• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

DE Vernon Gholston (Official Thread)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
Updated: April 25, 2010
By Rich Cimini and Adam Schefter
ESPNNewYork.com

Turns out the New York Jets did more than change Vernon Gholston's position for 2010. They also took some money from his pocket.

The Jets have restructured Gholston's contract, a source familiar with the situation said on Sunday. While the specific numbers weren't immediately available, the team lowered his base salary (originally $1.9 million), with a chance for him to recoup the money by reaching incentives, a source said.

The important part of the restructuring is this: It ensures that Gholston, the disappointing first-round pick in 2008, will go to training camp with the team and will have a chance to earn playing time.
Click to expand...

Source: New York Jets restructure Vernon Gholston's contract - ESPN New York
 
Upvote 0
Vernon Gholston makes move to defensive end for New York Jets in effort to jump-start career
BY Manish Mehta
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Wednesday, May 19th 2010

alg_gholston.jpg

Sipkin/News
Vernon Gholston hasn't lived up to expectations since joining the New York Jets, but hopes to change that this season.

Even though he's been a statistical non-factor for two seasons, Vernon Gholston isn't ready to brand himself with the dreaded "B" word just yet.

The Jets' outside linebacker-turned-full-time defensive end, however, doesn't begrudge those who have slapped the bust tag on him.

"It's an understandable assessment," Gholston told the Daily News after the Jets' second Organized Team Activity Tuesday. "That's something I do accept. Moving forward, I plan to change it....People expect a guy to come in and have the immediate impact and get all the sacks. That's mainly what people attribute to me - not getting sacks."

Gholston's future with the Jets beyond this season is tenuous after the team restructured his five-year rookie contract (that included $21 million guaranteed) so that they could bait after the 2010 season with a manageable financial hit.

Here's the breakdown of the revised contract: Gholston actually gets a bump in base salary for 2010 after the restructuring. He was scheduled to earn $1.9 million and will now pocket $2.25 million in guaranteed money. Factor in a $4 million signing bonus and $250,000 workout bonus and Gholston will get $6.5 million for 2010.

But the Jets get financial relief and can cut ties in 2011 when he's only scheduled to earn $550,000 (with incentives totaling as much as $9 million).

Gholston is due a $2.5 million roster bonus in March 2011. But there's little chance he'll see that money if he underperforms this season.

So the Jets can make a clean break if they desire after this season. (Gholston would make $650,000 in base salary with incentives that could reach $10 million in 2012, the final year of his deal).

The sixth overall pick in the 2008 draft was converted to defensive end last month in hopes of jump-starting his lackluster career. Gholston, who has just 19 tackles in 29 career games, is still looking for his first career sack entering his third season.

"Part of it is on me to step up to the plate and become a playmaker," Gholston said. "A lot of it too is a lack of opportunities. Rex (Ryan) and I sat down and talked about trying to get me in there more, playing more and getting me in a rhythm so I can do what I was brought here to do."

Gholston didn't label 2010 as a do-or-die season even though all indications are that he'll have to make substantial improvements if he hopes to stick around.

"I'm still waiting to have a breakout year," Gholston said. "It's Year Three. Would I have said that it would have taken me this long? Probably not. But different things have affected that. It's all about looking forward to this year, embracing the position change and making something happen."
Click to expand...



Read more: Vernon Gholston makes move to defensive end for New York Jets in effort to jump-start career
 
Upvote 0
After position switch, early signs are encouraging for Gholston
By Jenny Vrentas/The Star-Ledger
May 28, 2010

Rex Ryan spoke carefully. After a year of striving to unlock Vernon Gholston?s first-round potential, the Jets coach did not want to jinx a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel.

?I don?t want to say anything, because last year I kept saying, ?You guys, just wait, he?s going to prove it to you,? ? Ryan said Thursday. ?So I?m not going to say anything about Vernon.
?But,? he added, ?he?s really doing good.?

Gholston, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2008 draft, carried high expectations when he entered the NFL, expectations his 17 tackles and zero sacks in 30 career games haven?t met.

His third year, Ryan said earlier this offseason, is a make-or-break one ? but it?s also one in which Ryan wanted to make sure Gholston has a greater slice of playing time. He told Gholston as much and, after the team signed Jason Taylor, moved Gholston from outside linebacker to defensive end.

Gholston said the transition is going well. In drawing on his experience playing end in a 4-3 system at Ohio State, he?s also trying to draw out the impressive production of his college days.

?Not only just being a first-round pick, but me coming here, it?s always the goal to try to be the best out there,? Gholston said. ?A lot of people could say I?m a long way away from that, but I don?t think so.?

Ryan once said if Gholston can?t play for him and the Jets, he simply can?t do it. That?s why his endorsement Thursday was notable.

The media are only allowed to see some of the organized team activity sessions, but Ryan said Gholston would have had a sack in each of the last three practices, if they weren?t non-contact. Thursday, his would-be sack came on 11-on-11 drills as he split two blockers.
Gholston has been sharing first-team reps with veteran Shaun Ellis, who spent most of Thursday?s practice on the stationary bike.

?He?s made great progress,? Ellis said. ?He had been standing up, so this is a little different. The blocker is on him right away now. He played defensive end in college, so he just has to get his timing and all that back.?

Indeed, Gholston said he was getting used to a ?looser? style of play at outside linebacker, whereas now he has to act more quickly. The team isn?t practicing with pads yet but what Gholston has been able to get out of these OTA practices is an understanding of the blocking schemes and what opposing offensive linemen are trying to do.

Physically, he?ll make a slight transition, too, hoping to get to 270 pounds after playing at 260 last year.

?Rex told me the biggest thing about this year was trying to get me on the field more,? Gholston said. ?It?s all about getting out there and making plays, and once you get into a rhythm, from there you pretty much can take over.?
Click to expand...

After position switch, early signs are encouraging for Gholston | - NJ.com
 
Upvote 0
I never understood why he was moved to LB in the first place. I always thought that was a waste of his strength and natural pass-rushing skills from the DE spot.

I think he'll do much better in this position, and Rex Ryan is just the guy to get him playing to his full potential.
 
Upvote 0
I'm really trying to stay positive about Gholston's chances to have a successful pro career, but I'm starting to lose hope.

Last season Gholston played with his hand down on passing downs, many times in a role similar to a 4-3 end. For the first four games of the season, Calvin Pace was suspended and Gholston did nothing to prove his value as a starter. Looking at the season in its entirety, Gholstons' stats, or lackthereof, show he was ineffective.

Perhaps some of this problem stems from the fact that the Jets have been most successful bringing pressure up the middle, but even still, Gholston has not really shown so much as flashes of potential.

Many Jets insiders have said this move to 3-4 DE, a position for which Gholston seems to be undersized and not particularly featured in Rex Ryan's defense, is nothing more than a last ditch effort to avoid releasing Gholston.

I've been a vehement supporter of Gholston and have always urged my friends to take a wait and see approach with him, but time is running out. I hope Big Vern can put it together in time.
 
Upvote 0
ScarletBlood31;1709340; said:
I never understood why he was moved to LB in the first place. I always thought that was a waste of his strength and natural pass-rushing skills from the DE spot.

I think he'll do much better in this position, and Rex Ryan is just the guy to get him playing to his full potential.
Click to expand...


Exactly. OSU saw he was better at DE years ago. Why the Jets thought different is bizarre. The fact that he's already doing better proves it. And if he's getting up to 270, that will help.
 
Upvote 0
ethel merman;1709850; said:
Exactly. OSU saw he was better at DE years ago. Why the Jets thought different is bizarre. The fact that he's already doing better proves it. And if he's getting up to 270, that will help.
Click to expand...

You guys don't think he and his agent marketed himself as an OLB? That is why he was a high draft pick. I am not sure he would have sniffed the first round as a DE.
 
Upvote 0
Colvinnl;1709856; said:
You guys don't think he and his agent marketed himself as an OLB? That is why he was a high draft pick. I am not sure he would have sniffed the first round as a DE.
Click to expand...

If true, and he ends up being a Pro-Bowler at DE, he'll look like a freakin' genius...
 
Upvote 0
Colvinnl;1709856; said:
You guys don't think he and his agent marketed himself as an OLB? That is why he was a high draft pick. I am not sure he would have sniffed the first round as a DE.
Click to expand...

I think he and his agent went with what the NFL teams told them.

I have a hard time believing he wouldn't have sniffed the first round if teams wanted him at DE, considering he was drafted in the top 6 based on playing DE.
 
Upvote 0
3074326;1709884; said:
I think he and his agent went with what the NFL teams told them.

I have a hard time believing he wouldn't have sniffed the first round if teams wanted him at DE, considering he was drafted in the top 6 based on playing DE.
Click to expand...

I think he was drafted in the top 6 based on having the potential to play OLB based on his combine performance and size. Its not like converting college DEs into OLBs is a new fad. Whoever grabbed Gholston in the first round was going to do the same thing.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top