Rays of Light for Gholston?
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Like Twitter these days, Vernon Gholston bashing was en vogue during the 2008 season. Since Gholston’s late season scratch fans and media have been extremely down on the player. He’s already been derided as a bust by many in the media … let’s face it, he was an easy mark. While Mangini was always measured, Ryan is was more energetic when answering questions on Gholston, of which ESPN’s Tim Graham took note.
It’s possible Ryan was telegraphing a rah-rah message through the press, but maybe the Jets finally are seeing evidence last year’s sixth overall draft pick can start living up to his immense promise.
“I think he’ll have to earn his role no matter what it is,” Ryan told reporters at the Jets’ facility in Florham Park, N.J. “Whether he is a starter? Is he this? Is he that?
“I know one thing: He is going to be a major contributor for us.”
Well don’t say we didn’t tell you so, cause we did … like … multiple times.
While we here at TJB expected Dusty to get involved quickly during the 2008 season, we also expected that 2008 was going to be a quiet year for Gholston with *some* hope for upside. Mangini was fairly rigid in how Gholston would play in his system and Gholston was squarely behind the eigth-ball for all the normal reasons we’ve explained time and again: the Ohio State quarter system, leaving as a junior, playing at a higher level, learning a new position, etc.
When the new coach was hired, we knew that if anyone could coax the game out of Gholston, it was Rex Ryan. Although reporters haven’t been in all the sessions, they’ve noted that Gholston has recorded a couple of “sacks” (no pads remember) during the spring workouts. These might be the signs that he’s coming around, but I think that Ryan’s notation that Gholston will warrant on his own merit whatever playing time he sees on the field. We’ll know just how much he’s earned soon enough.
20 Responses to Rays of Light for Gholston?
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JetOrange says:
If Gholston is successful, Ryan and Pettin will correctly take a lot of the credit. But maybe , just maybe, it was Mangini who always stressed fundamentals, last year and kept an even keel when the criticism was rampant, that helped Vernon develop the skills required and reach his epiphany…
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rich says:
gotta feeling rex will go for greg ellis, we have bryan thomas who i think ryan can get more of but ryan went for zach thomas, jason taylor, ILB n OLB, so maybe theres something they know we dont..
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How much production did you want out of a rookie coming out of the Ohio State system as a junior? LOL, OF COURSE he was gonna do nothing last year… It baffles me how you can call someone who had little production under those circumstances in his first year a bust. If that is the barometer for a bust then there sure are a lot of busts out there, and I aint talkin boobies.
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head_coach says:
get em ghost!!!
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junior says:
I don’t think it was his intangibles like brains,strength and speed in question. The biggest question is the body part there is no test for and that’s his heart. Rex will make him want it!
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James in TN says:
Hope I am wrong, but he is a bust.
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SackDance99 says:
The biggest question for VG is talent. He has the measurables, but does he have the talent to be an adequate defensive player? I’ll be convinced when I see an actual “move” to get free of an offensive lineman. In the NFL, you just can’t run by an LT or just bull rush. And, from what I’ve seen, VG’s not a good edge or bull rusher, so he has a lot to learn and I just don’t know if these are learned traits or innate.
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fonzie says:
I hope he is traded to the Browns, so an experienced and appreciable head coach (Mangini) can teach him the correct way without any obstacles in his way (pessimestic fans, media, etc). Go GHOLSTON!!!
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Green Latern #80 says:
Wasn’t It The Jets Blog That Reported that The Original LT said Gholston has all the tools to be just as good as Demarcus Ware?
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Jim Lax says:
Ghost is going to surprise people. I watched him play @ TOSU. He’s gonig to make an impact for the Jets.
Go Ghost! -
Thanks Bent, I knew I saw that somewhere and I didn’t make it up in my mind.
I like Ghost as a nickname for VG because won’t nobody see him coming this season. -
Gregory Rasputin says:
Those who state and restate that …’There are questions with regards to Vernon Gholston…’
See it very differently than I.
I see that Vernon Gholston came to a team headed by an extremely dedicated and well-meaning coach who didn’t yet have the personal savvy to construct flexible systems around the individual players talents.
Coach Mangini unwittingly minimized not just Vernon Gholston’s abilites but clearly Kerry Rhodes and Jonathan Vilma as well.
Coach Mangini had successes (Leon Washington) but I had always the feeling with Coach Mangini that he was far more in love with the implementation of his beloved principles than he was to applying said principles in a flexible way to achieve a winning result.
I think that the sale of Gholston T-Shirts is very likely to dramatically increase come November.
That will reflect three things…
#1.Vernon has had some time to become comfortable
and be loose…#2.Coach Ryan and Pettine have a far more sophisticated understanding of the integration of player psychology and system functions than the previous cadre…
#3.His biggest impediment is out of the way…an unripe coach
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Zartan says:
Gregory Rasputin, love your post. I liked Manghini and felt he was going in the right direction , which Rex agrees. My question about Gholston was he was a nice guy and a church going guy and lacked a nasty nature. i still believe this true but Reggie White(R.I.P) was awesome.
V.G had the power and had to have some skills to rack up those stats he had. I just dont get why he cant play DE were i believe hill be most successfull. Dont give me he’s too small. -
Dear Zartan,
Thank you for your kind thoughts ojn my comments.Yes…I always find the ‘He’s too small to play end in the NFL’ to be unfounded.
The hall of fame is littered with runts at every position who made it to greatenss because of speed,agility,and more importantly…
State of Mind…
I would bet my house that with Coaches Ryan and Pettine’s rotating house of hell you are going to see Vernon at end at least 5 plays a game.
Fortunately our new coaches are not as brilliant as Coach Mangini and therefore they will not entirely ‘rethink’ Vernon out of his proven abilities and make him the team punter or convert him to tailback…
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Bent says: He isn’t “too small to play end in the NFL”, he’s too small to play end in a conventional 3-4 defense…by at least 20 pounds (and even then he’d be undersized).
However, the Jets aren’t going to run a conventional 3-4 defense any more, so that’s not an issue.
Based on Ryan’s scheme in Baltimore, Gholston will see time as a rush linebacker (the Terrell Suggs role). He won’t play on the line unless they go to a four-man front, although I expect they will do that a lot (and that may end up being Gholston’s package).
The reason he didn’t produce last year wasn’t that he didn’t play as a DE it was that he wasn’t ready. Just going to a 4-3 look to get Gholston some reps would have been a disaster because he would have been a liability against the run.
We no longer need focus on what he can and can’t do because Ryan will determine that and find a way to use him accordingly. Hopefully he gets on the field early and finds his role increasing over time.
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Harlan Lachman says:
Ghost (great nickname) was the number 6 pick in the draft. He has to produce given the financial commitment to him. Even a bust like BLT made some key plays (fumbles, sacks) in a bad season last year. VG did nothing.
The next big play he makes in a regular season game will be his first. I hope it is the springboard for him to become the type of attacking threat that Rex talks about consistently.
Ghost’s play will be the single biggest determiner of the success of our D. If he is a player, the LB becomes dominating, BLT can be depth, a pass rush will make our secondary better, and if our D dominates, our Qb will experience less pressure.
harlan
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Bent,
Isn’t it a shame that even our head coach says if he can’t teach Gholston than no one can. I find that hard to believe. What about Mangini if given the patience and time? What about Belicheck if he fits into the system? You see our head coach clearly shows his inexperience and immaturity at the position when discussing contributions of his players to the media. Ryan is great like Herman Edwards was at the podium but look where Edwards wound up. It doesn’t look good for Ryan. Of course he has Mangini’s players and that may save him for a while but he will be measured strictly on how much more he can benefit this franchise (push the franchise higher) than Mangini. Remember Mangini uproot this franchise which was in shambles in 2006 and brought it to respectability. Then the story of the owner and his puppet meshing their ideas with Mangini’s caused what we have today.
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Bent says:
That’s an interesting interpretation to say the least.
I can’t disagree with you, simply because it’s far to early to tell whether Rex Ryan will be a successful NFL head coach. However “it doesn’t look good for Ryan” does seem to be a very pessimistic viewpoint when a ball is yet to be snapped.
im really pulling for this along with all jets fans hoping rex can bring out the talent/potential gholston has