fair enough. Another tidbit everyone should remember: Vilma didn't start to open the 2004 season either. He only was thrust into the starting lineup because of an injury to Sam Cowart.
I assume you were talking about LT. His rookie season sacks were not an official stat. Taylor outright dominated his rookie year. 1st team all pro. 133 Tackles, 9.5 sacks, 8 passes defended, 1 Int, 2 forced Fumbles 1 fumble recovery. Taylor was the best defensive player on the Giants the first day he walked into camp.
doh! Thanks for the correction. I didn't get into football until '86, and just went by what NFL.com had.
Didn't mean to whack you but I remeber when the Giants drafted Taylor. They had a very good defensive team along with some pretty good LB's like Carson and Van Pelt. They were pissed by the amount of money Taylor got until he showed up in camp. Nobody said a word after the first day. By the way besides being the NFL defensive rookie of the year in 81 he was the NFL defensive player of the year in 81. Taylor would have started ahead of Thomas when he was still in College.
..........and this story is about what exactley? Lets try and MAKE a story out of nothing and see if the fans bite zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8513964450890756487&vt=lf&hl=en The first few minutes of this tape says it all about a rookie starting. If they have the goods the coaches have to figure out how to use them.
Winstonbiggs, I think that Gholston's personality is essentially different from that of LT's. LT imposed his will with his speed and his ferocity -- as he says at the beginning of this tape, "at the beginning, when I didn't know what to do, I rushed the passer. That was my answer for everything." Gholston is a more cautious personality. He wants to know what he has to do -- everything about it -- before he feels free to act. We are watching Gholston in his equivalent of perhaps the first five seconds of LT's tape there on YOUTUBE. He is tentative, cautious and working double-time on his homework. Every mistake is an extra assignment that he works on over and over. But I think that Gholston has a similarly all-consuming desire to excell as a defensive standout -- just as LT was consumed with this passion to prevail. Because they approach things differently doesn't necessarily mean that Gholston is "a work-out warrior destined to prove a bust". I'm waiting to see what happens next. I'm hoping there will be another LT in NYC's near-term future. Who knows?
Very true, but i see one big difference. Vilma readily admitted that Cowart was a huge help to him early on, and harris has said that Vilma was a huge help to him during tc, when on the learning curve. i dont see anyone really mentoring Gohlston like the other guys did. PS: Not having a solid mentor is unfortunate for his early progress. it is hurting him. Pace is a newbie, and BT isnt good enough to be a good mentor, Barton and Harris are playing on the inside, Trusnik is injured, and I dont see Chatham or Bowens going out of their way for VG.
We got Gholston to kill QB's and disrupt the opposing offense. When we drafted Abe before he got hurt as a rookie, before he knew what he was doing he disrupted the oppositions O and killed QB's. Tentative and cautious is not what you want in the guy you drafted to be your contract killer.
Gholston does, however, seem more comfortable rushing than dropping in coverage, which is why the Jets drafted him. He had 14 sacks last season for the Buckeyes. Hopefully he'll make his contributions on 3rd and long.
He can start off as a situational player, but will need to progress in other areas before he becomes a complete player.
