Gholston Is No. 2 DE
December 17th, 2013
Greg Schiano opens up
Joe recognizes that Bucs fans with lofty expectations and negative attitudes are crying over the fact that rookie Will Gholston and Daniel Te’-O Nesheim are battling neck and neck for playing time at left defensive end. It’s not exactly a confidence-inspiring duel.
But Joe’s not going negative. Gholston’s a true bright spot, and the leader of the New Schiano Order talked about Gholston’s rise on his radio show last night.
Speaking on WDAE-AM 620, Greg Schiano took a call from a fan who told the head coach Te’-O Nesheim is a second-rate football player who wouldn’t start for another team. And the fan, who praised Gholston, demanded to know what Schiano sees in Te’-O Nesheim.
Schiano was happy to talk about both.
“[Daniel] plays his guts out. Now, he’s more of a first and second down run, grunt player that just kills himself for our team,” Schiano said. “But you’re right, Will Gholston is really coming on strong. I think the way that Will has developed has not happened by accident. You know, we needed to bring him and put him in the fire just a little bit more each week so he could develop, learn. He’s getting better every week, and he will continue to play more and more. Whether that means he starts, I guess it’s important for the player to say, ‘I started,’ but when you look at his play count, Will’s play count is going up and up and up.”
ProFootballFocus.com stats for the Bucs-Niners game show Gholston had more snaps that Te’-o. And given Schiano’s words last night, it’s clear that Gholston is now the Bucs’ No. 2 defensive end behind Adrian Clayborn.
Gholston is probably at least a full year away from becoming the next Michael Bennett, but it seems like rockstar general manager Mark Dominik found a fruitful project late in the fourth round.
December 17th, 2013 at 11:06 am
By and large, our last two drafts have been bright spots Joe.
December 17th, 2013 at 11:12 am
Schiano said “you cant build a roster in 2 years”, I remember when a new head coach had “4 or 5 year plans”. I think if you have a coaching staff that can teach and manage a game, in a few years, the team can be a winner for years to come. Once we get get coordinators in here, I think we will be set up for many years. Schiano seems to be a good teacher, we have to remember that his staff was the left over scraps at the end of the hiring season because he was hired so late. I have faith but we all have to have a little patience, lets see what happens next year.
December 17th, 2013 at 11:22 am
On draft day on these boards I was calling for Gholston starting in the third round. I think Joe was the only other one who even mentioned his name even a single time. That’s not to say any kind of prognostication was necessary; it’s just that watching his college tape it was obvious he had the talent to be an impact player in the NFL. I guess not very many Bucs fans actually looked closely at him before the draft. Anyway, I’m glad he’s a Buc and barring injury he has a higher ceiling than Bowers in my opinion.
December 17th, 2013 at 11:24 am
We have had some great drafts since Schiano got here. There are a lot of knocks on him coming from the College ranks, but evaluating talent is a value he brought with him.
We also probably need to credit Butch Davis for some of this.
When you look at the future you have to look at two tiers of young players:
Barron, Martin, David, Spence, Glennon, Banks,
Wright, Gholston, Tandy, L. Johnson, Melvin,James, Rainey, Page, Shepard
So, its not just the draft, but some undrafted free agents performing.
What is missing is any players in development on the O-line.
December 17th, 2013 at 11:32 am
@al121976 – I agree. The difference between the teams that are perennial contenders and the flash in the pan playoff teams is that those who get there every year were built by having a plan and methodically finding talent and depth at every position. We’ve seen the past two years that getting a splash free agent does not bring a super bowl but having those cogs in place and building a team around them is going to be what gets us there. Let’s face it, we’re Bucs fans. We’re really not used to winning. If there is legitimate progress and there’s a plan in place then I say let’s do it the right way, even if it means that we have to suffer through a few place fillers while we’re waiting on our talent to grow and develop. I think if we have another draft like the last two and we can resign our key pieces then we’ll be set for a while.
December 17th, 2013 at 11:42 am
This franchise had a period where it was great and consistent.
As a season ticket holder, I expect the team to be in the
playoffs or at the very least be competitive. I don’t think
that too lofty of an expectation. This team hasn’t
made the playoffs since the 2007 season. Fans (especially season
ticket holders) have a right to be disappointed.
December 17th, 2013 at 11:46 am
@BucsFan68 – as a season ticket holder and a fan since that period you should understand the work and the bad seasons that led to building that contender. We have to own the fact that we’re not built to win now unless we have an injury free season. We don’t have the depth to get us into the post season. We still need to build but we’re heading in the right direction. I’m happy with the direction the team is heading in. It sucks to lose but we’re getting stronger and better each year since our low point in 2010.
December 17th, 2013 at 11:56 am
As a season ticket holder I also demand much much more. It baffles me to read the ongoing stupidity with the suggestion that changing coordinaters would do anything. This is Schiano’s scheme and he dictates evrything that happens with this football team. Do you think that someone who dictates room temps wouldn’t have a hand in what the offensive game plan is week in and week out? The same struggles plagued Schiano in college and followed him to the NFL and will continue as long as he is the head coach.
December 17th, 2013 at 12:01 pm
is there a chance that maybe schiano has a science based reason for ensuring that room temperatures be where he wants them and that players have plenty of water available in meeting rooms. Judging by the articles on this site where players talk about ordering pizza and having donuts in the locker room it doesn’t sound like players treat their bodies terribly well when left to their own devices.
December 17th, 2013 at 12:01 pm
2014 willbe the make or break year for Schiano. He will have his opportunity and we’ll see what transpires.
December 17th, 2013 at 12:29 pm
How is this team getting better since 2010? They are worse this year than last year, that is not getting better. So the defense takes a step forward in the secondary, but now they cannot stop the run. The offense went from 9th to 32 in less than a year. If this is getting better, then keep this college coach around…I for one am not happy with all this losing, regardless of the talent on the team. it means very little if you cannot win games due to the plan.
December 17th, 2013 at 12:56 pm
Please stop giving Dominick credit for any draft picks made since Schiano/Davis arrived.
December 17th, 2013 at 1:00 pm
@bffl – that’s a good point. especially since people can’t learn from their mistakes or get better at their job as they go
December 17th, 2013 at 1:03 pm
@bffl
I agree…I think Dominick is concentrating on FAs and Schiano & Davis the drafts…..
December 17th, 2013 at 1:08 pm
I sure can’t wait for another off-season super bowl win!
Just imgaine… 7 or 8 months of pure hype.
December 17th, 2013 at 1:12 pm
@PatrickinVA must be living in fantasy island where were 10-4 and not 4-10. When’s the last time are games actually meant anything in december other then draft position. I’ll tell u it was 2010 when raheem the dream took his band of misfits to 10-6 we missed out on the playoffs but Damn that was exciting and who cares who u play the schedule is the schedule. Schiano hasn’t done a Damn thing with all his high priced free agents and he’s been a terrible coach keep sippin that kool aid man.
December 17th, 2013 at 1:14 pm
I agree that drafting has improved but LJ is not a special talent.. He’s a good backup at best on a winning team, and Rainey is a Dominick hire, not a pick, plus he’s very average when you strip its top 5 runs since he started..
Gholston does looks good and McCoy does need a hand on that line..We still need a true speed pass rusher..
December 17th, 2013 at 1:20 pm
“is there a chance that maybe schiano has a science based reason for ensuring that room temperatures be where he wants them and that players have plenty of water”
No, there is no scientific reason other than than Schiano is a complete asshole. What’s the reason for players not allowed to place their hands on hips? What in science forbids players to speak in small groups. Macaroni rules? Laughing on sidelines and much more that is forbidden to be written about.
He’s a complete asshole.
Eleven long years the people of New Jersey suffered his absolute mediocrity and excuses.
December 17th, 2013 at 1:24 pm
LJ was not drafted. And there is a reason for that.
Schiano/Davis have had a major impact in the draft too. The metrics they use for evaluating talent is different. The look for high character underachievers that they can coach up,
December 17th, 2013 at 1:40 pm
@Clowney – I’m not going to speak to all of those because i don’t know this to be true but i can think of pretty plausible reasons for those rules to be in place. The military has a similar policy about putting your hands in your pockets. It looks unprofessional and you look like a slouch. that’s the sort of culture that schiano was brought in to turn around. Getting together in small groups goes against the family environment that has been schiano’s mantra since he’s been here. when groups start forming then there is division. Laughing on the sidelines when the team is losing could be seen as people who are not engaged in trying to figure out a solution to the problems taking place on the field. i don’t know about the pasta thing but it could be that he said there would be whole wheat pasta and they brought regular pasta. That’s speculation but not more so than what all of the detractors have offered up.
In New Jersey he started with crap and had to convince good players to move to New Jersey to play for what they were trying to turn in to a formidable team. There is zero to sell to prospects there. From what he was able to get though, look at how many are in the NFL. Shocker that it was a struggle for them.
December 17th, 2013 at 1:44 pm
I can’t believe that Teo starts over bowers. As invisible as Teo is on gameday you cannot tell me bowers is worse. Guess we have a schiano dog house now.
December 17th, 2013 at 2:06 pm
Now what about developing young talent on offense?
December 17th, 2013 at 2:35 pm
What about actual winning? Who cares about his scientific reason for the temp, or the image he wants players to have on the side line if it does not equal winning!? Really, because he brought a very bad college team and made them decent and landed some cats in the NFL does not seem to matter in the WINNING department for the Bucs. This team plane sucks! I also do not give him a bunch of draft credit, he himself said the first year he had nothing to do with drafting because he was putting his giant worthless staff together. It has also been said that the draft is by committee and Dom is on that same committee. If it means we get rid of this bum I am fine with Dom going to, but he is more than likely doing more of the player evals on draft day than Shiano…or the entire team might be made up of Rutgers players.
December 17th, 2013 at 3:07 pm
Good article Joe. We are all still angry over the teo better than bowers better than bennett dynamic. But you are right. This guy certainly looks like he can play at a high level in this league. Its something to be excited about moving foward.
December 17th, 2013 at 3:31 pm
Still don’t how people are arguing about “continuing” to build up the roster and being patient. This team has playoff talent. We’re sitting here at 4-10. It is Schiano’s fault for this offense. Our defense isn’t even ranked top 10!! Granted we don’t have the most talent at every position but we’re a lot better than 4-10. Fire Schiano.
December 17th, 2013 at 3:41 pm
There’s a reason that Joe said at the beginning of the season that if Glennon starts for the team it’s because the season is lost. That’s usually a pretty huge deal for teams and they try to avoid it at all costs. We had to dump our starting QB 3 games into the season because he couldn’t get it together and start a third round rookie. That’s going to have a big effect on the team. i realize that everyone wants to win right now and i do as well but you have to come to terms with the tier that we’re at right now and the work that needs to be done to move to the next level. We got some flashy names and they’re helping out a ton but look at the depth of the rosters that they came from where they were able to really shine. The Jets and 49ers defenses, the chargers offense with rivers at QB. These guys weren’t carrying the team on their backs. Good teams need good depth and qualified role players throughout the roster. We simply don’t have that yet and we’re in the process of continuing to build that
December 17th, 2013 at 3:53 pm
Im with Bucs or Gtfo, this team has the talent to be in the playoffs, we had the talent last year. The off and def schemes are trash. I still want GS gone. This team is suppose to be disciplined, the bucs lead the league in penalty yards, that is straight up retarded!
December 17th, 2013 at 5:22 pm
So you all are telling me
That SCHIANO,
Not Dominick @Joe
For drafting TWO solid D-Lineman in the 4th round????
Schiano is the man!
Go Bucs!
LaVonte too was HIS choice.
Schiano reminds me of General Patton. Straight up,
He is a pitbull. And I like it!
December 17th, 2013 at 7:57 pm
@ c-span
Problem is a lot of that talent wound up on IR early on.
@ Joe
C’mon man, at least give Schiano some credit for the past two drafts. No shame in admitting Schiano + Dom (and maybe Davis to some degree, dunno?) seem to have a nice synergy (drafting and waiver pickups)
December 17th, 2013 at 9:44 pm
Is Teacherman777 Greg Schiano’s avatar name? Get off of here Greg. You need to be busy figuring out new ways to stay the same.