Gholston Sucking

BY RICH CIMINI
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Friday, August 29th 2008, 12:49 AM

Tringali/Getty Vernon Gholston records three tackles in 46 plays during Thursday's win.

Tringali/Getty Brett Favre watches in pre-season win.

PHILADELPHIA - Brett Favre looked sharp Thursday night - in his green Jets baseball cap, the style worn by the coaches.

In the final game of the preseason, Favre was closer to the coaches than the huddle, as he was rested with the other starters in the Jets' 27-20 win over the Eagles.

As expected, Eric Mangini turned the last tune-up into a showcase for the second- and third-stringers, many of whom will be sweating out the final roster cuts tomorrow. The most prominent player on the field - certainly the one with the biggest paycheck - was rookie Vernon Gholston, who finished a disappointing preseason with another hollow performance.

The Jets' top pick, appearing in 46 plays at outside linebacker and defensive end, was credited with three quiet tackles. Gholston had no sacks and no quarterback pressures, with only one impact play - he forced backup right tackle Winston Justice into a holding penalty.

Another way to look at Gholston's night: He made fewer tackles than wide receiver Chansi Stuckey, who made four stops in his NFL debut at cornerback.

"I'm still learning," said Gholston, making the transition to linebacker from defensive end. "It's a slow process, moving to a new position. You're going to hit a few bumps, but I'm getting better."

Gholston missed two tackles and was beaten in coverage on a 13-yard pass. He attributed the misplays to "the rookie mind-set," trying to do too much.

"After the first quarter, I had to tell myself to settle down," said Gholston, who stuffed a run by Lorenzo Booker in the third quarter.

That he was a non-factor against the Eagles' backups has to be a concern. Gholston was the sixth pick of this year's draft, landing a five-year, $32.5 million contract.

Gholston's fellow rookie, cornerback Dwight Lowery (fourth-round pick), was given the night off, an indication he could be the Week 1 starter in Miami. Justin Miller (dislocated toe), who started the first three games, is expected to be ready by the opener - but he may not have his starting job.

Overall, the best performance was delivered by third-string running back Jesse Chatman, who finished with 180 total yards. With Thomas Jones and Leon Washington resting, he was the workhorse in the backfield, rushing for 93 yards on 29 carries. He scored the winning touchdown, a two-yard run with 6:26 left in the game. He also caught six passes for 87 yards. That should make the coaches feel comfortable with their depth at running back.

In other developments Thursday night:

Quarterback Kellen Clemens (3-for-8, 18 yards) started, but he alternated series in the first half with Brett Ratliff (3-for-4, 48 yards), who made the best play - an 11-yard scoring pass to Paul Raymond. Ratliff was flushed to his right and found Raymond in the back of the end zone.

Rookie Erik Ainge (10-for-16, 131 yards) handled mop-up duties, throwing a six-yard touchdown to David Ball. After a nondescript camp, Ainge, a fifth-round pick, probably earned a roster spot as the No.4 quarterback.

Favre, who didn't arrive until Aug.7, finished the preseason with only 38 snaps in two games, raising questions about whether he'll be ready for Miami. But Mangini didn't want to take any chances.

"I understood why he didn't want to play the starters," Favre said in a statement. "It was understandable. Sure, I wanted to play, but it wasn't a big deal. I never really brought it up."


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Not what i wanted to hear.

Sorry to hear that, Drago. Have you been watching any of the games so you can see how he's doing? Do you think he'll turn it around within the season?

RCBooba wrote:Sorry to hear that, Drago. Have you been watching any of the games so you can see how he's doing? Do you think he'll turn it around within the season?

i didn't catch last nights game. I'm pretty sure it wasnt on TV. I don't know if he'll turn it around. I understand its a new position but holy crap, when you are told to rush the QB going against Winston Justice, how can you not succeed?

Hell, he beat the crap out of the number one pick throughout the game last year...whats the issue?

Maybe it was more of the defense as a team than just him? No clue.

RCBooba wrote:Maybe it was more of the defense as a team than just him? No clue.

I am starting to get the bust feeling. i know it's a new position and only preseason...but holy crap, he should always be able to lean on his ability to get after the passer. so far he can only do that going against 7th round pick Jacob Bender and that is in practice.

That sucks, man. Hopefully things will turn around.

If I had to pick the busts of the top ten, I would have said Jake Long and Vernon Gholston. Both seem to be gym rats that were simply more physical than their opponents.

The one thing I noticed about Gholston though, was that teams did tend to stay away from him. People said after the LSU game that he looked like a non-factor. The reason was they ran away from him virtually the entire game. Every play seemed to go away from Gholston and the ones that did come to him he applied pressure.

Again, he was bigger and stronger than everyone on that level, pros are entirely different. I could be wrong but I'm reading bust for Vernon.

I hope you are wrong on this. I liked him coming out of the draft, far more than Mcfadden anyway. Had the jets been a higher pick iw ould have loved to see Chris Long in green.

With the sixth pick and McFadden on the board I really wanted to see the jets take the defensive tackle or OLBer from USC. Neither had the size for teh position being drafted but there was no perfect 34 player in this years draft. the last player i wanted was McFadden. If we are picking busts, he's my pick and not just because he plays in Oakland.

I notice that the only people who create threads on this board are Drago and Booba. What a pair of self-important airbags.

But you've known this for years.

ethan wrote:I notice that the only people who create threads on this board are Drago and Booba. What a pair of self-important airbags.

If i can be important in my own mind, who will i be important for? this site is like my power trip. I mean come on. I wield all the power here and i can therefore pretend to be god.

--what's that? ban booba? done! booba is gone!

So i bought a sword the other day too. Whenever I feel i need to have MORE power i drop to my knees, hold the sword above my head and scream for the power of cheese to compell me. It usually works. Then i leave the room and run after some tourists with my new sword.

needless to say, it's been pretty exciting.

So give me the story on this Cheese Athletics thing. Is it some sort of business you run? It has been a long time since I knew what you were doing, but I'm slightly confused because I thought you would fulfill your life long goal of operating a falafel and baba ganuj cart.

drago wrote:I hope you are wrong on this. I liked him coming out of the draft, far more than Mcfadden anyway. Had the jets been a higher pick iw ould have loved to see Chris Long in green.

With the sixth pick and McFadden on the board I really wanted to see the jets take the defensive tackle or OLBer from USC. Neither had the size for teh position being drafted but there was no perfect 34 player in this years draft. the last player i wanted was McFadden. If we are picking busts, he's my pick and not just because he plays in Oakland.

I'm just curious how you are judging this guy out of the box like this. Let him get a few games, hell a season or two before you judge him. Look at Mario Williams(?) that plays for the Texans. Everyone thought he was a bust but now he busts **** up.

I hear playing in the NFL is hard. Perhaps there is something to it?

ethan wrote:So give me the story on this Cheese Athletics thing. Is it some sort of business you run? It has been a long time since I knew what you were doing, but I'm slightly confused because I thought you would fulfill your life long goal of operating a falafel and baba ganuj cart.

Me and a few of my friends play indoor and outdoor soccer together. We also ran one camp last summer and will be running 3 or more next summer. It started off just to see if it would work but we are getting a lot of site hits looking for soccer info. It's a little bare right now but i have 6 reports to post today and tomorrow from the 5 games i saw. Bomber has another and parents are sending me pictures of the games (which are great by the way).

So yeah, probably no money in it, but it's fun.

other than that...i work in a bank...blah...

cpschult wrote:

drago wrote:I hope you are wrong on this. I liked him coming out of the draft, far more than Mcfadden anyway. Had the jets been a higher pick iw ould have loved to see Chris Long in green.

With the sixth pick and McFadden on the board I really wanted to see the jets take the defensive tackle or OLBer from USC. Neither had the size for teh position being drafted but there was no perfect 34 player in this years draft. the last player i wanted was McFadden. If we are picking busts, he's my pick and not just because he plays in Oakland.

I'm just curious how you are judging this guy out of the box like this. Let him get a few games, hell a season or two before you judge him. Look at Mario Williams(?) that plays for the Texans. Everyone thought he was a bust but now he busts **** up.

I hear playing in the NFL is hard. Perhaps there is something to it?

Of course it is hard and there are clearly going to be players proving both sides of the coin at this point. You can use Mario Williams for an example or Bryan Thomas. Both were first round picks and both are having careers heading in opposite directions.

When I see Gholston, I see a weight lifter who admits that weights are his life. Not football. To me, that is a red flag.