The Decline Of Will Gholston
February 16th, 2018
“Impossible” non-production.
Perhaps the poster person for the rotten Bucs pass rush is none other than defensive end Will Gholston.
No, Gholston was never known for being the next DeMarcus Ware. But one could reasonably expect Gholston to get a couple of sacks a year. However Gholston, in his first season after signing a five-year, $27,500,000 pact, had non-production so awful it would even have Ghost Johnson hiding in shame.
How bad was Gholston? Let’s just say you and Joe had as many sacks this past season as Gholston. That would be a big fat zero.
In fact, folically-challenged spreadsheeter Bill Barnwell of BSPN was aghast watching tape of Gholston attempting to rush the quarterback. So unnerved was Barnwell, he suggested the Bucs would have made a better investment on a pass rush buying a $20 lawn chair from Rural King than paying Gholston.
Gholston recorded only one knockdown all season, and while he’s not expected to be Von Miller on the edge, it’s almost impossible for a defensive end to not run into the quarterback for at least one knockdown a month.
While the timing of defensive line coach Jay Hayes getting the boot is still a bit mystifying, even more mystifying is how three guys who collected a total of $19 million last season of Team Glazer loot each significantly dropped off the map when it came to rushing the passer (Robert Ayers, Swaggy Baker and Gholston).
It’s one thing for a guy to have a bad year. It’s another for two players to decline. But when three guys — two of which just signed big-time contracts — each fall through the floor in the same season, that’s damning.
February 16th, 2018 at 11:12 am
Players like McCoy that are constantly named Pro-Bowlers and all sorts of other accolades are supposed to make their teammates better….guess that is not the case here.
February 16th, 2018 at 11:18 am
and Joe…look how you spelled his last name in the headline
February 16th, 2018 at 11:20 am
I liked Gholston. What happened to him ? Is he taking drugs ? How else can you explain it ?
February 16th, 2018 at 11:31 am
Gholston is a borderline elite run stuffer. 3-4 end. Not his fault he had play 4-3 to accommodate GMC “just go forward” scheme.
Gholston is waaayyyy out of position. This happens to be the ugliest of uglies to me. He is way too big to play 4-3
February 16th, 2018 at 11:38 am
Isn’t it possible he was being asked to stop the run, which he did well, and was taken out on obvious passing downs?
February 16th, 2018 at 12:05 pm
Once again jbf posters want to pin responsibility on someone else! Gholston’s signing last year as a “must-have” run-stuffing DE was a head-scratcher from the start. How do you elevate the play of a guy who can’t play the position? He’s a specialized “specialist”. “Elite”?! Elite what?! How was our rushing defense last year? Yea.
At least he knows how to celebrate a tackle 3 yards downfield!!!
February 16th, 2018 at 12:06 pm
Bill, very possible IMO. As far as other posters blaming McCoy for not making Gholston better, I think the premise is wrong. How is McCoy supposed to make Gholston quicker, use his hands better (his main issue), or take a better angle to the QB while setting the edge? Gholston is a good football player and teammate whose forte is stopping the run. If you want to truly enhance the pass rush production from that position you probably need to get a different player or scheme up (blitz, games, etc) to free him up. Expecting McCoy to make him more productive in the pass rush because someone said “great players make other players do x/y/z does not really happen unless it’s already in that player’s repertoire.
February 16th, 2018 at 12:09 pm
Yeah not cutting it for the salary. Oddly enough his $$ wasn’t guarenteed after this year and he still sh1t the bed vs making himself a richer man
February 16th, 2018 at 12:12 pm
Unless Gholston is willing to renegotiate for a deal worth half what he just signed for Bucs need to cut and run on this player.
Licht wisely left himself a $0 cap hit out this year – but all $6.5M of Gholston’s 2018 salary becomes guaranteed if he is still a Buccaneer on March 18th.
We can find a good run stuffer who gets 0 sacks for a lot less than $6.5M – that’s for sure.
Bucs need to just start investing multiple draft picks on Dline for at least the next 2 years.
2-3 in 2018 and 2-3 in 2019 with at least 2-3 of those 4-6 players being high picks. That’s what its going to take to fix our DLine – not a bunch of over paid. underachieving free agents like Gholston and Baker and Ayers.
Chubb would be nice – if not, grab Nelson in the 1st rd and then DL picks with 2 of the next 3 selections.
February 16th, 2018 at 12:14 pm
He got paid and is now lazy, simple as that
February 16th, 2018 at 12:19 pm
Another declining player having thier growth stunted playing on a defense led by cancer93… surprise surprise surprise
Keep ignoring the disease and root casuse the leader of the losing culture. Each year, each embarassing interview or presser, each flat performance removes all doubt who is the real locker room cancer captain blowout cancer93
February 16th, 2018 at 12:24 pm
The decline of Gholston is simple math. He was 275-290 pounds since coming out of college and was consistent w/ 3-4 sacks a season being a pro u
UNTIL, the request came from Mike Smith at the start of the last off season for the entire D line to put on atleast 10 pounds. The ONLY D lineman that extra tonnage actually helped was #98 and it was because his extra gross poundage was str8 muscle. Outside of #98, the rest of the line, even #93 to an extent, looked 2 steps too slow all season.
February 16th, 2018 at 12:25 pm
Broken record here, the dline has given up for the same reason Jay Hayes QUIT!
If someone is trying to accomplish something and then they realize it is an impossible they are not going to keep trying. Challenging and impossible are two different things. You cannot get to the qb when there is a 12 yard cusion on every receiver and everyone is wide open before the ball.is even snapped. I’m honestly surprised they got any sacks all year across the entire dline. You can keep the same guys as starters and hire a dc that knows what the hell he is doing and the sack totals would double.
Until Mike Smith is gone it’s pointless to even give a damn. Nothing is going to change unless he changes his coaching
February 16th, 2018 at 12:27 pm
Wow, didn’t see that coming from tmax!
Whatever dude! You know he was marginal talent to begin with. It’s just that marginal talent on the Bucs is considered HOF-like.
I have cereal boxes that could’ve done a better job!
February 16th, 2018 at 12:27 pm
Lord Cornelius what you said validates what I just said. It’s impossible and they all know it. They have all given up.
February 16th, 2018 at 12:33 pm
Gholston should put on another 20 lbs. and play exclusively inside. He is a good run stopper and on a rotational basis could be a valuable back-up. Has anyone heard a status report on Noah Spence?
February 16th, 2018 at 12:34 pm
That’s not fair at all. Gholston had a nasty neck injury and bounced back pretty quickly. If he was just mailing it in, he could have milked that injury and no one would have said a word.
February 16th, 2018 at 12:48 pm
I’m one of those who’s definitely confused by Will Gholston’s 2017 performance. Just keep thinking that there’s more to it than what we’re seeing or being told. When I compare his 2017 season (played in 14 games) to his 2016 season (also played in 14 games), several things stand out:
1 – Sacks went from 3 (2016) to 0 (2017). Strange because Will had consistently averaged 2.5 sacks/year in his 1st 4 seasons.
2 – Tackles went from 37 (2016) to 21 (2017). Again strange because his average was 31.5 tackles/year in his 1st 4 seasons, a significant drop for him.
3 – Defensive snaps (% of time on the field) went from 55.1% (2016) down to 42.2% (2017) yet he played in the same number of games (14). Was it that the field situation called for some other skill set, or that he obviously was getting it done?
So it’s not JUST sacks; tackles & defensive snaps were also down … during a year (2017) when the Bucs were hurting for DEs & DTs (McCoy, McDonald & Ayers all stayed roughly the same in terms of defensive snaps between the 2 years but behind them there wasn’t much to work with). Still hard to understand why Gholston fell off a cliff in 2017 after 4 years of fairly consistent, albeit not all that spectacular, DE play.
February 16th, 2018 at 1:02 pm
One dimensional defensive end that got paid like an all around good defensive end
February 16th, 2018 at 1:26 pm
Bird is the word!
February 16th, 2018 at 1:42 pm
Bucsfanman
It would be easier for gholston to be an all around if he was not covering for the huge liability in run game that is cancer93. No one gets abused against the run quit like your superhero but I am sure you have a tried and true excuse for the career loser
February 16th, 2018 at 1:43 pm
Dang I just got a horrible haircut…look bald now. I blame it on cancer GMC.
We need an entirely new defense according to some posters here. If I’m a pro football player I certainly do NOT need another player to fire me up. That is on me. The same people who are screaming NO EXCUSES are using one of the lamest excuses of all times…GMC was supposed to make everybody better. It’s just as bad to keep saying GMC is not an HOFer because he doesn’t have a Simeon Rice or any help on the line.
GMC is a good not great DT…evenly matched with Suh…not as good as Geno Atkins and certainly not a player of Aaron Donald or Warren Sapps skill set.
Speaking of great players making the rest of the guys better…how did the legendary Leroy Selmon do? Winless in one season…two winning seasons his entire career. When will you guys ever learn? FOOTBALL IS A TEAM SPORT.
But I feel certain Gholston’s regression is ALL due to GMC. Perhaps Gholston ate too much ice cream.
February 16th, 2018 at 2:17 pm
It’s sad and criminal watching him play 4-3 end. Sad.
February 16th, 2018 at 2:18 pm
Gholston, Martin, Ayers, Baker and Sweezy…….cut them and you’ll money for Bell and Talib and still have 65million in cap space.
That’s not bad
February 16th, 2018 at 2:20 pm
Wow well this post took forever. Can blame Hayes on so much…..these guys are all veterans so how much coaching do you need? Only problems Noah Spence had rushing the passer were injuries other than that he was the best rusher they had. Thed line talent sucked plain and simple
February 16th, 2018 at 2:34 pm
Spence should be an olb in 3-4 He is a von miller clone
February 16th, 2018 at 2:44 pm
Like always he’ll be waived and picked up by another team only to have a career year. Drafted players know if they play mediocre football they can be released as a free agent and basically choose what team they want to play for. You know no-one is clamoring to play in Tampa. If you were to ask every combine college player what team they would like to be drafted by, Tampa would be near the bottom.
February 16th, 2018 at 3:09 pm
He got paid and is now lazy, simple as that
That’s not fair at all. Gholston had a nasty neck injury and bounced back pretty quickly. If he was just mailing it in, he could have milked that injury and no one would have said a word.
—
Glad you responded the same thing I was!!! Come on guys and a couple of gals that post, let’s see what happens this year with Will G…let’s see if we go 3-4 if this doesn’t do the trick.
I like Will G..he does play with heart and soul..just the coaching was horeendous..
February 16th, 2018 at 3:11 pm
What are some of you guys talking about? Gholston got paid as a rotational player period. You are suppose to reward your in house talent when their contracts come up. Most of you should be happy the way some of you moral police complain about players and distractions and kneeling. This is the type of player you guys want…..a choir boy. You got him.
February 16th, 2018 at 3:50 pm
tmax- GMC gets sideways better than any DT in the NFL.
That ought to put a smile on your face!
February 16th, 2018 at 3:54 pm
Gholston was a good signing that went wrong … now it’s time to cut him … same thing with Swaggy … nothing personal, just business.
February 16th, 2018 at 4:01 pm
NFLNUT
Every signing in the last decade has gone wrong especially since cancer93 took over locker room with his SOFT mentally weak approach
February 16th, 2018 at 4:05 pm
Gholston is a 3-4 D-Lineman. Hold the line so the LB’s can make plays. He’s worth the vet league minimum in a 4-3 D.
February 16th, 2018 at 4:35 pm
Calling Gholston lazy because he got paid is out if line and wrong. Presuming it wasn’t meant that way but comes across as a classless comment. Watch his play every game…watch how he came back from a neck injury when a lazy man could have sat out and still been paid. Blaming MCCoy for Gholston’s performance is moronic. WB moron.
February 16th, 2018 at 4:35 pm
Switch to a 3-4, put Spence opposite of David as edge rushers, KEEP Baker around as a NT and put McCoy at end. Yes McCoy at end isn’t the best use of him, but Sapp did it in Oakland, playing at of position at the end of his career, and still managed a 10 sack season. McCoy isn’t Sapp, but McCoy I think could still get it done and put up 6-7 sacks. Meanwhile David is the best edge rusher on the team, if unleashed and not mainly restricted to just playing coverage, he could have a giant year. Spence meanwhile lost weight last year and I think was playing at 235lb, I don’t see how he works as a DE, so why not put him in a position that takes advantage of his skill set. Then you got Kwon and Beckwith playing inside and Gholston is a rush stuffing 3-4 end, which is a much better fit. It makes so much sense I doubt they do it, instead they’ll be in a 4-3, which is fine if you had DE’s, and there will be no pressure and the corners will continue to play 15 yards off the LOS and Mike Smith will continue to look puzzled at how other teams move the ball at will just tossing the ball to the guy who is standing wide open at the 1st down marker.
February 16th, 2018 at 4:50 pm
Speaking of BSPN…does anyone from that organization cover the Bucs anymore? I haven’t seen a fresh Bucs article from BSPN since the last time William Gholston got a sack!
February 16th, 2018 at 5:32 pm
So of course the reason for Gholston, Ayers and Fat boy Baker playing poorly is McCoy’s fault.
Faargin idiot Bucs fans.
February 16th, 2018 at 5:47 pm
Gholston is a 4th round pick who is good against the run and would probably be most effective in a rotation- expectations as every down lineman are not realistic- Bucs need to draft more DL talent
Blaming GMC for failures – you are all living in Bizarro world… you probably watch CNN, too
February 16th, 2018 at 7:26 pm
Gholston play did not equal past years. He has played hurt in the past .Have to wonder if some of those injuries haven’t caught up to him. Also he’s gotten more attention this year with double teams. That said ,Gholston just seems to lack
the knowhow to close in and wrap up the QB consistantly.
February 16th, 2018 at 9:49 pm
decline? he was good?
lol.
The glazers suck out loud.
February 16th, 2018 at 11:02 pm
Maybe the reason for the lack of sacks was due to most of the receivers being open and the QB releasing the pass in less than 2.5 seconds. Also, every Bucs Defensive players were down on sack production last year compared to the 38 (9th) sacks produced the year before. Maybe it had to do with the lack of an offensive running game impacting time of possession? Maybe the lack of sacks had something to do with Noah Spence missing most of the season? Maybe it had something to do with strength of schedule? Maybe it had something to do with Akeem Spence and Alterraun Verner no longer on the defense. Maybe it had to do with Brent Grimes missing two games and Vernon Hargreaves even more. William Gholston is a hard nosed, smash mouth football player who is an elite run stopper (He had a 10.0 run-stop percentage in 2016, second-best among 4-3 defensive ends).. I still think of those 38 sacks in ’16 and the game against the Bears to start their win streak, it was the defensive line, led by William Gholston and Robert Ayers that dominated, registering 10 hurries in the blowout victory. Gholston was blowing the offensive lineman he faced off the ball and bull-rushed them into the pocket. He will be back this year.
February 17th, 2018 at 9:34 am
Gholston=DEFENSIVE TACKLE….move him inside and leave him there!!
February 17th, 2018 at 10:40 am
I would cut Gholston, Baker & Martin for sure. Also maybe Ayers, Sweezy, Phampile & Ward. I am not a big fan of going after Bell.
February 17th, 2018 at 12:17 pm
Big hog,
He’s too tall.
February 17th, 2018 at 4:54 pm
Been listening to podcast for awhile but never coming to site. But the Gholston bashing was getting to me and I had to say something, low and behold there’s a Gholston bashing article.
If you watch Gholston’s film you’ll see that A. he was barely on the field in passing situations B. he gets decent pressure with a bullrush that pushes the pocket, he just doesn’t have the athletic ability to close. But we all knew that last year so why are you obsessed with bashing him every chance you get?
February 17th, 2018 at 10:55 pm
Stop. Gholston had zero sacks yet he’s one of the highest paid players on the roster. If he was taken off the field on passing downs, as horrible as the Bucs pass rush was, that speaks volumes.
Dude got paid and went backwards. There’s no denying this.
February 18th, 2018 at 9:48 am
Put him inside and leave him there! Use that bull rush and put them hands up!! He is not Too/Tall to play inside!!! Put your players in position to win the game!! CONTINUE TO BUILD A WALL ON BOTH SIDES OF THE LINE!!
February 19th, 2018 at 12:22 am
Gholston was paid that money to hold that corner and stop the run. He wasn’t signed as a pass rusher, which is why he is pulled on third down; yet some of you want him cut for not being a sacker. That is rediculous! Cut him and watch him star as a 3-4 DE for a team Whipping us!!! He is one of our dependable players and was willing to play with injury last year. We have the personnel for a three four and outside of DE Chubb, who we are not likely to get, there are a lot of 250 lb DEs in this draft, like Noah Spense, which we can get and play as OLBs in a 3-4 and be dangerous as a Defense. If our DC wants to keep his job he needs to quit talking about a 3-4 and just do it. He was a failure in a 4-3 Zone Defense last year. Get with it!
February 19th, 2018 at 2:55 pm
There’s no “if” he was taken off the field in passing situations. He was. Do yourself favor and buy a GamePass subscription and focus on him. Probably won’t matter if you don’t buy yourself a clue first.