#50 Vernon Gholston was the #6 overall pick in the 2008 draft. The NY Jets fans suffered through a disastrous 2007 champaign, and the one bright spot was the fact that we had a top 10 draft pick as a result. The whole idea behind drafting a player in the first round, as apposed to the 7th round, is the players ability to make an impact... in the long term. If you look at LB's who have been drafted highly in the past decade, very few make a significant impact from day one. Guys like Merriman and Vilma are exceptions to the rule.
That being said, Gholston has yet to record any real stats (zero sacks, zero FF, zero INT, and a handful of tackles) because he has yet to win the starting job. His playing time has been limited because he is fat and happy right now. He's a guy who got a scholarship to a big name college and played his heart out. Next thing he knew, the NFL was knocking on his door with a truckload of cash. He's going through the motions, but at this point of his life he doesn't realize how quickly this whole wild ride can come to an end.
In this case I trust that the powers that be will do the right thing regarding this player. If they keep him it will only be because he has shown that he is ready to start giving 100%. The Jets can easily dump him this offseason and they won't need to deal with any salary cap ramifications. Fans are completely outraged by his huge salary and lack of production, but luckily the experts make the decisions.
When draft choices like Gholston don't pan out... "the experts" end up going back to whatever it was they did before they we team architects. Make no mistake, Mr. T's job will be in real jeopardy if we miss the playoffs again (3 out of his 4 years as GM) and our coaches decide #50 is a waste of space.
There are some other players who may or may not be wearing the green and white in 2010.
Lito Sheppard has struggled with nagging injuries and has been outplayed by our nickel back Dwight Lowery. Rumors have already started regarding the Jets dumping the former Eagle after only one season. Braylon Edwards has also been a non-factor and there is talk about him being released. There is no chance either one of these players are let go. If, hypothetically, we did release these two players, that would make it 3 trades in two years (including Favre) that have cost us multiple draft picks and yielded only one season of service (and in Edwards case it would only be a partial season). That would be unprecedented In the NFL, and also absurd.
Not all of our players have been a disappointment. Players like Sean Ellis and Thomas Jones have been stand-outs and conventional thinking seems to dictate extending both of them into 2010 and beyond. Ellis is a pass rusher and Jones plays the most personally destructive position in all of football. DE's and RB's hit the wall very abruptly and the clock is ticking very loudly for both of these Jets.
As I have stated in previous posts I feel we should address the pass rushing DE, running back and right tackle spots in this years draft. If we could get some trade value for players like Ellis or Jones I would be all for it. We need to get younger at key positions and there are some interesting players available in this draft.
No comments:
Post a Comment