Vernon Gholston: Progress Not Enough for Some?

The much talked-about, much anticipated, and—if you believe some—"bust" pick of the 2008 NFL Draft, Vernon Gholston is the talk of the town, but for some reason the talk is negative all the same.

Now after fans stop talking about the impressive start by Mark Sanchez, the next topic in line for discussion is nearly always the play of Gholston, or lack thereof to be more precise.

However, after showing promise, progress, anticipation, and explosion, his performance is still being disregarded as some with the "bust" label firmly attached to his neck.

Now before people start commenting that he had one tackle, had a sure sack pulled back for a idiotic illegality, and did nothing else, first re-watch the tape if you have it handy and notice a few things.

I want to say at this time that in no way am I saying that this was a premier performance, or even one deserving of the money he makes or the draft position at which he was taken. I am simply making the observation that progress is better than nothing, and it's encouraging to see.

First, let's start with the most obvious contribution on the night. The sack.

It did get pulled back and protection of the quarterback is the name of the game, but I think it is obvious that he in no way intended to hurt David Carr, and he tried to make adjustments during the sack to get his helmet away from Carr's. That being said, it was called back and there is a good case for that being the right call.

However, let's look past that—one of the main knocks on Gholston is that he doesn't show any aggression, he is too laid back, he is not fired up enough. Well, anyone who watched college football knew that coming in—if you want a "Me Tarzan, you Jane" chest-beater, then you are looking at the wrong guy.

Does that mean that he doesn't care? Of course not. Does that mean that he is ineffective? Absolutely not.

He plays tough, he plays hard, and when he does get to the quarterback, then he is going to know that he has been hit. Some players want to showboat after this. And that's fine, it's their style; however, it's not Gholston's.

So if you do want to speak against Gholston, don't use that—it's just not a feasible argument.

Now let's look at other parts of the game last night that fans should be excited about.

For the first time in his career as a New York Jet, I saw Gholston consistently getting a push off the line and forcing the tackle backwards. He was getting pressure in on the Giants quarterbacks, and if you look at the Harris interception, you will see No. 50 forcing the pressure on Eli Manning coming from the left of the Jets' line.

Is he the polished article? No, he isn't. He is still below average with his run-blocking and he will need to work on that area of his game.

However, is the most important point here the fact that we are talking about him? Last year he was not a factor at all—you couldn't find quarterback pressures, pursuits, tackles, or sacks to talk about; he showed more last night than he did the entire first year of his career.

So why are some Jets fans still on the guy's back? He needs time, but the fact that he is showing improvement is encouraging to a fan who just is not ready to give up on any player that has less than one full year experience. Remember that he was inactive toward the end of the season. Good strong call to dent a rookie's confidence; pity that Mangini didn't show the same mettle to bench Favre down the stretch.

He does need to progress in his run defence; however, for the most part he held down his lanes pretty well, I thought. Some fans will look at some plays and see Gholston tied up in the block and immediately label it as a bad play on his part; however, sometimes we need to realize that some of these plays are containment plays for Gholston and it's his job to keep the tackle occupied.

At times he was even being double-teamed off the line, and I don't think he is quite at that stage to fight through double-teams just yet. But one step forward is better than nothing, and I feel that some Jets fans have already programed Gholston as a bust, and, unless he has a monster season, they will refuse to take it down.

However, a sack, though negated, might just be the thing that he needs to get him started. Once Pace is back, Gholston should be used in situational pass-rushing situations, and, with this exotically schemed defence, sooner or later he will be getting hits, sacks, and pressures, and with that comes confidence.

He is not the first highly touted prospect to find it hard when he entered the league; we have to remember that he switched from defensive end to outside linebacker in the NFL, and that's not a easy transition to make.

Patience is the word of the day with Gholston, and I hope most Jets fans will realize that "Rome wasn't built in a day."