DE Vernon Gholston (Official Thread)

[Buckskin86]

Mel. is there hope for Vernon Gholston?
Mel Kiper
(1:19 PM)


It's dwindling. We're kind of losing hope. My attitude was if Rex Ryan couldn't make it for a player, you kind of lose hope. Rex finds a way to put a player in position to make plays. His hope at the beginning of the season was to make it work. But it's a shame. It's a surprise. Normally those types of edge guys -- and he was expected to be that kind of guy, the edge guy harrassing the QB -- make it right away in the NFL. You normally get immediate production out of those players. That's a big red flag and the chances for him being successful in the NFL are deteriorating. He's been a major disappointment.

DJ (Chicago)

Would guys like Vernon Gholston and Shawn Merriman be able to play DE in a 43 again? What would it take to take Vernon Gholston off of the Jets hands?
Mel Kiper
(1:47 PM)


It would be hard. If Rex Ryan can't make you a player and find a way to make you productive and maximize you on the field, it's hard. 3-4 LBs can play from a down position. Players fit schemes and schemes fit players. You're going to see Gholston get chances. Teams like the Raiders always seem to give players chances. Before you leave the league, you end up a Raider. Former USC receiver Mike Williams ended up in Oakland and was a bust there. I wouldn't count on Gholston now all of a sudden having a great NFL career. I just want to see him playing.

Chat: Chat with Mel Kiper - SportsNation - ESPN

 

[Buckskin86]

Pace says Jets believe in Gholston
Posted Jan. 16, 2010
By Dan Parr

Expectations were through the roof for Vernon Gholston when the Jets made him the sixth overall pick in 2008, but two seasons into his career, Gholston is still looking for his first sack as a pro. Many have attached the "bust" label to him, and there are doubts about whether he will ever develop into a capable edge rusher.

His teammate and fellow outside 'backer Calvin Pace recently explained what he's seeing from Gholston, in an exclusive interview with PFW.

"The thing is with Vernon, he's the type of person where he's got the same demeanor every day," Pace said. "If something is funny, he's got the same demeanor. If something's bad, he's got the same demeanor. So, I always was like, 'Man, it's just hard to read him.' Then I'm thinking like, well, 'Does he like to play?' Because everybody plays for different reasons, whether it's for money or fame, whatever. But you play for something.

"I know he likes to play. He takes notes, he watches film.

"Everybody believes in (Gholston). Really, it's just getting to the point where he says, 'All right, I can do this.' "

ProFootballWeekly.com - Pace says Jets believe in Gholston

 

[Buckskin86]

Struggles land Jets' Vernon Gholston 'special' assignment
Jets Blog
By MARK HALE
January 24, 2010

It has been two difficult years for Vernon Gholston. At last, the Jets linebacker is doing something special -- special teams, that is.

Just five players who were eligible for the 2008 NFL Draft were selected before Gholston. The pass-rushing linebacker was picked sixth overall by the Jets. Two season later, he still is looking for his first sack. And his first forced fumble. And his first chance to become an established starter.

There still is time for him to change things, but Gholston largely has been a bust so far. As the Jets sit 60 minutes from their first Super Bowl in 41 years, at least Gholston has found a way to contribute. He's on the Jets' kickoff coverage unit, their punt-coverage team and their punt-return outfit. Special teams isn't great. But it's something.

"I was a first-round pick and everything," Gholston says, "but I'm really just trying to fit in wherever I can with this team."

Gholston isn't just out there on the units either. According to special teams star Wallace Wright, he crushes people with his hits.

"He brings physicality," Wright said of the 6-foot-3 264-pound Gholston. "Vernon's a big guy. Vernon's a big guy that can run. And anytime you have those two combinations, that definitely works in your favor. He's athletic. He's big, strong. And he just basically manhandles a lot of guys out there for us."

Adds fellow linebacker and fellow first-round pick Bryan Thomas, "He's making a great impact," added fellow linebacker and 2002 first-round pick Bryan Thomas.

't been able to do that yet. He has played 29 regular-season games, and he's made just 30 tackles -- total. By comparison, in three games from Nov. 22-Dec. 3, fellow linebacker David Harris made 31 tackles.

At Ohio State, Gholston racked up 14 sacks as a senior, setting a team record. The physical specimen, though, needed to learn special teams with the Jets. As Wright pointed out, it wasn't familiar territory.

"Vernon's never done it. He didn't do that at Ohio State. He was the man at Ohio State," Wright said. "So when you're the man in college and then you get to the NFL where everybody's good and then you're forced to play special teams, something that you've never done, it's a tough adjustment for anybody to make."

Read more: Struggles land Jets' Vernon Gholston 'special' assignment - NYPOST.com

 

[Buckskin86]

LB Vernon Gholston?s future with the team is uncertain even though the team still owes him nearly $11 million in guaranteed money. Gholston has no sacks in 29 career games. Some in the organization are ready to move on, especially if 2010 is an uncapped year and the club can absorb the salary cap hit.

Kerry Rhodes, Lito Sheppard might not return as NY Jets focus on upgrading secondary | New York Jets - - NJ.com

 

[Buckskin86]

New York Jets could opt to cut former first-round pick Vernon Gholston
BY Rich Cimini
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Wednesday, January 27th 2010

Sipkin/News
New York Jets linebacker Vernon Gholston walks off the field after Gang Green loses to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday. It may be his last time in a Jets' uniform.

There was a Vernon Gholston sighting in the AFC Championship Game. He was in the final three defensive plays, when the Colts were handing off in garbage time.

It may have been his final hurrah (if you could call it that) in a Jets uniform.

Gholston is one of the most intriguing items on the Jets' offseason agenda. As of now, the organization is truly undecided on whether to bring him back.

Ordinarily, a team never would consider unloading a former first-round pick (sixth overall) this quickly - three years left on his contract - but the prospect of no salary cap under the current CBA means the Jets could cut bait and absorb the large cap hit without having to worry about too much "dead" money.

Do they jump at a rare opportunity or do they give it another year on the off-chance Gholston becomes a contributor? If they opt to cut or trade him, he won't be missed in the locker room.

"I don't see the passion," said one of Gholston's teammates, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "He plays stiff and he just doesn't seem to have that love for the game. I've never seen any emotion at all."

In two seasons, Gholston's bang-for-the-buck ratio is mind boggling. Total income: $11.5 million. Production: 0 sacks.

Rex Ryan made Gholston his pet project, declaring last January, "If he can't do it for me and this team, he's never going to do it." He compared Gholston to the Ravens' Terrell Suggs, one of his former star pupils.

Gholston was Ryan's biggest failing as a first-year head coach, but it wasn't for lack of trying. He hired a pass-rushing consultant, ex-Falcons standout Chuck Smith, who taught Gholston how to use his hands to shed blocks. Ryan gave Gholston an undeserved break, a chance to start the first four games when Calvin Pace was serving a league suspension.

It was no use. Gholston did nothing to distinguish himself and wound up on special teams, saying Monday that he was "fine with that." In the postseason, he played four defensive snaps in three games.

The Jets could've used another pass rusher against the Colts. In an effort to pressure Peyton Manning, they blitzed on 27 of 41 pass plays, unofficially. If they had been able to use a conventional four-man rush, it would've given them another player or two in pass coverage.

That was the Jets' story throughout the season. Even though they finished No. 1 in total defense, they produced only 32 sacks, down from 41 in 2008.

Gholston signed a five-year, $32 million contract that includes $21 million in guarantees, meaning the decision could be based on finances. His cap number for 2010 is $3.5 million, a hefty amount for a special teams player.

Is Gholston concerned about his future?

"No, not really," he said. "That will take place on its own. I'll just try to become the best player I can be."

Read more: New York Jets could opt to cut former first-round pick Vernon Gholston

 

[Pimpinnati]

Please cut him so a team that runs a 4-3 can pick him up and put him at his natural position.

This is what can happen when you draft a guy who plays with his hand down on the ground thinking he's going to be able to play in space.

Watch him join a 4-3 team and tear it up when his only job is to kill the QB.

 

[sparcboxbuck]

Please cut him so a team that runs a 4-3 can pick him up and put him at his natural position.

This is what can happen when you draft a guy who plays with his hand down on the ground thinking he's going to be able to play in space.

Watch him join a 4-3 team and tear it up when his only job is to kill the QB.

This is my wish too. When he went to a 3-4 I thought to myself that it would be a waste of his skills. I'm looking forward to the day that the Jets look back and ask themselves, "why didn't we try running a 4-3? If we had only known..."

 

[Jaxbuck]

I've said it elsewhere in this thread I think but I'll say it until the day he retires....we all watched him line up 1 on 1 with Jake Long in college and kick his ass on multiple plays in multiple years. You just don't lose that kind of ability.

 

[FrancisSoyer]

I think he's out of position but I don't know jack about this stuff. What exactly does Vern play? I hear end/linebacker like Bobby Carpenter did at Ohio State. I really don't think he'll ever be a good a linebacker even with his athletic abilities. Let him rush the QB like he did in college and we'll be able to tell if he's a bust or not.

 

[zincfinger]

I don't watch enough Jets football to have any idea of the answer to this, but have the Jets ever put him on the field with a Lawrence Taylor assignment, where his responsibility priorities are:

1) rush the quarterback
38) defend the run

 

[Merih]

This is my wish too. When he went to a 3-4 I thought to myself that it would be a waste of his skills. I'm looking forward to the day that the Jets look back and ask themselves, "why didn't we try running a 4-3? If we had only known..."

I doubt it, you don't change your entire defense around a second year player.

 

[billmac91]

I don't watch enough Jets football to have any idea of the answer to this, but have the Jets ever put him on the field with a Lawrence Taylor assignment, where his responsibility priorities are:

1) rush the quarterback
38) defend the run

It hasn't been this simple. As easy as it is for reporters to say, put him in on third down and just let him rush the passer, schemes are more complicated. He was awful in pass coverage, and was almost as bad in run support. Just a fish out of water. It actually got to the point where they were playing him as DE in a 3-4 which is crazy in NFL terms. Most DE's in a 3-4 are well over 280lbs and generally closer to 290-300lbs.

Vern needs a 4-3 team to pick him up and allow him to play a natural position where he doesn't need to read gaps or play any pass coverage. Make it simple for him and let his athleticism take over. As NF stated, you don't own Jake Long without having amazing ability.

I was so hoping for a Browns overhaul and tank job where they could have drafted Suh, put him next to Rogers in the middle, slide Wimbley down to DE, and sign Vern after he got cut.

A pipe dream....

 

[zincfinger]

It hasn't been this simple. As easy as it is for reporters to say, put him in on third down and just let him rush the passer, schemes are more complicated. He was awful in pass coverage, and was almost as bad in run support. Just a fish out of water.....

It's not that simple perhaps in that it's not how the Jets want to do things. But the '86 Giants won the Super Bowl playing a 3-4 defense, and with Taylor having as his far-and-away #1 responsibility, rushing the quarterback. Taylor was never noted for his pass coverage nor his run support: he was a pass rusher pure-and-simple. I'm not saying Vernon Gholston is Lawrence Taylor redux. I'm saying it's possible to run a 3-4 and have a linebacker whose sole meaningful responsibility is to rush the quarterback. Perhaps the Jets staff has determined Gholston isn't sufficiently dominant at pass-rushing to make this worthwhile in his case, but I was wondering whether it's something they've tried on Sundays.

 

[billmac91]

It's not that simple perhaps in that it's not how the Jets want to do things. But the '86 Giants won the Super Bowl playing a 3-4 defense, and with Taylor having as his far-and-away #1 responsibility, rushing the quarterback. Taylor was never noted for his pass coverage nor his run support: he was a pass rusher pure-and-simple. I'm not saying Vernon Gholston is Lawrence Taylor redux. I'm saying it's possible to run a 3-4 and have a linebacker whose sole meaningful responsibility is to rush the quarterback. Perhaps the Jets staff has determined Gholston isn't sufficiently dominant at pass-rushing to make this worthwhile in his case, but I was wondering whether it's something they've tried on Sundays.

Not trying to play semantics here, but LT was an every down player. To answer your question, they rarely brought Vern in at all, so no he didn't get many opportunities to rush the passer. In the pre-season when given opportunitites, he'd get close but overall never looked comfortable rushing without a hand in the ground. Plus, he couldn't be an every down player, b/c he was so bad in run support and filling gaps. Calvin Pace, starter in front of Vern, was much more suitable as an every down player and a guy on thrid down that could play both the pass and rush so it obviosuly helps disguise the blitz. LT was a terror for sure and QB sacking machine, but he was much better in space as well...

So they made him a 3rd string DE and occasionally an OLB with a role on special teams.

 

[Cincinnatibuck]

Well if Ryan can't coach him no one can. That guy is so full of himself, Ryan that is.