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Pace suspension gives Gholston his big chance
by Russ H
on Jul 3, 2009 12:36 PM EDT
3 comments
NY Jets LB Calvin Pace has been suspended for the first four games of the 2009 regular season for violating the NFL's performance enhancing substance abuse policy. Pace, who claims the suspension stems from him taking an over the counter dietary supplement, will be allowed to participate in all aspects of training camp and play in the exhibition games as well but will be ineligible to return to the Jets until the Monday following their Week 4 game@ New Orleans.
In addition to missing the New Orleans game Pace will miss the season opener in Houston and will also miss home games against the Patriots and Titans in Weeks 2 & 3. Pace will be eligible to return just in time to play in the Jets lone Monday Night Football game of the season. a Week 5 tilt against the rival Dolphins in Miami October 12th.
Pace is expected to be a big part of the attacking style defense favored by new Jet HC Rex Ryan and his absence leaves a big hole at the OLB position. OLB's Marques Murrell and Jason Trusnik should both see increased playing time while Pace serves out his suspension but the guy who benefits the most from this situation is OLB Vernon Gholston, the Jets disappointing 1st round pick of the 2008 NFL draft..
Gholston was persona non grata last season. He made only 13 tackles in 2008, with most of those coming on special teams play, and had zero QB sacks, zero QB pressures, zero passes defended and zero tipped passes. He was even a healthy scratch in a Week 15 game at home against Buffalo. Gholston appeared to be lost and confused most of the time he was on the field, thinking instead of reacting to what was going on around him.
The firing of Eric Mangini and the subsequent hiring of Rex Ryan should at least in theory help to get Gholston playing better. Mangini's defense was not designed to bring out the best of the people playing in that defense, he installed a defensive system that required all players to be equally versed in what each and every players job was on each and every play, you were not only expected to know your job but the job of the players alongside and behind you as well. Gholston was lost and the word bust was quickly being used to describe his play on the field.
All that now appears to be changing under Ryan, who has taken Gholston under his wing as his personal reclamation project, promising to show that not only was he not a bust but that he could become an integral part of the Jets defense, particularly against the pass. Ryan has said he would at first use Gholston in particular defensive packages designed to better use his abilities, namely his speed and strength, to get to the QB.
With Pace now on the shelf for the first four weeks of the season Gholston will no doubt get the first shot at filling Paces' shoes so we should see something of an accelerated learning curve for him in training camp. Gholston was already going to have an expanded roll in Ryans' defense even before Pace was suspended, now I suspect that role may be expanded even further depending on how well he plays in Paces' absence.
If Ryan and his coaching staff can get Gholston reacting to what's going on around him on the football field instead of just seeing and thinking about what's going on around him we may yet get to see the player the Jets thought they were getting when they drafted Gholston with the 6th overall pick of the 2008 NFL draft.
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Hate Week: Brad Butler, Most Hated Bill
by John B
on Jul 2, 2009 1:07 PM EDT
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The Bills aren't as easy to hate as the Dolphins and Pats for Jets fans. If we're talking about historical players, O.J. Simpson comes to mind as a guy nobody likes. As far as current players go, it's harder to pick. Terrell Owens would be an easy choice, but he hasn't even played his first game in Buffalo. My choice is Brad Butler.
Butler played right tackle for the University of Virginia when D'Brickashaw Ferguson started at left tackle. During a 2005 game at Boston College, Butler delivered one of the biggest cheap shots of the decade in football.
But Brad Butler's hit to the back of the knees of Boston College all-American Mathias Kiwanuka well after the whistle angered the No. 18 Eagles and spurred them to a 28-17 comeback victory in front of a sparse crowd of 35,280 at Alumni Stadium.
Kiwanuka was injured at the time. Butler tried to injure him even worse outside the context of the game when Kiwanuka was exposed and looking in the other direction. Kiwanuka took a swing at Butler later and was ejected. Butler started dancing around celebrating. It's one thing to attack a player's weakness and get under his skin during the game. It's another to intentionally try and injure somebody once the play is over. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a video of this. It's one of the worst cheap shots you'll ever see. Butler could have ended Kiwanuka's career.
Tell me what you think. Was this worse than T.O.'s team destroying antics, or am I a biased BC alum?
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GGN on Washington Post Panel
by John B
on Jul 2, 2009 11:00 AM EDT
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The Washington Post's NFL blog, The League, had a panel discussion this week on the potential for rookies to start at quarterback this season. Check it out here.
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Mike Fladell Waived
by John B
on Jul 2, 2009 8:06 AM EDT
0 comments
Shortly after acquiring him from the Giants, the Jets waived guard Mike Fladell.
A day after claiming Mike Fladell, the Jets waived the guard after he failed his physical. The announcement was made by Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum.
Fladell, a 6'7", 334-pounder who attended Rutgers University, entered the NFL when he was signed to the Giants practice squad on Dec. 3, 2008, as an undrafted rookie free agent. The Howard Beach, N.Y., native was subsequently waived on June 24.
Tough break for Fladell. Considering the lack of depth on the line, this might have been his best shot at making a roster.
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Hate Week: Jason Taylor, Most Hated Dolphin
by John B
on Jul 1, 2009 12:06 PM EDT
2 comments
Yesterday I touched on my least favorite Patriot, Bill Belichick. It's much more personal with my least favorite Dolphin, Jason Taylor. Taylor loves taking cheap shots at Jets fans. I remember seeing an NFL Films documentary on the Monday Night Miracle. Taylor wouldn't stop yelling at the fans in the stands early in the game. After his defense surrendered an epic comeback, he got really quiet.
His obsession with Jets fans only got bigger from there.
Here's what he said in 2004 about Jets fans:
"… a bunch of them chanting their dumb-ass chant and all that other stuff, being the ignorant fans they are. I said it. I don't care if they get mad at me or not. They don't like me anyway. Quite frankly, I don't care… I'm just being real. I'm telling the truth. You carry yourself with some class, and we'll talk about you as if you've got class. If you want to act crazy and do all the crazy things they do, I'll call a spade a spade."
He doesn't go into much detail. I guess fans chanting makes them classless even though every team's fans chant. I do agree, however, that one should act with class in order to treated as classy.
After the Jets beat Taylor 40-13 in Miami in 2007:
They (stink) too," Taylor said. "They beat us. They'll go home happy, and their fans will be happy that they got three wins this year. Good for them."
And Taylor was unhappy because he only got 1 win that year and got crushed by said 3 win team by 27 on his home field. It was great to see Taylor carrying himself with class in defeat, though.
In 2009 on potentially signing with the Jets:
"It’d be very, very, very difficult. Very difficult."
He said he might consider the Patriots, "but the Jets are the Jets."
"I’ve had a lot of history saying bad things about Jets fans," he said. "The fireman hat guy and all of the people in New York that are Jets fans are not the ones that are working on Wall Street. I’ve said all of those things. So I’ve got to leave it at that."
This one is tough to figure. First of all, he's wrong. A lot of Jets fans work on wall Street. Second of all, considering what some of the people on Wall Street have done to the economy of this country, is that really an insult? Third of all, he seems to imply there's something wrong with regular working class people. Total class.
For all of his talk, you would think he's got as many rings as Charles Haley. Unlike Belichick, though, who has earned begruding respect for all of his success, Taylor has won nothing in his career. He's never gotten past the Divisional Playoffs. His team hasn't even played a competitive game in that round. In any event, those games were a long time ago. Jason hasn't been to the Playoffs since 2001. Even though he was considered one of the leaders of the Dolphins' locker room, the team engineered a 10 win turnaround after he left in 2008. His new team, the Redskins, missed the Playoffs a year after earning a spot.
Is all of this his fault? Of course not but his 0 career postseason sacks indicates the degree to which he turns it on in the biggest moments and the impact he has in critical games. The bottom line is for how much he talks, you'd think he would have won something. Heck, for how much he talks about the Jets, you'd think his career record against them would be better than 6-16.
It's funny how much Dolphins fans hate Rex Ryan for trash talking. They adore Taylor after all.
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Keep the FanPosts Coming
by John B
on Jul 1, 2009 10:40 AM EDT
1 comment
I'd just like to draw everybody's attention to the FanPost feature on the right side of the page. This week we've seen some great takes on the Jets. I've even promoted a few to the front page. I'd like to thank everybody who has been contributing, and if you haven't, you should. All you have to do is register for a free account, and you can post your take on the team. This isn't my site. It's your site. It works best when everybody's involved like you have been for the past week.
Keep up the great work.
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Roscoe Parrish: East's Top Punt Returner
by John B
on Jul 1, 2009 8:19 AM EDT
2 comments
The best of the Buffalo Bills often is special. Such has been the case for the past two seasons with Roscoe Parrish.
Parrish is the Bills' 5'9", 171-pound punt returner par excellence. He'd love an opportunity to break into the Buffalo WR rotation, and with the arrival of Terrell Owens, he may well factor into some new packages and formations.
But it seems unlikely Parrish will be asked to give up his return duties. As ST coach Bobby April has said, "In my mind, there's no better punt returner than Roscoe."
Parrish has demonstrated that the past two seasons. In 2007 he reeled off an average of 16.3 yards on each of his 27 returns (with only two fair catches, we might add). Then last season he "slumped" to 15.3 on 21 returns.
I won't argue with this. There may be no more dangerous return man in the game today than Leon Washington, but he does most of his damage on kickoffs. The Jets are taking him off punt returns this year and giving the job to Jim Leonhard. The numbers Lange presents speak for themselves. The Bills from 2007 to 2008 have the best average since 1960 on punt returns over a two year span.
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Forget about WR! What about DE?
by joey d
on Jul 1, 2009 12:27 AM EDT
1 comment
Is everyone completely ignoring the other potentially destructive weakness on the Jets roster other than the lack of depth at wide receiver? It seems to me that the lack of depth and elderliness of our defensive ends has gone unnoticed by fans, writers, analysts, and most unfortunately the Jets front office. If not mended, I feel this problem could lead to yet another year of average football by a seemingly promising 2009 Jets football team.
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