Rebounding Will Gholston
June 20th, 2018
Curious last few months.
There is simply no other way to put it. Will Gholston had a garbage season last year.
As a starting left defensive end, Gholston racked up as many sacks as both you and Joe did. That would be none.
As Kevin Patra of NFL.com notes, Gholston had a more graphic depiction of his play.
“I just played [crappy], completely,” Gholston said. “That’s just being real.”
How bad was it for Gholston? In a ranking of all defensive ends in a 43-defense, Gholston was ranked by NFL Scouts 1000 as the No. 60 defensive end. Also, the same outfit noted Gholston shared snaps down the stretch with the immortal Ryan Russell, who NFL Scouts 1000 ranked as the worst 43-defensive end last season. Russell, 26, started seven games for the Bucs last year and is currently without a team. What does that tell you?
How bad was it for Gholston? Well, follically-challenged spreadsheeter Bill Barnwell of BSPN was alarmed watching tape of Gholston and believed the Bucs were better off having an assistant coach throw a tackling dummy at quarterbacks from the sidelines, the way coaches do in practices, than pay for 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.
Perhaps Gholston and ousted defensive line coach Jay Hayes were not on the same page? Yes, even by Gholston’s own words he was feces last year.
The Bucs had an out in his contract after the 2017 season to cut him. Instead, the Bucs passed and are on the hook for Gholston, who is is expected to bank $6,500,000 this year, which is grotesquely overpaid for someone that was about as effective last year as a used lawn chair.
The fact the Bucs decided to keep Gholston at his salary suggests either new defensive line coach Brentson Buckner saw something in Gholston and went to bat for him, or the Bucs believe Gholston was terribly misused under Hayes.
June 20th, 2018 at 8:14 am
He knows the system….he’s young…and relatively cheap. Could become cheaper if they hang on to him through training camp and then ask to restructure or be cut. The coaches need some of the depth to have experience in the system….
June 20th, 2018 at 8:30 am
Bobby – Good suggestion. One I hadn’t thought of. He needs to show something strong or expect to be cut, despite the bucks.
June 20th, 2018 at 8:32 am
Gholsten is a 6th year DE
He has totally sucked under different Coaches, D Line coaches, whatever
If he hasnt got it by now- he never will . Its insanity to pay him.
The fact that that the Bucs kept him, only stresses how sadly desperate they are at DE.
If Gholsten is on this team- it says horrible things about the DE position, and says those 2-14 prognosticators are probably closer to the truth than the 9-7 predictions
June 20th, 2018 at 8:56 am
Capt Tim right on, thought this guy at one point was a good run stopper but not sure how great that is in the new NFL, it seems licht may have waited a little too long to fix this crappy defense
June 20th, 2018 at 9:02 am
Another victim of cancer93. Loads of potential sucked right out of him by the career losing clown. Get the lazy bad character 93 out of town and watch this team flourish.
June 20th, 2018 at 9:08 am
Oh dear . Beotch are u hear to spread the word?
June 20th, 2018 at 9:12 am
Beotch is to this board as what he thinks McCoy is to the defensive line
June 20th, 2018 at 9:15 am
To me – not cutting Gholston when they had the free out available in March is the biggest head scratcher of the entire off-season.
Bucs are right up against the cap limit this year and that $6.5M could have been put to much better use for a veteran RG, CB or Safety this year.
Why structure contracts that way and give up certain concessions in exchange for the free out after just one year – if you aren’t going to use it in the most extreme of circumstances like this one???
Joe – please ask Jason Licht for some clarification on this decision.
“Jason – Will Gholston said last week that he played like total “crap” last year and fully expected to be cut as a result. What specifically was the reasoning for deciding to keep Will on the team at such a high price tag for a player whose on field results the previous year were so obviously bad?”
June 20th, 2018 at 9:18 am
I believe his cap number drops down to 3.7 mil next year. Not bad if he produces this year.
June 20th, 2018 at 9:24 am
LOL – tmax-is-a-beotch just couldn’t refrain even one day longer from using the “C” word.
So Joe – what good does it do to put a “bad” poster in the “cooler” if you are just going to allow them to come back and keep spewing their BS under a different user name?
maxi_pad is playing the Joes for a fool and should be permanently banned from JBF as a result.
Are you really just gonna let this slide Joe and keep acting like tmax isn’t still posting after being banned? Makes you guys look bad and like you have no control over your site.
Just sayin….
June 20th, 2018 at 9:28 am
Pickgrin
The biggest head scratcher of offseason is clearly why foolish optimists like yourself actually believe this franchise is competent and actually has a chance to contend. Outside of Gruden’s glory year this franchise has NEVER contended only pretended. Can’t rewrite history because it does not fit the legion of delusional ootimists agenda
June 20th, 2018 at 9:29 am
Got his money and got fat and came in out of shape
His actions tell me a lot
June 20th, 2018 at 9:35 am
I honestly couldn’t figure out why we extended him to begin with. I know he’s Sid in run support but not 6.5 million solid. Weird
I’d love some clarity on Hayes. I wish I knew what was going on with him. He was awesome in Cincy and solid year one. You can’t help but wonder how Buckner would have done last year with our d line or how Hayes would do this season with the additions. But it does seem that McCoy didn’t like his coaching and as Joe mentioned not one tweet about him when he was fired. Stunt master that failed with blitzing lvd and Kwon which is shocking considering schiano worked wonders with lvd.
June 20th, 2018 at 9:52 am
Pick, go back a few months when she started posting under the quote on quote new name and I asked the Joe’s almost the exact same thing verbatim. The conclusion I came to is they like the back and forth between the adults in the room and the Obvious Child. Eyes on advertisers.
June 20th, 2018 at 10:11 am
I was 120% for cutting Gholston.
However, he has shown the ability to be a really good run stuffing in, with position flexibility, and the ability to notch a couple sacks/pressures each year.
Last year he was steaming garbage.
But after hiring Buckner, who I think can get the best out of Gholston again, and also hearing about Gholston feeling and playing much better at a lower weight has me feeling much better.
Here’s the deal. We dont need that money now, but we will need it this coming offseason. If Gholston has a career year than thats great. If not you cut him and put the savings toward the large amount we’ll need to resign the Big 4. (Jamies, Kwon, Marpet, Smith)
June 20th, 2018 at 10:12 am
He sounds like he is working hard to produce this year. Gholston and Vea could be a very nice run stopping dline duo.
June 20th, 2018 at 10:57 am
don’t give up on him!!!!!!!……play to his strengths!!!!!….he’s excellent at stopping the run…..so, tell him to get his weight up to 295-300 and kick him inside…..let him stop the run and collapse the pocket from the inside……
its not that hard to figure out!!!!…what the hell are these coaches looking at!!!!!….the ground apparently…..
NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
June 20th, 2018 at 11:05 am
@813
Except he was at that weight last year and was playing inside at times. He was worse against both the run and pass playing that way. So they actually tried exactly what you’re requesting.
IMO this is because he’s a lengthy guy at 6’6. Vinny Curry & Robert Ayers are 6’3 so they can kick inside and establish more leverage that a DT needs. Gholston is so long that I think he’s better at shedding OT’s standing up / using his hands / strength / length; but he’s not going to push the interior.
It’d be nice to see him find a way to use that length/strength on the edge to get to the QB. More hands work probably would suit him. I duno. Glad he hated how he played last year though because it was really bad.
June 20th, 2018 at 11:28 am
Important point your missing from that article was Gholston saying how much weight he cut from last camp. He said it was a sloppy 300+ pounds a year ago.
June 20th, 2018 at 12:03 pm
Gholston is nothing more than a fill in player. He always has been. A DE must be able to at least get close to the QB. He must also be able to stop the run on the way to the QB. The only way he sticks next year is if his cap number is low. Guys like him are a dime a dozen so getting a cheap one is paramount so you can spend money on other pressing needs. Hope this guy turns it up.
June 20th, 2018 at 12:13 pm
LC
he’s always played inside on a few plays but that’s my point…..make it his full time position not a few plays a game….you never master a craft that way….I still think he played well against the run….
I disagree regarding his size…..Calais Campbell is about 6’8 and plays the interior very well…..the difference is CC is far more athletic….gholston lacks the athleticism to play DE imo….not sure if he dropping weight would make a difference…..he’s never been a “quick twitch” type of player….
and one of his problems playing inside was mostly do to him using the same techniques and/or stance as a DE while playing DT…..gotta learn DT techniques to succeed as a DT……
it is what it is…..he under performs this year and he’ll be looking for a new team….
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!!!….#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
June 20th, 2018 at 12:19 pm
@813
Yeah in the end maybe Gholston is just what he is. I guess my point is that he already was playing at 300 last year and it didn’t suit his game or result in anything good. CC is a freak lol not many made like that
June 20th, 2018 at 3:54 pm
Hilarious! We’ll pay a DE $6.5 mil for ZERO sacks and complain about paying a DT $12 mil for 6 sacks! Since 6.5 is slightly more than half of 12, we can expect Gholston to get 3 sacks for $12 million!
What a bargain!!!
June 20th, 2018 at 7:10 pm
@tmax-is-a-beotch,
Plus tell us more about all this potential Gholston had, that was sapped out of him by your man crush.
Can you explain how this happens? Because obviously Gholston was going to be a surefire hall of famer from day 1 in the nfl, before GMC got near him. Must be why Gholston was drafted so high too, just soooo much potential.
@Bucsfanman- we can pay a guy 10million for zero sacks as long as he doesn’t smile or like ice cream. That’s all the matters for the dumb ones.