Steady Improvement For Will Gholston

October 29th, 2014
(Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

(Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

If you can stomach watching the Bucs-Viking game again, you’ll see splash plays by starting left defensive end Will Gholston.

Yes, Gholston has been starting since Week 2 and has been way too quiet, but he is heating up.

Joe’s not going overboard here. Gholston has just one sack in six starts since taking over for Adrian Clayborn in Week 2. But the guy just turned 23 years old and is a gigantic, hungry talent that a defensive line coach like Joe Cullen should be able to mold.

Cullen was all jacked up talking about Gholston on the Buccaneers Radio Network.

“Some of the things that I see in Will is that he’s progressing. [Against the Vikings,] he played well in the run game. We asked him to do some things inside in the pass rush, and he’s getting better each week,” Cullen said. “Some of the things he did Sunday. He’s big. He’s tall. He’s long. He knocked down a pass. But he gets in the lane of the quarterback and sometimes you may not win the 1-on-1, but you’re pushing the lineman back and you get that big hand up. And it kind of makes the quarterback lower his throw or move a little bit. And he’s been able to do that, and I expect even better things from him.”

So there you have it. Gholston remains a project player on the rise, as he was through his rookie season last year as a fifth-round pick out of Michigan State.

Perhaps Gholston can become an Everson Griffen, who didn’t explode until his third season.

8 Responses to “Steady Improvement For Will Gholston”

  1. bucrightoff Says:

    Wonder if his brother is hitting him up for any money yet? We got the non-bust Gholston it seems.

  2. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Gholston is a serviceable backup….for now…..we need multiple studs on the Dline.

  3. tmaxcon Says:

    bucrightoff — I believe it was his cousin who is the lazy ass. I might be wrong though.

    I would rather Gholston develop behind a proven pass rusher with leadership skills and some attitude rather than learning from this kumbayaaaa singing – group hugging choirboy line the bucs have now…

  4. DB55 Says:

    I’ve been saying for the last 3 weeks that gholston and McDonald are the only ones doing anything on this dline. Gholston crushed TB on 2 occasions on Sunday. Laid TB out pretty good. But what I like best about gholston is that he keeps his motor running all game, never gives up on plays unlike some others on the DL that in the 4th qrt be prancing around like little ballerinas. Or worse yet spend all day on the ground cuz they can’t beat their man. Some of these guys are pathetic. #nopride #teamcialis

  5. Bill Says:

    Joe has serious wood for this guy…for some reason. At this rate he’ll be Reagan Upshaw by 2019.

  6. Mike J Says:

    At least the arrow is pointing up. Still a young guy.

  7. Fort Myers Dave Says:

    He is a draft pick who is still on the roster: that puts him in fairly rare company when you consider the Bucs draft history of the past 5 or so years….

  8. Owlykat Says:

    I think Gholston is a keeper. He knocks down passes, plays the run well, has a constant motor, and is better than Johnson by a bunch. He got three sacks in a hurry late last year when Stupid Schiano finally let him start. He can develop like Bennet did in his third year!