Gholston is our whether we want him or not.
At least we have Pace.

And as Bent pointed out, he was receiving double teams quite often. Not many players in this league can rack up numbers vs. a double team, let alone a young guy transitioning and still learning.

So, it’s not true that nobody realized what a project he would be, because I did!

In the article, I said I hoped that he would start to come on in the second half of his second season and I cited Gaines Adams as an example because they have similar size and athletic profiles (actually Gholston’s measurables are better) and both had the same doubts about taking plays off, stiffness in the hips etc. Adams came on over the second half of his first season (after a quiet start), so I expected Gholston to come on over the second half of his second season, considering he came out a year earlier AND had to change positions.

The article basically said you never know, maybe he will contribute sooner than that and maybe he will never contribute, but that I expected him to come on at pretty much the speed he has done to this point. It puts the Jets in a tough spot because at the moment he’s right in the middle of that gray area where he could still go either way.

I wrote the article in response to being called an idiot and not a true Jets fan after I took the under when someone suggested he would get 10 sacks and it feels like I’ve been managing expectations ever since. Naming him the starter didn’t help!

I share your concerns that he will struggle in Houston, but even if he does, I still don’t think we should write him off.

Westerman certainly doesnt have the physical skills VG has. you can tell that simply by the sack and the way he chased down Bradshaw. I think Westerman comes across looking better because he looks like a guy who understands the game. He knows ways to try to get around a blocker or how to move laterally. Will that translate to first stringers? Probably not. He isnt fast enough or strong enough. David Carr simply outran him the other day. But he at least looked fluid trying to get him. In contrast watch when VG chased Carr. Carr sidestepped and VG is so stiff he just cant turn. He ended up doing what looked like a funky dance move and eventually fell over. Right now he just looks like someone who needs to take wide angles to turn and pursue. He nailed Bradshaw because it was straight ahead from where he got blocked. If Bradshaw cut towards the center of the field I dont think Gholston would have ever gotten there. Hopefully in week 1 the coach moves him around alot to confuse the offense because right now he is going to be the target of alot of plays. The type of blocking scheme that Houston uses I think will totally confuse him.

Bearing in mind he did next to nothing against 2nd and 3rd stringers in last preseason and had just 5 tackles and (unofficially) 6 pressures all last season, almost anything he does is progress.

- He has clearly got stronger, having more success driving back offensive linemen
- He is disengaging blocks better
- He usually shows good discipline in maintaining contain on the edge (only failing to do that once so far this preseason)
- As a down linemen from 3 man fronts in passing situations, he was consistently getting more pressure than the other two linemen, despite being double teamed
- In short yardage situations, he has held his ground well
- He looked good chasing down a runner from behind
- He finally hit someone!

If you want specifics:

- Westerman makes a stop for a loss and gets lauded for it, but everyone ignores the fact that Gholston busted up a double team
- Even though it was a quick drop, Gholston got into Manning’s face causing him to rush a throw and see it picked off

I’m not saying he is great and even good, but he IS showing progress and he IS outperforming guys like Murrell and Westerman from what I’ve seen so far, so all this “he’d be cut if he wasn’t a first round pick” stuff is a stretch.

Maybe he’s not doing much, but he’s doing it against first and second stringers this year, which is progress in and of itself and the Jets defense has been decent, even with him in there, so he can’t be doing all that bad. Even the slightest progress is a step in the right direction!

Sean – I agree he’s astute, but it’s not the comments in this article that are going too far, it’s some more extreme criticisms he has made via twitter. Gholston may eventually leave the Jets without making an impact, but I still think it’s wrong (whatever the outcome) to completely rule out the possibility this earlier in the career of a guy who was raw anyway and plays a position that usually takes at least a year to master.

Like Jason says, you have to question his sources. The thing with the cap made Tannenbaum look bad, but was completely baseless. This thing makes Tannenbaum look bad, but…who knows. Based on what I have seen, he looks like he might be ready to produce next year (and remember this should be his rookie year).

Do you think certain AFC East execs might have motivation to make Tannenbaum look bad? If that’s the case, then I apologize to Lombardi (not that he’s listening), because maybe he’s just listening to bad sources rather than piling on the Jets as I had been thinking.

Florio on the other hand…