ver the next few weeks, we'll evaluate the best and worst top 10 picks in a 10-year span from 1999-2008. We capped this at 2008 because it's unfair to judge first- or second-year players. Today, the pick six bust.
Pick: Six overall
The player: Vernon Gholston | Defensive end | New York Jets (2008)
NFL Draft successes and busts 10-year evaluation: 6th overall bust
This series has been ran with the success followed by the bust, the sixth pick changes that. It's hard to choose between Richard Seymour and Torry Holt. More so, it's easy to choose Vernon Gholston as the bust.
When you define recent busts, it has to start with Gholston. The muscle-bound end looks more like a WWE wrestler than defensive lineman. He was drafted so high based on his potential and workouts. At Ohio State, Gholston played the Leo position and got his pass rush done with power and athleticism.
For whatever reason, that hasn’t translated to the NFL. As Michael Salfino pointed out in the Wall Street Journal, Gholston is the only defensive end drafted in the top 10 to not record a sack since the stat was started in 1982.
Just how bad is Gholston? The Jets put him on waivers and he cleared it. Gholston is not only the biggest bust with the sixth pick, he might be the biggest bust of any pick.
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