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DE Vernon Gholston (Official Thread)

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Rex Ryan still has hope for Vernon Gholston, despite sub-par start for No. 6 pick with New York Jets
BY Kevin Armstrong
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Saturday, November 6th 2010
Vernon Gholston has a modest five tackles in seven games as a reserve for the Jets this season.

REX RYAN was not around when the Jets selected Vernon Gholston with the No. 6 overall pick of the 2008 draft, but he said yesterday that he would not have chosen him that high at that time.

"I thought there probably needed to be some development there," Ryan said. "Now? I would. Right now I like the way how he plays."

Gholston, a standout linebacker at Ohio State, switched to defensive end as a rookie under coach Eric Mangini, but has yet to record a sack in 35 career games. Ryan reasoned that Gholston has taken a longer time to develop than the franchise expected, but he has been diligent in improving and accepting his role in dealing with the dirty work. He has collected five tackles in seven games as a reserve this season, his third.

"He's going to be an excellent player, I really think that," Ryan said.

Ryan added that heightened expectations came with the number attached to the pick did not help Gholston.

"You're thinking, hey he's the sixth overall pick and you're going to get Lawrence Taylor," Ryan said of fans' mentality. "There has only been one Lawrence Taylor."

When asked whether he believed Gholston had a future with the team, Ryan said, "Absolutely."

"Eventually, he's going to make those numbers that people think," Ryan said.Ryan is aware of the homecoming feeling that several of his players with Detroit-area ties are experiencing. "Anytime you go back home, you want to do something special," Ryan said.
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Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/f...hguesses_gholston.html?r=sports#ixzz14VIOU8fO

Ryan believes Gholston can still star with Jets
Jets Blog
By BART HUBBUCH
November 6, 2010

As he was talking up Vernon Gholston to the hilt yesterday, Jets coach Rex Ryan also came clean about one of the team's biggest draft busts in years.

No, Ryan admitted, he would not have taken Gholston sixth overall in 2008 if Ryan had been coach at the time.

"I think when he came out, there probably needed to be some development there and things like that," Ryan said as the Jets prepared to visit the Lions tomorrow. "The sixth overall player? I don't know about that."

In fact, Gholston has been such a disappointment that Ryan admitted yesterday Jets players have talked about creating a "pity sack" for their struggling teammate.

Ouch.

"When you have guys saying, 'I want to throw the quarterback to Vernon so he can get the sack just to get it off his back,' that's what they think of him," Ryan said. "Everybody wants it bad for Vernon."

Revisiting Gholston's fateful selection by current general manager Mike Tannenbaum and then-coach Eric Mangini two years ago has been in fashion this week, because the Jets will be playing in the backup defensive end's hometown of Detroit.

That trip prompted a Michigan reporter to get on Ryan's bad side by saying Ryan's claim of having the NFL's best defense couldn't be true because Gholston -- he of exactly zero sacks in 36 pro games -- is a member of it.

Ryan stuck up for Gholston and continued yesterday to sell that the former Ohio State standout is just a slow developer and not what he appears to be on paper -- a complete washout.

"It's unfair," Ryan said. "Sometimes it's tough for fans to realize there has to be development with guys. You're thinking, 'Hey, he's the sixth overall pick. You're going to get Lawrence Taylor.' But there's only been one Lawrence Taylor. It just takes time for guys to feel their way."

Ryan said Gholston, who has just five tackles in seven games this season despite playing in every game, is hamstrung by a lack of opportunities as Shaun Ellis' backup and by a 3-4 defensive scheme that supposedly doesn't allow its ends much opportunity to post big individual numbers.
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Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets/ghol_line_defense_b8J4KmQUrnW9JalSEpqgvO#ixzz14VIqrBWw
 
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Vernon Gholston will start first game of season vs. Detroit
Published: Sunday, November 07, 2010
Jenny Vrentas/The Star-Ledger

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William Perlman/The Star-Ledger
Vernon Gholston, a Detroit native, will make his fourth career start against the Lions.

DETROIT -- Rex Ryan said Friday the "hometown hero" can't be underestimated. With that in mind, he's decided to start Vernon Gholston, a Detroit native, in place of Mike DeVito for today's contest against Detroit, according to the official line-up changes.

The Jets shuffle their linemen and defensive personnel so often that it's not a major deal. But it's a motivational tactic by a coach known for doing so.

This will be Gholston's first start of the season and the fourth of his career.
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http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2010/11/inactives_for_jets_vs_lions_at.html
 
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"It's unfair," Ryan said. "Sometimes it's tough for fans to realize there has to be development with guys. You're thinking, 'Hey, he's the sixth overall pick. You're going to get Lawrence Taylor.' But there's only been one Lawrence Taylor. It just takes time for guys to feel their way."

Ryan said Gholston, who has just five tackles in seven games this season despite playing in every game, is hamstrung by a lack of opportunities as Shaun Ellis' backup and by a 3-4 defensive scheme that supposedly doesn't allow its ends much opportunity to post big individual numbers.


Explains a lot.
 
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ethel merman;1808468; said:
"It's unfair," Ryan said. "Sometimes it's tough for fans to realize there has to be development with guys. You're thinking, 'Hey, he's the sixth overall pick. You're going to get Lawrence Taylor.' But there's only been one Lawrence Taylor. It just takes time for guys to feel their way."

Ryan said Gholston, who has just five tackles in seven games this season despite playing in every game, is hamstrung by a lack of opportunities as Shaun Ellis' backup and by a 3-4 defensive scheme that supposedly doesn't allow its ends much opportunity to post big individual numbers.


Explains a lot.
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Trust... the coaches... :wink:
 
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Ryan said that Vernon Gholston may start again this week. He was in the lineup ahead of Mike DeVito last week when the Jets played in Gholston's hometown of Detroit.

"I think he may start," Ryan said. "I know he wasn't on the stat board but they couldn't run the ball when he was in there."

Gholston said he will play more because the Browns use a lot of heavy personnel groupings, and they like to have big bodies in the game.
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http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2010/11/jets_kyle_wilson_vernon_gholst.html

For a Progressing Gholston, It's a Process
By SCOTT CACCIOLA

Coach Rex Ryan said he expects defensive end Vernon Gholston to play more than usual when the Jets visit the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, and this qualifies as progress for Mr. Gholston, who has been skirting that fine line between prospect and bust for three seasons.

His teammates have grown tired of the criticism, even if Mr. Gholston takes the questions with good humor. He said he tunes out the questions, the doubts, the static: Where are the sacks? When will he finally produce? Did the Jets make a mistake?

"When that dude busts out of his shell, y'all are going to see some (expletive)," said defensive end Trevor Pryce, a 14-year veteran. "I mean, just look at him. It's going to be smoke in the city when that happens."

The clock has been ticking since the Jets selected Mr. Gholston with the sixth overall pick in the 2008 draft. He looked the part then just as much as he looks the part now: 6-foot-3 and 260 pounds of shrink-wrapped muscle. He has strength and size and speed, the physical tools for greatness.

But his production has not matched his potential, and he has five tackles in eight games this season. He does not have a sack in his career. His playing time has been limited, and his lone start this season came against the Detroit Lions last weekend, though even that came with an asterisk: Mr. Ryan wanted to start the 24-year-old Mr. Gholston in his hometown, and he only wound up playing about 15 snaps. His stat sheet was empty.

"He gets a lot of the dirty work," Mr. Ryan said. "You've got other guys that you're putting in more ideal spots, and it's kind of the rite of passage in our defense: You've got to do the dirty work before you get all the good jobs. I'm telling you, he's an excellent player."
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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703848204575608872359317964.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
 
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http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/jets/post/_/id/2826/gholston-will-get-more-time

Gholston will get more time


Vernon Gholston had no idea he was starting last week against Detroit until Rex Ryan tapped him on the shoulder before the kickoff and told him he was going in.
"All right coach, I'm going in," Gholston said.
It wasn't the first game he had started, but it was the first this year and Ryan said on Thursday that Gholston can expect to get more playing time.
"I know he never was on the stat board, but he had some great 'knock them backs' in there," Ryan said. "They couldn?t run the ball when he was in there I thought he did a decent job rushing the passer. Vernon is a good football player. He?s a big contributor to our defense and you?re going to see it this week -- probably moreso than you have all season."
Gholston was the No. 6 overall pick of the 2008 draft, picked by Cleveland coach Eric Mangini when he was with the Jets. Mangini moved him from defensive end to outside linebacker, a transition that never seemed to fit Gholston. Given his high pick and expensive contract, Gholston has been more of a project than the Jets would have liked.
"I think he?s been playing better," Ryan said. "I think he earns the right to play more."
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ethel merman said:
"It's unfair," Ryan said. "Sometimes it's tough for fans to realize there has to be development with guys. You're thinking, 'Hey, he's the sixth overall pick. You're going to get Lawrence Taylor.' But there's only been one Lawrence Taylor. It just takes time for guys to feel their way."

Ryan said Gholston, who has just five tackles in seven games this season despite playing in every game, is hamstrung by a lack of opportunities as Shaun Ellis' backup and by a 3-4 defensive scheme that supposedly doesn't allow its ends much opportunity to post big individual numbers.


Explains a lot.
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Did people really think they were getting Lawrence Taylor?

I think I found the problem.
 
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Gholston's getting closer to first sack
December, 1, 2010
By Rich Cimini

It's really hard to believe, but Vernon Gholston still is looking for his first career sack. He has played more than 2 1/2 seasons, a total of 40 games and ... nothing.

Here's another way to look at it: Since the start of the 2008 season, Gholston's rookie year, a total of 2,895 sacks have been recorded in the NFL -- not one of them by Gholston, chosen sixth overall by the New York Jets.

But if you're a glass-is-half-full person, you have to be encouraged by the last couple of games. Gholston came agonizingly close to a sack against the Houston Texans, and again against the Cincinnati Bengals. With only five games to go, he's running out of time.

"At one point, it's going to happen," Gholston said. "The biggest thing is not to be looking for that moment. Just go out, do your assignment, play like you're supposed to play. When it happens, it happens."

Gholston thought the streak was over last week, when he broke through the line and thought to himself, "I got this one." Not quite.

He wonders what the crowd reaction will be if he finally gets that sack at home.

"I'm not sure," he said. "I think pretty much everybody thought I had it last week."
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http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/jets/post/_/id/3200/gholstons-getting-closer-to-first-sack
 
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