Buccaneers: William Gholston must step up for Bucs to succeed

This offseason, William Gholston received a large contract from the Buccaneers for his services, now he must live up to it.

The Buccaneers signed Gholston to a 5-year contract worth $37 Million days before free agency began. There were concerns that Tampa did not value Gholston enough to hand him a big contract, but those concerns were quieted. Some Bucs fans were also wary that Tampa may overpay Gholston. However, roughly $7 million a year is not too bad for someone who has improved each year.

Will Gholston was drafted out of Michigan State in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Since then, he has shown improvement nearly every year. Gholston initially provided starts due to injury, but over the course of the 2015 season became a full-time starter. Since taking over as a starter he has been consistent as a run defender, making up for his lack of sacks. Gholston has accumulated 36 starts over four seasons and is projected to start this season as well.

Gholston is coming off a solid year in which he posted 49 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 FF and FR, and 6 TFL’s. Gholston’s season was cut short due to a dislocated elbow and the Bucs run D took a hit. While Gholston has proven to be an effective run-stopper, Tampa needs more out of him in the pass rush. The argument can be made that he is a designated run-stopper. However, for his price tag, the Bucs need him to be more versatile.

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Gholston for his career only has 10 sacks combined, never achieving more than 3 a season. Gholston rotates often with Spence for passing downs, but for someone who is on the field for 55% of defensive snaps 3 sacks in a season is very low. With how deep the defensive line is becoming, Gholston needs to improve as a pass rusher or he could lose snaps.

Noah Spence’s role is projected to increase this season. However, Spence’s biggest weakness happens to be Gholston’s strength, run defense. While these two may be a balancing act for one another. It will only be a matter of time before Spence is ready to take over full-time. Gholston may also have to compete with Robert Ayers Jr for snaps.

The Buccaneers did well in the sack department last year, tying for 9th place with 38 sacks. While Tampa generated sacks last year, they failed to provide consistent pressure on the QB. At times, the defense was picked apart due to the lack of a pass rush. While the blame can not go entirely on Gholston, he is not free of fault either. To win more games Tampa must have a more consistent pass rush and Gholston must be a part of that.

Next: Predicting The Initial 53-man Roster

If Gholston wants to live up to his contract he must get at least five sacks this season. While that may not seem like very many, for Gholston that will be a huge improvement. I predict that Gholston will step up this year and provide a boost to a pass rush that was solid last year. The Bucs only added DT’s Chris Baker and Stevie Tu’ikolovatu to help beef up the interior line. Tampa is banking on improvement from their defensive ends, hopefully, Gholston and Spence are up for the challenge.