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 out his welcome with the Jets.
Gholston, the sixth overall pick in the draft, has 30 tackles in two seasons.
“We’re going to put Vernon Gholston in a position where we think, him backing up Shaun Ellis, is going to give us an opportunity to get more athletic at the position,” Ryan said.
Ryan said, once the Jets signed Jason Taylor, “our plan all along was to put Vernon in a position where he can be successful” at defensive end.
“I think we did that,” he said.
Only time will tell, but it will be another subplot to an already-compelling Jets’ training camp.
****
Alan Faneca yesterday said he was “upset” with the Jets’ decision to jettison him after he made two consecutive Pro Bowls playing for them. “I’m upset with their decision,” the 33-year-old Faneca said. “I’m not necessarily angry, but I did not want things to end the way they did.”
The Jets’ offensive line, which was a big part of the team leading the NFL in rushing last season, had started 32 consecutive regular-season games together — the longest active streak in the league.
That will come to an end once the regular season begins.
MORE ON FANECA’S REACTION TO GETTING CUT
****
Among the rookie free agents the Jets will bring in for their three-day mini-camp, which begins on Friday, will be CB Donovan Warren, who was a three-year starter at Michigan and left school early when he was told he was projected to be drafted.
Warren’s 4.65 time in the 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine hurt his stock. What didn’t hurt him when it came to the Jets signing him was that Jets defensive backs coach Mark Carrier is his godfather.
Other free agents signed include Bethune-Cookman WR Philip Kirkland, Nevada DE Kevin Basped, Illinois WR/TE Jeff Cumberland, North Dakota State OT Keith Buckman, Pittsburgh DT Mick Williams, Alabama LB Cory Reamer and Texas G Charlie Tanner, Baylor DE Jason Lamb, Texas TE Charlie Tanner. Cal S Marcus Ezoff is one of a few players who has been invited to mini-camp on a tryout basis.****
Jets second-round pick, Vladimir Ducasse, who’s being groomed to take over the starting left guard spot vacated when Faneca was released on Saturday, said he “came here to compete” for a starting job.
Ducasse, a former Haitian immigrant, learned football from scratch at Stamford High in Connecticut, where Kevin Jones, Ducasse’s high school coach, recalled how raw Ducasse was when he first met him.
“His first varsity game he knocked a guy down and actually apologized to him,” Jones said. “We had to talk to him about that.”
Jones recalled the first spring practice he came to, saying, “He started from zero. We had to teach him how to put on pads.”
Jones said Ducasse is so “extremely intelligent you don’t have to teach him anything twice.”
“It’s going to be fascinating to watch his improvement as he develops,” Jones said.