered him already. Gholston took stock of his recruiting status and signed on to become a Buckeye.

NFL Draft - NFL draft preview and analysis from Pro Football Weekly

 

[fourteenandoh]

"The offer didn?t come until almost every other school recruiting him had offered him already. Gholston took stock of his recruiting status and signed on to become a Buckeye."

In the process he became Chad Henne and Jake Long's recurring nightmare.

 

[billmac91]

amazing as usual.

 

[Bestbuck36]

Is his left hand on backwards?

 

[billmac91]

Is his left hand on backwards?

No, his arm is just broken. Think "The Program" except it's Vernon arm not leg.

Good catch.

 

[Bestbuck36]

Hahah. That was an awful break in the program.

I'm still holding out hope Tuna trades down a couple and selects Vern.

 

[CriticalSteve]

Gholston could be drafted in the top 5 choices

Gholston is a top 5 prospect. There are a lot of reasons that is the case.
Read More...
Comments (2)

 

[NFBuck]

From Peter King...

I expect other names -- maybe the Ohio State defensive end, Vernon Gholston -- to get hot.

2. St. Louis. Ohio State DE Vernon Gholston. The Rams got 5.5 sacks last year from their defensive ends. That's 5.5. Total. Their best one, Leonard Little, is 33 and coming off toe surgery. There might be no team in the NFL needier at the rush spot than this team, and Gholston is tailor-made to come off the edge on the carpet of the Rams' home dome.

He's definately right. Big Vern could be a monster on that turf.

 

[MONTbigBuck]

Interesting... For the past month virtually all the draft speculation has been at the 1-3-4-5....... spots. Everyone had the Rams locked into Jake Long. Now just in the last day or so I have heard Big Vern's name come up from 3-4 different sources in discussions on the NFL network. There is definately alittle smoke there. Still a long way to the draft though.

 

[SNIPER26]

Interesting... For the past month virtually all the draft speculation has been at the 1-3-4-5....... spots. Everyone had the Rams locked into Jake Long. Now just in the last day or so I have heard Big Vern's name come up from 3-4 different sources in discussions on the NFL network. There is definately alittle smoke there. Still a long way to the draft though.

I still prefer Gholston in a 3-4. His speed and quickness off the edge in a 3-4 would be mind boggingly absurd.

 

[Buckskin86]

GIMME 5: Tressel says take Gholston
Published on: 03/25/08

Quite a guy, that Buckeye

And with the No. 3 pick in the 2008 NFL draft, the Falcons select ... Ohio State defensive lineman Vernon Gholston? Could happen. Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel gives us five things NFL executives and draftnik fans should know about the top prospect:

1. His humility and unselfishness are tremendous, and impressive when you see that attitude in such a physically imposing man.

2. Vernon is an athlete among athletes ? a modern-day Hercules in every physical component. His workouts have been the stuff of legend.

3. He can tell a story and hold an audience spellbound. Get him started on Bible school stories some time and young and old people are equally captivated.

4. He is one of the most consistent players I've ever coached, and he has maintained that even keel throughout his pro preparation.

5. His big-play ability did a lot of great things for the Buckeyes, and we all thank him.

GIMME 5: Tressel says take Gholston | ajc.com