Your comparison is kind of flawed. John Abraham was an effective pass rusher from day one. He did struggle against the run, but he had upside when he was on the field. Gholston is a pass rusher that struggles at pass rushing, and is a non-factor against the run. That's not what I consider a 'servicable' starter..
Obviously, if he's constantly getting abused, allowing himself to be taken out of plays by one blocker, or suffering cheap shots and walking away, then he's not being "serviceable" for a 3-4 LB. If he's pushing like he was last night, collapsing the pocket, taking up a second blocker, getting in the face of the QB (whether he gets a sack or not, he did almost tip a Vick pass last night) then he's allowing other guys to make plays, and is "serviceable" enough while he's maturing. I'd love for the guy to step into Pace's shoes and be a good replacement, but that's a ridiculous hope. If he can at least do enough over the first 4 games to allow other guys to make plays, then he's done enough to satisfy me. So now I'll turn the question around and ask: "What will satisfy everyone else?" Keep in mind, I said "satisfy" not necessarily make you "happy." He's not going to make anyone happy in September. The key is, what will you say has been "acceptable" performance from him in Pace's absence?
At this point here, were looking at 2 sacks in 2 games for VG. Nothing spectacular, but at least were seeing the progress. I hope to see more of this in week 1... The thing with Vernon is that he is raw as hell. He has all this god-given athletic ability and is a freak of nature physically, but doesnt know what its like to be a football player. He easily got by that way in college, but it quickly caught up to him here in the NFL. Finally though were seeing him progress ( slowly) into a "football" player. Lets hope the progression continues...
1 potential sack ruined by a penalty, 1 real sack....both against 2nd and 3rd stringers. thats real progress for a first round pick in his second year of the nfl. did you fail to mention the many occasions during the giants game where kevin boss abused him one on one? i will say that he played much better last night, but considering that he was playing against pro hopefuls and bench players, there seems to be more to be desired.....for me anyway
well considering that gholston isn't a first stringer and barely (maybe) a second stringer at this point in his career, i'd say he's making good progress. forget where he is drafted because it is irrelivent concidering it can not be changed and the draft is a crap shoot anyway. Yes he is getting paid more than he is producing. on the flip side, there are players who are not earning what they are worth either. he had some qb pressures during the giants game and even more during the eagles game. stop expecting him to be suggs just because of where he is drafted and start hoping he continues to improve.
What do you mean by this? Ryan already declared him the starter the first 4 games in place of Calvin Pace. That means he is a first stringer as of today. He sure as hell isn't performing like one. If he is hurting the team then he better be replaced before we go 0-4.
