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Vernon Gholston News & Rumors

Ryan Defends Treatment of Gholston
August 24
The Wall Street Journal
 
"The Jets have an abundance of riches on the defensive side of the ball, but the one thing they still lack is a solid pass rusher. In Vernon Gholston's opinion, the Jets might have had one if they'd simply given him a fair chance to develop before releasing him in March. Jets coach Rex Ryan responded Tuesday to the barbs from the former Jets defensive end, who a day earlier said Ryan didn't give him a fair shot to become a contributor on defense. "I don't agree with him on that," Ryan said at his daily press conference before practice. Jets fans will forever remember Gholston as the 2008 first-round pick who was supposed to be a freakishly athletic pass rusher, but vastly underwhelmed by"
Jets cut Vernon Gholston
March 3
ESPN.com
 
"Now it's official: The Vernon Gholston error is over. The New York Jets made the anticipated move Wednesday, waiving the former first-round pick after his third straight season without a sack. But in a mild surprise, the team also released backup tight end Ben Hartsock. Hartsock was a sturdy blocker and a key ingredient in the Jets' prolific rushing attack, but he was due to make $1.6 million -- and the Jets evidently felt that was prohibitive for a blocking tight end. They had been hoping that Hartsock would agree to a pay cut, according to a league source, but he evidently refused."
Jets cut Gholston, Jenkins, Woody
March 1
New York Post
 
"The Jets finally will fmake official what everyone already knew: Vernon Gholston is a bust. The team is mercifully parting ways with the disappointing sixth overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. The Jets will release Gholston in an off-season purge that also will include the releases of another outside linebacker, veteran Jason Taylor, as well as right tackle Damien Woody and nose tackle Kris Jenkins. These four moves will save the Jets between $20 million and $24 million on their salary cap, money they will need with receivers Santonio Holmes and Braylon Edwards, special teams ace Brad Smith and cornerback Antonio Cromartie all set to become free agents pending the lockout, which could"
Jets release four players to cut fat from salary cap, clear up injury concerns
March 1
Newark Star-Ledger
 
"Before the league year expires at the end of the day Thursday, the Jets are taking care of the "loose ends" general manager Mike Tannenbaum referred to last week. That includes roster cuts and business plans for a potential lockout. The team plans to release offensive lineman Damien Woody, linebacker Jason Taylor, defensive end/linebacker Vernon Gholston and defensive tackle Kris Jenkins, a person with knowledge of the team's personnel plans confirmed. That person requested anonymity because the team has not announced the moves yet. The New York Daily News was first to report the expected cuts. All those players carried significant cap values and/or injury concerns, and their releases had"
Rex Ryan still has hope for Vernon Gholston, despite sub-par start for No. 6 pick with New York Jets
November 7
New York Daily News
 
"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"
Ryan believes Gholston can still star with Jets
November 6
New York Post
 
"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"
Gholston Is Confident the Wait Is Finally Over
August 29
New York Times
 
"At the beginning of his third N.F.L. season, Vernon Gholston has never felt so comfortable, aggressive, primed. When he acknowledged that late Friday, though, he leaned forward, eyes on his locker. He spoke firmly, but also sheepishly, as if he wanted to knock on wood. This is not Gholston's first trip down the avenue of expectations so far unfilled. He was the sixth overall pick in the 2008 N.F.L. draft, a nonfactor through two seasons, a college defensive end turned outside linebacker turned back into a defensive lineman in the spring. Each year, the Jets predicted Gholston would break out - including this one. He has rewarded the franchise with 30 tackles - in two seasons."
'Hard Knocks' gives Jets defensive end Vernon Gholston a fighting chance
August 24
New York Daily News
 
"Vernon Gholston admitted he wasn't aware that Rex Ryan and defensive coordinator Mike Pettine had asked offensive lineman Rob Turner to pick a fight with him a couple weeks ago until the head coach revealed it on the latest episode of "Hard Knocks." "They saw how I responded," said Gholston, who has moved from outside linebacker to defensive end this season. "I ain't scared of no fight." The former first-round pick also said that he approached the team to restructure his contract "with the hope of it giving me a better chance of more playing time." RECHARGED: In the first two preseason games, LaDainian Tomlinson has displayed the burst that has been missing in recent years. The future Hall"
Fight was big surprise to Gholston
August 22
New York Post
 
"Vernon Gholston, the Jets' enigmatic 2008 No. 1 draft pick, revealed last night he had no idea coach Rex Ryan intentionally had Rob Turner pick a fight with him in practice. "I found out about it on the show," Gholston said, referring to "Hard Knocks." "I sat back and watched it just like you guys [reporters]. It was totally unexpected. Obviously, coach has got his plans. My mindset is to get better. Fighting? We can do that if necessary. They [the coaches] saw how I responded. I ain't scared of no fight." Gholston, too, addressed him volunteering to restructure his contract to take a pay cut during the offseason."
Gang Green 'excited' over Gholston's progress
August 10
New York Post
 
"You've heard this before, but Vernon Gholston is coming on strong in training camp. If you prefer to not hold your breath for the 2008 No. 1 draft pick who has played two years in the NFL and still doesn't have a sack, so be it. But coach Rex Ryan and even some of Gholston's defensive teammates were gushing about his progress yesterday. "That's the best day he's had since I've been here," Ryan said of yesterday's practice. "I want to see him string some together. This is the most excited I've ever been about Vernon Gholston. Whatever he had for breakfast [yesterday], he needs to eat [more]. That was big time. "I thought it would happen last year," Ryan said. "But it was a coaching mistake."
Coaches becoming Gholst' riders
August 4
New York Post
 
"It's put up or shut up time for Vernon Gholston. "He's got to step up and show what he can do," coach Rex Ryan said. "It's that Year 3 .?.?. That's when you're gonna do it." After making a combined 30 tackles and no sacks in his first two seasons, the only way to describe Gholston, the sixth overall draft pick in 2008, is as a high-priced bust. In an attempt to change that, the Jets have moved the former Ohio State star from outside linebacker to defensive end. "If I'm on the field playing, that [bust label] will shed itself," he said after yesterday's practice at SUNY Cortland. "People haven't really seen me out there making a lot of plays, so when you don't see nothing from a guy, it's"
Jets moving Gholston to defensive line
April 26
New York Post
 
"Vernon Gholston has arrived at his final NFL crossroads. One year after coach Rex Ryan virtually guaranteed that Gholston, the Jets 2008 first-round pick, was going to be a big-time contributor, he has been given a new position by Ryan. Gholston, who had a school-record 14 sacks as a senior at Ohio State as a defensive end before being converted to an outside linebacker by the Jets, is being moved back onto the defensive line. This move, Ryan hopes, will lead Gholston, who still is without an NFL sack, to become a productive player and save his fledgling pro career. Because if this doesn't work, Gholston, who received $21 million in guaranteed money in his first contract, will have worn"
Michigan's Graham to Gang Green: I'm no Gholston
April 20
New York Post
 
"Brandon Graham has big plans for his NFL career, which will begin when he's drafted Thursday night. One of Graham's first orders of business, regardless of whether the Jets use their first-round pick to take him, is simple: Don't become Vernon Gholston. Graham, you see, enters this NFL in a somewhat parallel universe to the one that Gholston did two years ago. Graham has been a pass-rushing demon while playing defensive end at Michigan. Gholston was the same package as a collegiate player at Ohio State, before the Jets selected him with the sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2008 draft."
Vernon's example looms over Jets' pick
April 19
New York Post
 
"For every Lawrence Taylor in the NFL Draft, there is a Vernon Gholston. The Jets are well-versed on what can go wrong in the NFL Draft, how one bust pick high in the first round can set back a franchise. Perhaps no high draft pick in NFL history hurt a franchise more dramatically than Blair Thomas did the Jets. The team's selection of the decorated Penn State running back as the second overall pick in the 1990 draft left the organization reeling for years afterward. But the selection of Gholston as the sixth overall pick in the 2008 draft is the recent standard. Gholston's failure to become a competent starter as a pass-rushing outside linebacker has forced the team to go out and spend big"
Rex Ryan: 2010 is make-or-break year for Jets' Gholston
February 28
New York Post
 
"Forget any speculation about the Jets using an uncapped year to rid themselves of the utter disaster that is Vernon Gholston. Jets coach Rex Ryan said yesterday that he is prepared to give the underachieving defensive end another season to live up to his first-round draft billing. Or, at the very least, record his first NFL sack. "We need to give him more playing time," Ryan said during a break in the scouting combine at Lucas Oil Stadium. "I've had players that take a little time, but you know that he's got it in him .¤.¤. so we will see what happens." Ryan did admit that 2010 is going to be a make-or-break season for Gholston, the No. 6 overall pick two years ago who has just 24 tackles"
New York Jets could opt to cut former first-round pick Vernon Gholston
January 27
New York Daily News
 
"There was a Vernon Gholston sighting in the AFC Championship Game. He was in the final three defensive plays, when the Colts were handing off in garbage time. It may have been his final hurrah (if you could call it that) in a Jets uniform. Gholston is one of the most intriguing items on the Jets' offseason agenda. As of now, the organization is truly undecided on whether to bring him back. Ordinarily, a team never would consider unloading a former first-round pick (sixth overall) this quickly - three years left on his contract - but the prospect of no salary cap under the current CBA means the Jets could cut bait and absorb the large cap hit without having to worry about too much "dead""
Vernon Gholston's furture with jets breeds uncertainty
January 26
Newark Star-Ledger
 (scroll down)
"LB Vernon Gholston's future with the team is uncertain even though the team still owes him nearly $11 million in guaranteed money. Gholston has no sacks in 29 career games."
Jets' Gholston still hamstrung in quest for 1st sack
November 28
New York Post
 
"Vernon Gholston spent last Sunday in the trainer's room at the Jets' practice facility in New Jersey. As he received treatment on his injured left hamstring, he watched the Jets lose to the Patriots. "You want to be out there, especially when things aren't going well," Gholston said. "You just want to get out there and help as much as you can." Jets coach Rex Ryan said Gholston will be active tomorrow against the Panthers, although he is not expected to play much after missing the last two weeks. If Gholston remains healthy, that gives him six more games to show the coaches something. Gholston, the No. 6 overall pick in the 2008 draft, has not recorded a sack in his career."
LB hits 'Ghol" with 1st sack
September 5
New York Post
 
"For Vernon Gholston, it didn't matter that Thursday night's game was preseason. He needed to experience the feeling. Gholston recorded his first NFL sack, taking the Eagles' Kevin Kolb down in the third quarter. "That was like getting a monkey off his back," Jets linebacker Bart Scott said. "I'm sure he's well aware he hadn't had a sack, and I'm sure he's been reminded by you [reporters]. Now you hope this will free him up and allow him to get a lot more." Scott said he felt it was really Gholston's second sack, saying the penalty called on Gholston for a helmet-to-helmet hit on the Giants' David Carr should not have been called. Gholston said the first sack "felt good," adding, "It was"
Jets' Gholston Looks to End Bust Whispers
August 7
New York Post
 
"Vernon Gholston knows all about the numbers. Most of them he would prefer to forget. Start with being the No. 6 overall pick in the 2008 draft, playing 15 games and managing just four tackles on defense, one of which was solo. Those are not good numbers. This season, his second in the NFL, Gholston has changed his number -- from No. 56 to No. 50, which previously was worn by the departed Eric Barton. Hopefully for Gholston and the Jets, who invested so much in him, his performance will change, too. With starting linebacker Calvin Pace suspended for the first four games of the regular season, Rex Ryan quickly named Gholston the starter, so there will be a bright spotlight on how much better"
Jets' 2008 first-round pick Vernon Gholston has scouts cautious at NFL combine
February 23
New York Daily News
 
"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"
Gholston Feeling Mangini's Heat
December 2
New York Post
 
"Rookie linebacker Vernon Gholston nearly had the first sack of his career Sunday but couldn't quite get to Jay Cutler. When asked if Gholston might help a sagging pass rush, coach Eric Mangini did not give a glowing review of the first-round pick. "He had a significant shot [Sunday]," Mangini said tersely. "You know, there were plays to be made. You know, his opportunities were based on his ability to make those plays." Mangini was asked how Gholston did with his shot. "I think he needs to continue to improve," he said. Gholston's season has to be labeled a disappointment at this point. The No. 6 pick in April's draft, he has 12 tackles, with most of those coming on special teams, and no"
New York Jets LB Vernon Gholston struggling to adjust
August 15
Newark Star-Ledger
 
"Early in training camp, Jets coach Eric Mangini recalled when he first started to watch tape of linebacker Vernon Gholston prior to April's draft. He marveled at how the Ohio State product "popped" off the screen. Mangini said Gholston seemed to make eye-catching plays every time he turned on the film. Soon, Gholston became the player the Jets had to have to ignite their pass rush, an area they feel they desperately need to improve if they are to dethrone Tom Brady and the Patriots (see Giants, Super Bowl XLII). But through three weeks of training camp, Gholston, selected sixth overall, is still swimming up stream as he tries to learn a new system -- or "drowning" as Gholston says --"
Gholston Feeling Jet Rookie Pains
July 30
New York Post
 
"Vernon Gholston is being realistic, even if his goals for the time being probably won't excite Jets fans. "I always have high expectations for myself," Gholston said. "Maybe it comes a little slower than others expect, but one day I hope to be a good player." So, he doesn't consider himself one already? "Definitely not," said Gholston after practice yesterday at Hofstra. The former Ohio State defensive lineman isn't being modest, just accepting the realities of making the transition to the NFL and to a new position. When told Eric Mangini had said it looked as if Gholston was "swimming" during training camp, the linebacker-in-training responded, "Swimming? Closer to drowning." That's what"