Scouting Report: Nick Mangold & Vernon Gholston vs Giants
The Jets recently played
the New York Giants in a low scoring third week preseason game with ex-Buckeye
players Nick Mangold and Vernon Gholston seeing some action.
By Bill Smith
Mangold:
The
Jets “move” offense is causing them more confusion than it causes the
opponent. 2 movement penalties cost Bret
Favre completions for 74 yards and a TD in the first half of the 3rd
preseason game for both teams. But the O
line lead by Nick Mangold held up well giving up one sack on a blitz which the
FB whiffed on a block.
Mangold
played at a pro bowl level in his rookie year.
Last year, his performance fell off to some degree because in part he
was trying to make up for a couple of stiffs playing LG beside him. With the signing of All Pro Alan Fanacia from
Pittsburgh,
that problem is solved. Now Mangold is
again playing at a very high level.
Mangold
uses his ability to bend at the knee to get low to great advantage on drive
blocks for the run. Often he has pushed
his opponent past the line and into the D backfield. He is also quick enough to get down field
when the Jets try a sweep or screen pass.
Several times in both pass and run plays, Mangold got more than 1 block
on a play. Right now, he is as good as
any C I have seen.
He played the first half scoring 20 net scouting points for
a 40 score and an A+.
Gholston:
Vernon
Gholston is beginning to prove his versatility to the coaching staff. He is already on the first team in passing
situations and when they go to a 4 man line he plays DE. Those additional responsibilities are an
indication of his progress. He is making
plays which is the most important thing he can do.
He is
rushing the passer much more effectively.
Several times in the 4 man line he got pressure and required a back to
help the tackle block him. In two cases,
that double team lead to sacks by other players who were blocked by a single
player. He still tends to get too high
and has not yet gotten the shoulder dip to get around an OT. As a result, he struggles to get away from a
blocker and too often gets pushed past the QB.
Gholston is beginning to use his speed to better advantage both in the pass
rush and against the run. He ran down a
sweep to the other side and got a tackle for loss. But the Giants used his speed against him
when he went too deep too far outside on a draw play and the back cut
underneath him for a big gain on 3rd down.
He still
shows great energy and effort. Overall
for his 2 quarters of work he scored a net of 11 scouting points for a grade of
B+.
Bill Smith is a
former coach of several semi-pro teams and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://BrutusReport.com. He has
also published several novels on http://ebooks-library.com/index.cfm and edits http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com