"One year later, Vernon Gholston still is creating a buzz at the NFL scouting combine - but not all positive.

Gholston, coming off a washout rookie season with the Jets, is the new cautionary tale for pro scouts: The workout wonder who raised his draft stock with a monster combine, then flopped on the field.

After leaving Ohio State as a junior, the 6-3, 265-pound Gholston sprinted like a running back (4.65 seconds in the 40) and pumped iron like an offensive lineman (37 reps on the 225-pound bench press) in Indianapolis, numbers that still awe scouts. Then-coach Eric Mangini was smitten with the sculpted defensive end-turned-linebacker, and the Jets chose him with the No.6 pick.

You know the rest - no starts, no sacks and only five tackles as a rookie.

"He had good sack numbers (in college), but he didn't do anything else," said an NFC scout, whose team rated Gholston as only a third-round prospect. "The thing is, when someone has a workout like that, I can promise you, the coach says, 'I can make this kid a player.'"

It happens all the time in scouting, general managers paying more attention to the stopwatch than game tape.

"Obviously, we scout the all-star games, we come to the combine and we go to the pro days, but what they do on the field is most important and what we lean on the most," Giants GM Jerry Reese said.

New Jets coach Rex Ryan, a defensive guru, is planning to devote extra time to Gholston, convinced he can turn him into a productive player. For now, the Gholston factor is causing increased scrutiny for the prospects in this year's draft class."