I'm with you, Kurt. Vlad hasn't reached his full potential yet, and rightly so. He's only had 1 offseason to learn. The kid has the physical tools to be something special, but needs to learn how to play at the pro level first. We've seen what Callahan did with Slauson, people need to show a little more patience. If he turns out to be a bust, then that's life. But calling Vlad a bust this early is not only ignorant, but it shows a severe lack of patience. Not everybody is Joe Thomas or Jake Long right out of the gate....jesus.
Gholston was'nt considered a bust going into his second season either. But seriously Ducasse might take some time but he won't be a bust - but he is a Turnstyle!
Two things. 1:You never answered the 5 simple questions I asked. 2: I don't know what was said about Brick, I wasn't on this board when he was a rookie. Brick had ups and downs. Good games, and bad. But he showed a steady progression, and was a day one starter. Comparing that to Vlad who can't handle 2nd and 3rd stringers in his second season is not even close to the same thing. Vlad has shown no progression. If he gets signifigant reps, and doesn't let up any more sacks through the rest of the PS games, then maybe people will feel better about his ability to backup one of the spots on the line. Second year players should at least be able to be capable backups- that's not a lot to ask, and it's not showing a lack of patience. I'm not bitching about him not being a probowler, or not being a starter, or not challenging for the starting spot. I'm bitching about him not being able to backup either G/T in his second season. I wouldn't be surprised to see him in street clothes again this year.
Players don't always make linear progression. There can be improvement then steps backwards before a player finally gets it and reaches their potential. It's not always a smooth ride and if you exhibit no patience in the process then you will never develop any players. It's like a stock....it doesn't always go in one direction and the over reactors just don't get that. It is fair to question his development at this point but to bench the guy in PRESEASON and not let him try to play through his struggles and keep developing like some are advocating here is just pure nonsense. If this was happening in the regular season then we have a different story but pre-season football is development time.
Oh OK, not to worry, it's just the sophmore slump. I know I never said I want the guy to stop getting reps in PS, but I sure as shit don't like the idea of letting him run with Mark.
Ask yourself this: Are you happy with his progression to this point? - No I'm not. I expected his natural talent to take over by this point in time, especially considering that once Slauson won the LG job last TC,the pressure was off Ducasse,allowing him to work w/ Callahan on his technique and grasping the scheme. He hasn't made alot of strides. With that said, there are some extenuating circumstances to consider including the loss of minicamp. Additionally, I'm not overly concerned b/c despite little progression, he still is well within the projected window of development that was to be expected when he was drafted.There are always peaks and valleys. Are you comfortable with Vlad in a starting role due to injury? - No. But we're only entering week 2 of preseason and there is plenty of time for him to get more comfortable on the field and to work through his issues. I also felt he had some bright spots while starting in Moore's place. Do you expect Vlad to be a good starter at any position in the next two years? - Yes I do. i stand by my take that he is immensely talented, is said to have a great worth ethic and that his issues are correctable.I think they will get ironed out with time and quality Callahan-esque coaching. Are you happy with where we drafted Vlad, and would you make the same pick again? - Yes i am. But I view the draft alot differently than other people. For one, I give players at least 2.5 years of time to develop before making any judgements. Secondly, I try to take the time to understand the thought process that franchise's have for making given draft picks and if it makes sense, I give it the benefit of the doubt. My last post outlines why I think the jets selected him. I love watching O-lineman and admire natural talent at the position. I also had been screaming for the Jets to draft a high ceiling O-linemen early for quite sometime. When they selected him I was happy, even knowing full well the move might not pay dividends for at least 2 years.
when you toss in the fact the young guys didnt have a real offseason to get things together its quite likely he wasnt doing everything he could have/would have if he had been with the jets staff all offseason. He is still a project and will learn over time. If he ever reaches what his ceiling is, whether it takes 3 days or 3 more years, it will all have been worth it.
Three years from now he'll be in the first year of a new contract, and an expensive one if he's shown real signs in year four. If Ducasse does nothing for three years, is awesome in year four, and signs for a fortune in San Francisco, how does that help us? Second round draft picks need to be judged on how they perform in their cost controlled years 1-4, not over the course of their career.
its not Vlad that i question....wonderful story.. poor guy/family...from iguana now have some $$$....its beautiful ...its Rex/Tanny that i point my finger(middle) at for getting a schlub in the 2nd round ...i question the whole organization based on this 1 pick.....and i hope Rex reads this
I won't give him 3 more years, but I do give him one more, because every draft pick gets 3 years. That's something everyone need to remind themselves of.
I'd like to point out that Kurt has kicked the living shit out of everyone in this thread. In interest of not going in circles, let's move on.
Rex's press conference today 8/17: Watt beat him clean. Great move by Watt. The one where he was the last guy off the ball - cadence change by McElroy. The whole line minus the center didn't hear it. That's an immense fuckup on the rookie QBs part. 4/5 of your line didn't know what was going on. Rex asked Callahan, "Why isn't Vlad playing RT in the 2nd half." Cally told him he's playing LG because they have no one else. Rex said Vlad's making strides at RT. He played better at RT than he did RG in the game, but that one snap that has been confirmed wasn't on him makes it look bad.
OK, good explanations. I think everyone agrees, it typically takes players 3 years to hit roughly 90% of their ceiling. In my opinion, most players drafted in the top 3 rounds will show you something in the first year or two, and will show obvious signs of progression. The judgement for Vlads entire career are certainly pre-mature. Can he develop into a good starter 3,5,7 years from now, sure. Stranger things have happened in the NFL- ask Rich Gannon and Curt Warner. But I think it's pretty rare that a guy goes from this bad to a stud in a years time. I don't think he cracks our starting lineup in his rookie contract, but hopefully I'm wrong. I just hope he shows enough improvement in the next 3 weeks that our CS and fans will be comfortable with him backing up one or more spots on our line for this season. If he spends another year in street clothes that's going to be a tough pill to swallow.
I don't think I've seen anyone mention that Rex said on the sack where he got beat at RT, and got blown away, that McElroy didn't communicate the cadence correctly to anyone on the OL except the center, and Vlad was ultra late off the ball. Rex said McElroy got himself sacked there. Take it for what it's worth.
I think you're overstating the position here just a touch. I really do believe that both Slauson and Hunter were head and shoulders ahead of Vlad in their winning these starting spots. Slauson is very well known to Callahan through college days and I'll eat my lunch if Callahan did not want him. Slauson had the time in to develop and although a lower round pick was from a bigger college program and just seemed all over meaner and smarter. Hunter has been the steadily improving swing man for a number of seasons and was really impressive when called into to start last year when Wood went down.
Of course the haters who over-reacted to the situation without knowing the facts would never point that FACT out! Some of the posters on here are hypocrites.
