The only time we should talk about this guy is when we are talking about the salery cap, and how he’s killing us there.

No more Gholsten posts until we actuall notice his play. There are much better players that we should talk about on this team.

With reference to your two points, I agree but would add that nothing about his college game said gap control, edge setting or discipline in contain either. He was drafted that high mainly because of his athletic potential, which could become an asset in either field. Right now, his run defense is actually better than I expected, but he should develop as a pass rusher too, given time.

Also, all Gholston’s old coaches say that he apparently lacked that competitive fire or intensity, but was still be able to become successful because he has a drive to get better and lots of personal pride. He’s just kind of shy and reserved on the field, so hopefully some of this “swagger” will rub off on him and have a positive impact.

Good luck to Rex. I’d agree it was a bad pick, but now that he’s here, nobody on the team (and few players in the league, arguably) has the untapped potential of Gholston.

2, Gholston doesn’t seem to have any of the intensity that Suggs had coming out of college, which is to say, it won’t be as easy to make him a productive, loose, player a la Suggs or Bart Scott even.

I do believe if anybody can turn it around for him it’s Rex. I still call, as said before, bad pick.

The first thing I must mention is that the Jets were not the only people who considered Gholston as a 3-4 OLB. In fact, virtually every draft expert felt he was going to be that and didn’t expect him to fare well as a conventional 4-3 DE. That’s largely because he wasn’t very productive against the run and also because the main reason he went so high (other than the weak draft) was his athleticism and measurables. I had my doubts about him as an OLB because I wasn’t comfortable with his agility or coverage, but scouts were overwhelmingly saying he was athletic enough to learn.

Now – from what I saw in the Jets game, they are not turning Gholston into a conventional DE. In fact they are using him in two main ways. Just like in preseason, he is on the line when they have a three man front in the Nickel package. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, as he did pretty well at that. Also, when the Jets go to a 46, which they can do with 5 DBs because one of them can operate as a MLB, Gholston can get on the line or come off the edge. This often looks like a 3 man front because there will be three guys on the line, then a gap, then a fourth guy on the line at the edge.

In the Ryan defense, he is likely to be groomed for the Suggs rush linebacker role, but at the moment, he is a logical back-up for Ellis against a passing team. (See last week and next week). This week (and in week one) he will mainly rotate in as an outside linebacker in running situations, although often with his hand down, so he will appear to be a DE in a four man front (Douglas can effectively rotate over to DT). His main job this week against a running team is to set the edge, get upfield if he can and maintain contatin. He did well at that in week one.

Finally, as Jets fans, we have two things to be VERY thankful for.

1. We now have a scheme where Gholston (a classic tweener) doesn’t have to be pigeonholed as a 4-3 end or a 3-4 OLB. He can play a bit of both, depending on the situation and also on the line with his hand down in the 46. Here we have a scheme that makes the best of his (and everyone else’s strengths) instead of one where you have to have a perfectly shaped peg for each hole, otherwise teams can pick on your weakness (ie dump offs over the middle over and over because Barton/Bowens can’t cover etc).

2. They’re using him as a situational pass rusher. That’s tried and tested as the best way to get production out of a young pass rusher as he develops and Mangini only did it in week one of last year.

Coach Mangini? …a specialist in finding ways to maximize that talent of a few like Leon Washington, and also a specialist in finding ways to minimize it like with Kerry Rhodes,DeWayne Robertson, Vernon Gholston, or the defnsive unit as a whole.

We drafted Mr. Gholston as a star defensive end, and all of the ‘expert’ advice on why he couldn’t physically be a defensive end in the NFL is worthless…because that is what he is. You can’t make a professional oboist a professional flautist just because you want to.

If we didn’t think that Mr. Gholston could play defensive end…we shouldn’t have drafted him. A successful club is a conglomeration of players in the right position for their skills… NOT a museum for athletic wonders miscast.