While great Combine results don't prove a kid is a great football player, they do show a couple of relevant things about a prospect: 1) what kind of athlete he is 2) how hard he works to get / stay in shape (which reflects how motivated he is / how much of a true professional). The second point was clearly stated in a CNNSI article on Andre Smith and his poor pro day: "[Smith] only benched 225 pounds 19 times, indicating he's not a weight-room warrior. His lack of commitment to working out in the weight room shows a person who is not self-motivated. One of the key components of a successful [football player, especially top picks] is self-motivation -- being a hard worker. Smith demonstrated today he lacks that quality. "
I agree with you totaly. The Interviews, which have no qualifying way to measure, matter more to teams then most of the numbers put up. Teams are there to judge athletic numbers, but also how prepared, how professional, and the over all attitude of prospects. Bombing out will usually hurt more then a good over all combine. A guy like Sanchez by all accounts had a great combine even though several here like to think he did not. While not mind blowing in the throwing drills, he wow'd the GM's and scouts in the interviews. This will get him long looks in the top ten by any QB needy team. Andre Smith on the other hand has cost himself millions. There are rumors that he could drop out of Day 1, let alone round one, after his pro day workout. This kid could not have screwed this process more if he was trying.
Gholston had a great combine. He looked like a great athlete and showed great motivation to keep himself in shape. Too bad none of that translated on to the field. :sad:
In his first year...I'm not ready to close the book on him I think in a more straightforward attacking style of defense he'll be more productive
I agree. Good post. And on top of Andre Smith's combine disaster, he also was much less then impressive at his Pro Day and looked very out of shape. IMO he's out of the top half of the first round at least.
In fairness though, it was only his rookie season and he was learning a new position. Let's see how he performs under a better defensive staff and surrounding defense.
What a loser how hard is it to work out for a few months to be in shape & lock in a few mill. Also Gholston a work out guy great at lifting weights got in the best shape he could to lock in as much money as he could. Now it looks like he does not give a shit.
It might as well have been 10 years. I can't get over the people who make Gholston out to be somebody playing a skill position. He doesn't. He has two fundamental responsibilities. Run forward and wrap up whoever has the ball..that's it. The rest of it he never saw because he was never on the field for passing downs. He couldn't do it..period. He is not a QB or a WR or even a RB who may need a year to adjust to the NFL..he is just a meat grinder whose blades went dull.
Given Gholston is an awesome athlete and in shape, I have to put some (if not a lot) of the blame on the coaching staff - not putting him in a position to make some plays. Coaches have to know how to use players to maximize their abilities not just blindly plug guys into some scheme and expect him to produce. Mangini got absolutely nothing out of Gholston. If Vernon becomes even a half-way good defensive player this season, it will show just how bad a coach Mangini was. And I think that is likely to happen.
To me, the only thing that the combine shows is a player's POTENTIAL a.k.a his athletic ability. The only thing that truly matters is his on the field production, his impact off the field, his stats, and his leadership.
I think you're partially correct. In a way we're almost forced to believe the coaching staff had a pretty big impact on Gholston's lack of productivity. But seriously, at what point on a specific play--when all he's asked to do is bull-rush (his specialty) the QB off the edge--does a player become responsible for their own talent? I get if I saw him blitzing up the middle where there's a lot of traffic and everything happens so fast you're bound to get lost on a play but I would've thought rushing from the outside would've been playing to his strengths, and he couldn't even do that. And don't even get me started on his tackling. What an awful display of strength and athleticism. Where does the "coaching staff put him in the wrong position to make plays" cut off and where does "he should've made a/that play" come in?
That question will be answered this up comming season. If VG is the same player as last year with a new staff and a second chance, the writhing is on the wall. I for one hope Ryan can get somethign out of his skills.
