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Read more: Source: Ex-coach Eric Mangini pushed New York Jets to draft disappointing linebacker Vernon Gholston

Source: Ex-coach Eric Mangini pushed New York Jets to draft disappointing linebacker Vernon Gholston
BY Rich Cimini
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Wednesday, November 11th 2009, 4:00 AM

Kostroun/APVernon Gholston (50) hasn't made an impact for the New York Jets in two season, and to make matters worse, he seemed to be a favorite of ex-coach Eric Mangini. Take our PollWeek 10 Pick 'em: Jaguars at Jets
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'I'm responsible; Blame me' for lossRex Ryan predicted big things for Vernon Gholston, vowing to turn the disappointing former No. 1 pick into a productive player. That hasn't happened, and it's fair to wonder if it will ever happen.

Gholston is 24 games into his NFL career, and he has yet to record a sack. How is that possible? His playing time has almost disappeared (only about a dozen defensive snaps in the past two games), and the coaching staff needs to take a hard look this week at whether he should be active Sunday against the Jaguars.

Because Gholston's role on defense is so small, it might not make sense to dress him because it creates a dropoff on special teams. He's not as good as Marques Murrell and Ahmad Carroll, core special teamers who got squeezed in the numbers game and were inactive in the last game. That decision came back to bite the Jets (see Ted Ginn Jr.). Even special teams coach Mike Westhoff seemed puzzled by it. You can bet there will be an extra emphasis on special teams for Sunday.

So it has come to this for Gholston, the sixth pick of the 2008 draft: He's extra baggage. But he continues to play because sitting him would be a self-indictment for a team paying him $21million in guarantees. It's a cover-your-backside move, not uncommon in the NFL.

Here's the troubling part: Gholston's lack of progress isn't surprising to some in the organization. Now we're hearing he wasn't a popular choice to begin with. Opinions in the draft room were mixed on Gholston, but the Jets picked him because then-coach Eric Mangini lobbied hard, according to multiple sources.

"That one's on Eric," one source said.

Now they have a potential bust on their hands. Asked if Mangini was the driving force behind the Gholston choice, GM Mike Tannenbaum said, "On all draft decisions, I have the final say. But, organizationally, we felt good about Vernon. Although his rate of improvement isn't where we want it to be, we're still happy he's here and we feel good about his future."

Sounds like spin control. Since starting the first four games at outside linebacker for the then-suspended Calvin Pace, Gholston has been used sparingly in sub packages as a down lineman. His best moment was a hustle play in Week 3, when he made a touchdown-saving tackle on the Titans' Chris Johnson 30 yards downfield.

What did the Jets, or Mangini, see in Gholston? They were seduced by extraordinary measurables - size, speed and strength.

"He had two sacks against (Michigan's) Jake Long in college and that drew a lot of attention," an AFC scout said last week, referring to the Dolphins' No. 1 overall pick in 2008. "But when you went back and watched his tapes, he wasn't nearly as productive as he was in that one game. When people saw his body type and raw numbers, I guess they were willing to overlook what they actually saw on tape."



Read more: Source: Ex-coach Eric Mangini pushed New York Jets to draft disappointing linebacker Vernon Gholston

PatsWickedPissah

"Because Gholston's role on defense is so small, it might not make sense to dress him because it creates a dropoff on special teams. He's not as good as Marques Murrell and Ahmad Carroll, core special teamers who got squeezed in the numbers game and were inactive in the last game. That decision came back to bite the Jets (see Ted Ginn Jr.). Even special teams coach Mike Westhoff seemed puzzled by it."

Hilarious! You could make a case that G was responsible for the Jets loss to the Fins!

As to the rest of the article, it's common in industry to blame everything that goes wrong on the departed.

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PatsChamp88

Seems hes becoming a scapegoat for many things these days, not to say hes not contributed his share but cmon...

cartmen

Someone needs to dig up those old threads of who will be better Mayo or VG. There were Pats fans wishing we would have traded up to get him

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Funktopus

Tannenbaum has such a worm tongue. he has the final say, BUT it wasn't just him contributing to the selection. Way to proclaim yourself boss without taking responsibility.

Rob0729

In tomorrow's article, Cimini is going to reveal that Mangini was adamently opposed to drafting Darrell Revis and Tannenbaum had to threaten to quit to get his way to draft him.

What a load of BS. The Jets are struggling. Tannenbaum is on the hotseat. Mangini is a pariah in Cleveland and got Kokinas fired. All of the sudden nearly two years later it comes out that Gholston was Mangini's choice and everyone else in the organization was against the pick.

What slimy organization the Jets are.

Patstopia

Every year it's the same thing. The Jets are built up by the media because of the draft or free agents to be the next big thing. Every year they fight and claw to a few wins at the start of the season and slowly lose their status as a good team. Ultimately plunging to a medocre record. The season ends and the story slowly starts again. Sometimes with a new coach, but never with a new GM. Just more BS from the capital city of BS.

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BradyFTW!

Hell, I'll bite. Knowing what we knew at the time, I would have had no problem with the Pats trading up for Gholston. I've never claimed to be a fan of the college game, let alone a good evaluator of college talent, but we needed young talent at OLB and ILB, and Gholston certainly seemed to fit the bill. That's probably just by ignorance of college football talking, but hey, at least I'm up front about it: college football does nothing for me.

That said, once Banks broke that we wanted Mayo a few days before the draft, I was fine with that too. In either case, we were getting a talented player at a positoin of need.

mayoclinic

Michael Lombardi discussed this in his column on National Football Post. He basically argued that Mangini did not have the clout to make a draft decision on his own, and that Tanenbaum needs to own up that he made a mistake.

Diner morning news: Quinn needs playing time | National Football Post

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IcyPatriot

Mangini had a man crush on Bobby Grier.

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