Gholston is really excited to be a Ram, you guys…

Aug. 18, 2011; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan on the sidelines against the New York Giants during the second half at MetLife Stadium. Giants won 26-3. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-US PRESSWIRE

“I’m going to work my butt off the rest of the preseason and after that whatever happens,” said Vernon Gholston on Thursday. Let me translate that quote for you: “Holy crap, I cannot believe that someone gave me another shot. I’m going to milk these meager preseason paychecks until they kick me outta here.” Note to Jeff Fisher, anything Rex Ryan touches turns into garbage. Gholston, at this point, is nothing more than camp legs and, barring any unforeseen injuries to the team’s d-ends, he isn’t making the team. Period.

Pete Carroll’s tomfoolery is going to get him fired…

I’m getting sick of hearing about how great Russell Wilson is. If Wilson starts week one of the regular season, Carroll and the other Seahawk brass should beginto look at top-five draft pick prospects in next year’s NFL draft. If you bring Matt Flynn in off of the street and throw him enough starting quarterback money to make it look like you’re being serious then stick with the woman you brought to the dance. It isn’t cute hearing “rumors” about Wilson starting week one. It makes Carroll look like an idiot. Maybe he is one.

In other news, Bleacher Report writers are getting paid to tell you stuff you already know…

This pile of defecation is something I stumbled upon this morning. Oh my God, wide receiver Steve Smith has a past littered with injuries and he’s only 27? Tell me some more news that BR readers are in dire need of reading. “Rumor has it that Jeff Fisher plays his starters more in the fourth game than in the third game of the exhibition season.” How about we call this situation what it actually is…an experiment. If the Rams can get any production out of Steve Smith, a small monetary investment and risk will have clearly paid off. If the Rams get no production out of a brittle player, then they’ll say “we’ll get ‘em next time, sluggers!”

Kolb me crazy, but the Cardinals suck. Badly…

Did you see how putrid the Cardinals looked Thursday night with their one’s and two’s in the game? Hey, by the way, that was a preseason game, too. The offensive line was putrid, but even worse, was Kevin Kolb. Kolb was mangled in the backfield and calling his presence in the pocket something similar to a ragdoll is a hate crime against all ragdolls. RAGDOLL PRIDE! It was clear that KK knows his days are numbered in a Cardinal uniform. At one point in the game, he threw up a freebie INT to about three Titan-colored uni’s that was taken back to the house. What was Kolb’s mantra to last night? Get cut, not injured.

NFL Writers are still talking about the one that got away for Jim Harbaugh…

Yup, well, the entire summer has passed and Peyton Manning still isn’t wearing a 49ers uniform. Get over it, media members. Writer Alex Marvez is trying to spin how the 49ers having Smith over Manning is a better situation in the end for head coach mean-hand-shake. Look, if you have a chance to get Manning, you’re team is going to be better off than having a career game manager who was fortunate enough to have Urban Meyer as his coach in college, right Tim Tebow? Right Chris Leak? Oh wait, Leak was last spotted in Canada (sad trombone). Never mind. The best quarterbacks win the most games; however, because of how putrid the NFC West was last season, even a game manager like Alex Smith had a chance of winning a few games. I think Marvez is just touting Smith because they share the same first name. Whatever.

Nov. 7, 2010; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson (81) gets tackled by New York Jets safety Jim Leonhard (36) and linebacker Vernon Gholston (50) during the first quarter at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-US PRESSWIRE

After the Josh Gordy trade to the Colts, Jeff Fisher could not help but to fill the vacancy in the roster with more potential defensive talent, especially since the Rams are a bit short-handed at the DE position going into Saturday’s matchup against the Cowboys. Fisher has made it clear that, although the first team units will be seeing more reps, they are only staying in for a certain number of cycles and then will be sidelined with the shoulder pads off. Thus, the signing of Vernon Gholston , who, if nothing else, can immediately jump in and take some snaps with the second and third team.

Gholston is the poster child for what we would call a “bust” at the NFL level. He was taken with the sixth overall pick by the New York Jets in 2008, four picks after the Rams snatched up Chris Long with the second overall selection.Sport Illustrated described him as an

“Explosive pass-rusher who makes a lot of plays in the backfield. Displays outstanding first-step quickness, plays with good pad level, and fast off the edge or in pursuit of the ball-carrier. Gets leverage on blockers, stays within his pass-rush angles, and effortlessly alters his angle of attack to make plays in any direction of the field. Constantly doubled, yet deceptively strong and holds his ground. Possesses a great closing burst of speed and very explosive in his all-around game.”

However, all the positive descriptions in the world cannot compensate for a lack of production on the field. In three years, Gholston has accumulated a minuscule 24 solo tackle (42 combined), and has yet to record a sack or pass deflection in the 45 games where he has seen the field. To put that number into perspective, Robert Quinn, who played sparingly last season while learning the defensive end position from veteran James Hall, recorded 20 solo tackles, 5 sacks, and 2 pass deflections in just 15 games.

So, the question is… Why would the St. Louis Rams pick up Gholston? The answer is probably simple; namely, that they will sign him for next-to-nothing and he is oozing with potential that has yet to be tapped. It is not unheard of for a player to miserably fail in one coach’s scheme and thrive in another. Ryan Fitzpatrick was once the St. Louis Rams’ third string quarterback, behind Marc Bulger and Jamie Martin, at time where 3 wins was a vast improvement over the previous season’s performance. Fast forward to Buffalo, in a different offense, surrounded by different players and coaches , and Fitzpatrick is being modestly looked at as a second-tier, top-20 quarterback in the NFL. So, how would the Rams defense benefit Gholston?

Pro Football Focus’s Mike Clay, calculated that in 2011 the Jets ran their based 3-4 defense only 37 percent of the time, played with seven defensive backs on 17 percent of their snaps, and 7 percent with fewer than the typical four defensive backs. One of the only knocks against Gholston coming out into the draft was his inexperience in football as a whole, picking up the sport late, as a sophomore in high school. Some, like James Laurinaitis, are football geniuses, relying heavily on their knowledge of the game to compensate for any inadequacies they may have as an athlete. Gholston is pure, raw talent that has relied solely on his speed, strength, and quickness to beat defenders and get to the quarterback. A defensive scheme that forces an instinctual player  into more of an intellectual, systematic role is clearly not going to embrace that players strengths.

The Rams, as opposed to the Jets, were easily one of the the least varied team defensively, essentially switching between our base 4-3 defense (56 percents), our nickel, or 4-2-5, defense (15 percent), and our dime, or 4-1-6, defense (27 percent). In the Rams’ scheme, players like Gholston wouldn’t be asked to drop back into complex zone coverages, play man-to-man on a tight end or running back, or waste his athletic ability trying to think about anything other than getting to the quarterback. Rotate him in on obvious passing downs for players like Rocky McIntosh or Mario Haggan to rush the quarterback. Realistically, the offensive line can only block so many players. With Chris Long demanding a consistent double team, Michael Brockers clogging the middle, and Quinn speed rushing on the outside, there are going to be missed assignments ripe for the blitzing. Or, throw Gholston into the defensive end rotation, it isn’t like he never played with his hand in the dirt at Ohio State, and he is almost identical to Robert Quinn in terms of size (Quinn: 6’4, 264; Gholston: 6’3, 262). Heck, throw him in on kickoff team, he did run a freakin’ 4.56 at the combine back in the 2008. Hopefully for the Rams, the “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” philosophy will hold true. If the Rams have the open spot and he is willing to work for table scraps, why not give the guy a shot?

I highly doubt that Gholston was added to the roster as a “camp legs” player, but it will be very hard for him to make the team.

Gholston is loaded with raw talent and if the Rams could find a role for him or put him in a position to succeed, there is no ceiling to how good he could be for the team. New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan inherited Gholston when he took over as the head guy in New York and was a huge Gholston fan. Ryan tried to convert Gholston to linebacker, but the experiment failed.

Gholston was the sixth overall pick in the 2008 draft for the Jets.