Media gets glimpse of Gholston at minicamp After watching No. 1 pick Vernon Gholston today in a minicamp practice, I can make two definitive observations: He?s big. He runs well. What, you expected more from a 45-minute viewing session? Media access is so limited that it?s hard to make snap judgments on these guys. But Gholston (6-3, 266) definitely looks the part of a menacing outside linebacker. He lined up mostly as the left outside linebacker, usually the strong side. Presumably, Calvin Pace, the $42 million free agent, will be the weak outside ?backer. After practice, Eric Mangini admitted he?s had his eye on Gholston since January, soon after the Jets? season ended. The Jets? coach said he was on the treadmill in the weight room when he caught his first glimpse of Gholston on tape. Telling the anecdote, Mangini couldn?t resist poking fun at himself. ?I remember watching him on the treadmill,? he said. ?I know that may seem shocking at this point, but I was actually on the treadmill - and it was on. I wasn?t having dinner on it, either. I remember thinking, ?This could be the sixth pick in the draft.?? Three months later, he was. *** A few other notes from Day 1 of the rookie minicamp: TE Dustin Keller (first-round pick) is a very fluid athlete; anybody can see that. If he plays as well as he looks in shorts, the Jets might have something. Keller might have Johnny Mitchell athletic ability, except without the empty head on his shoulders. CB Dwight Lowery (fourth-round pick) fielded punts, looking very smooth. That part of his resume didn?t get much pub when he was drafted. As a senior at San Jose State, he finished 14th in the nation with a 14.4 average, including a TD. Have the Jets finally found a punt returner? Speaking of Lowery?s ball skills as a cornerback, Mangini evoked the names of Kerry Rhodes, Otis Smith and Ty Law - all defensive backs with good hands, players that actually caught the ball instead of batting it away. Brown WR Paul Raymond, known as the fastest man in the Ivy League, also did well fielding punts. Raymond signed on as a free agent. Didn?t get a real good look at QB Erik Ainge (fifth-round pick), but the few passes I saw weren?t tight spirals. He also doesn?t have the quickest feet around, but that was one of the knocks on him in the draft. Pint-sized RB Danny Woodhead, the Chadron State phenom, is barely bigger than a pylon. The 5-7?, 197-pound free agent is hard to find on the field because he gets dwarfed by the linemen, but I?ll say this for him: He?s very quick in and out of his cuts.
even though it was a small practice with limited analysis... Cimini sounds optimistic- i like to hear that Gholston at least looks the part, Keller may be a playmaker, and lowery could be a 4th round steal. My TC prediction- Chatman gets cut and Woodhead becomes "the RB no one can see" in our backfield when spelling LW.
I'm sure he meant Keller played well without pads, and if he could do the same without shorts...wait a minute...!
"Have the Jets finally found a punt returner?" ummmmmmmmm... last i checked, that's one aspect of our football team has been pretty damn good the last couple of season.
Kick off returns, yes. Leon and Justin had great numbers the last two seasons. Punt returns went from bad to average last season.
Wasn't it another Cimini article where he said Mangini was watching Gholston while on the treadmill and it really got his heart pumping? hmy:
Wait I though Pace would be playing on the strong side and Thomas would be reverted back to Weak side .... maybe that was just wishful thinking
Nobody but the Jets' CS knows for sure where Pace will be playing at this point. Hell, maybe they don't even know yet.
There was no Pace or Thomas on the field yesterday, so jumping to conclusions is a little premature, so far, in my view.
