“Unapplied Knowledge Is A Waste”
August 7th, 2022
10th-year Bucs defensive lineman Will Gholston talks to JoeBucsFan.com columnist Ira Kaufman after practice.
Buccaneers rookie defensive tackle/end Logan Hall is a very lucky young man.
Lots of Bucs have his back and one is 10th-year veteran DL Will Gholston, one of the classiest dudes at One Buc Palace.
Gholston knows that life for a rookie defensive lineman is a lot different now compared to when he arrived in Tampa after the 2013 NFL Draft. Young pass rushers and trench warriors now have “championship-caliber vets” and great “tutelage” from so many players around them.
Gholston told Joe it’s a habit and an honor to teach young players.
“I was always told, ‘Unapplied knowledge is a waste.’ So for me, having all that knowledge and experience and not being able to teach it to somebody else or apply it on the field is a waste of time,” Gholston said.
The approach has to be direct but dignified, Gholston said, so the message is taken the right way.
“Respect him as a man and a player and know that he knows what he knows, but be humble enough to say, ‘I think if you try to change it this way, I think it will work,'” Gholston said.
As for Gholston the player, he’s fired up for the Bucs’ fierce schedule and he’s excited by the front-7 despite the absence of Ndamukong Suh and Jason Pierre-Paul. Gholston said their replacements have the “same mentality” so things don’t feel much different.
August 7th, 2022 at 1:02 pm
If the D line can stay on the field, I’m feeling pretty good about our line. Would love to bring in one more
DE veteran though.
August 7th, 2022 at 1:10 pm
I was willing to let Gholston walk, but in hindsight, I’m glad we kept the guy. Nothing spectacular, but solid as hell always.
August 7th, 2022 at 1:26 pm
That dude is a large human being.
August 7th, 2022 at 1:36 pm
Suh.
August 7th, 2022 at 1:56 pm
Will Gholston was one hell of a 4th round pick…….I have to give Mark Dominick some credit…..he got at least two out of about 40 right…..LVD & Gholston….
Still playing for us…..
August 7th, 2022 at 2:06 pm
Is Ira moonlighting as a towel boy for the Bucs? Times are tough all over.
August 7th, 2022 at 2:08 pm
Can we get Ira a box to stand on. Come on man.
August 7th, 2022 at 2:22 pm
Ira, with that girlish gitty love look in his eyes…
Football season must be here!!!
Can’t wait to read all of your stuff Ira, it’s going to be a spectacular season for you sir!!!
August 7th, 2022 at 2:23 pm
Perhaps the new guys have a similar mentality, but I’m not sure there’s another person on earth with the same mentality as Suh, let alone JPP!!!
August 7th, 2022 at 2:28 pm
Will Gholston should be in the ROH when he retires. He would make a great coach. Or mentor for young people. I hope he stays in this community.
August 7th, 2022 at 2:51 pm
Will Gholston’s long been one of my favorite Bucs. Never flashy & always humble, but always Mr Dependable. Still remember when Will when will was re-signed to a 5-year contract back in 2017. Lots of fans bitched because they said he wasn’t worth the $27 mil price tag ($5.5 mil per year). Not enough sacks lots of folks said; just a run-stuffer others moaned.
Still he kept showing up for work, getting better & better, especially after Todd Bowles arrival in 2019 (Will hasn’t missed a game since 2017). And as I remember, Ndamukong Suh also had a huge impact on helping him improve (just like Suh did on Vea, especially when he was rehabbing).
Will’s salary for 2022 is $4.5 mil. Glad we didn’t cut him loose too because he only produced 9.5 sacks during that whole 5-year contract, half of that in 2021.
August 7th, 2022 at 2:56 pm
Gholston is a class act all around. My grandson met him at one of the summer camps he sponsors. Couldn’t have been a nicer guy. The NFL needs more Men like him.
August 7th, 2022 at 3:13 pm
Dumbernik deserves credit the way a blind pig deserves credit when it finds the acorn.
August 7th, 2022 at 3:18 pm
Joe… Don’t want to be a nitpicker…but Ira might want to talk to Will sitting down next time. It looks like he is talking to his chest.
August 7th, 2022 at 3:23 pm
Cobra… What amazes me is how well he carries 280 on that frame. He looks buff at 280. Regarding his height, I think Will is only 6’6″. It must be those long cleats that make him look that much taller than Ira.
August 7th, 2022 at 3:59 pm
Goatfarmer
Instead of just shouting SUH randomly like you have Tourette’s and a massive man crush, how about explaining why you think there’s any benefit in signing him?
Did you watch any games last year?
His pass rush was 1/8 of what it used to be. He literally showed up in two games with a pass rush. His run defense progressively got worse throughout the year. It was as if age finally hit him. There’s a reason he’s unsigned- age caught up and he thinks he should still be paid several million a year.
All that said, if he’s available later in the year and they have injuries, then he might be worth it for a couple million for the depth and knowledge. Right now, makes no sense at all
August 7th, 2022 at 4:39 pm
David … ‘He (Suh) literally showed up in two games with a pass rush’.
Seems to me that you said that same thing a week or two ago, and I remember rebutting that at the time. Suh ranked #2 last year on the TEAM with 6 sacks (gotten over 6 games). He ranked #3 on the TEAM with 13 QB Hits (behind well-paid Shaq & Devin White). He ranked #3 on the TEAM with 7 TFLs behind those same two.
I apparently didn’t watch the Bucs last year as closely as you did, but getting all 3 of those stats require a semblance of a pass rush far as this old mind can remember. And getting all 26 of those in just TWO games would be an awesome feat IMO.
Saying the same thing over & over doesn’t make it true (please don’t share that OPINION with any of today’s politicians). What it does do is put the rest of your OPINION in doubt though. For instance, that Suh’s ‘pass rush was 1/8 of what it used to be’ and oh ya that ‘His run defense progressively got worse throughout the year’. My eyes told me something very different, but then again, they are old, so there’s that.
August 7th, 2022 at 4:56 pm
David see above. Thanks DR.
Suh.
August 7th, 2022 at 5:04 pm
David doesnt get it……Suh.
August 7th, 2022 at 9:17 pm
I like Suh. But I think that ship has sailed. I don’t think he will play for rotation player money and wants to start. It wouldn’t be that way here. We chose Hicks to boost the pass rush, while still getting a guy that can do a good job on the run. We are paying him starter money. Was that a right decision? If Hicks stays healthy, probably so. If not? It could be the wrong decision.
August 7th, 2022 at 9:21 pm
When Ira looks at Will, who by all accounts is a great guy, I wonder if he feels like I did when looking at Warren Sapp in person. It was the first time in my life, where I realized that Warren was a guy that could outrun me, was country strong, and could break me in half under the wrong circumstances. When it came to such things, I was simply and without a doubt, outclassed.
August 7th, 2022 at 9:55 pm
@ DR
If you compare Gholston and Suh Gholston’s production was better given percentage of snap counts-something like 47-63 with ten more combined tackles for Gholston 37-27 and a fairly close number of Qb hits 11- Gholston 13-Suh. Don’t forget Gholston had 4.5 sacks as well. I think they went with Hicks because in 2020 when he had a comparable number of snap counts to Suh his tackle, qb hits (20) numbers were better than Suhs at comparable snap numbers.
August 7th, 2022 at 10:13 pm
Irish Tony … We’ll never know for sure, but I think they went with Hicks because they can still get 1 or 2 more years out of him AND he went with an incentive-laden deal; not so with Suh in either instance it looks like. That said, I’m still convinced that Suh will end up playing for the Bucs this season. Just a gut feeling though.
August 7th, 2022 at 10:18 pm
Mark2001 … I agree with your logic ref Suh. Current reports indicate that the Vikings really want him but aren’t willing to pay what he’s asking (and obviously neither are the Bucs). I don’t think that he ever intended to leave Tampa for another team though (starting over at age 35 would be a ball-buster). Got a hunch it’s either Bucs or retire. He’s been incredibly quiet about this whole thing, and so have the Bucs. Gut feel still says there’s something happening behind the curtain.
August 7th, 2022 at 10:44 pm
It’s a long season and we are going to need a deep rotation on the DL. I think that Suh’s production would increase with limited snaps and he could play 2 more years as a depth piece. The only question is will he play for backup money, He was huge in the playoffs last year and is definitely still valuable. I would love to see #93 in pewter and red again.
August 7th, 2022 at 10:57 pm
Defense, go look at Suh’s PFF grade last year. It was middle of the pack for D tackles. Fletcher Cox, who had nearly the same number of snaps ranked almost 20 points higher. The stats you referenced, were largely a product of being on the field a ton. It’s never a bad thing to play a lot, but it can inflate stats, especially meaningless ones, when the game is already won or lost.
I’m in agreement with David. You and I both know, that if Suh would play for what he’s worth, he’d be here. My guess is his agent asked for the same deal, and the bucs told him to pound sand. Now if he’ll play for the 3-4 million he’s worth at this point, I’d take him back in a minute.
August 7th, 2022 at 11:18 pm
Is that Joe standing next to Gholston in that pic?
August 8th, 2022 at 1:23 am
Suh single handedly kept us in the Rams game.
Suh.
August 8th, 2022 at 12:53 pm
Wild Bill. Just waiting for the day when Ira says “Joe… I am your father”. In Ira’s voice of course, which, if it was the voice of James Earl Jones’s voice, and with Ira’s knowledge, would have made him a multimillion dollar a year earning radio sports personality.