Resigning Will Gholston Will be Priority For Bucs

Bucs Gm Jason Licht was smart to quickly resign his biggest 2017 free agent in punter Bryan Anger to a new 5 year deal that makes him one of the highest paid in the league. Now Mr. Licht needs to turn his attention to one of the most important defensive lineman on this team and that is Will Gholston. Gholston started in the NFL at the young age of 20 and was very raw as he had plenty of size and athleticism but no technique or consistency. Now at 25, Gholston has become one of the better run stopping defensive ends in the league and continues to get better each year as a pass rusher.

Gholston is homegrown talent as he has really become a staple in the community as well as one of the young leaders on defense. It is just hard to find a defensive end that is 6'6 280 and can run down a running back sideline to sideline. Due to his massive frame he doesn't get much leverage coming off the edge but has done a better job of playing to his strengths which is power game. The last two seasons combined Gholston has 116 tackles, 6 sacks, 2 force fumbles, and plenty of tackles for loss. Licht doesn't let homegrown talent go and has shown in his time here as Gm that he rewards those who earn it. Gholston wants to be a buc and I expect the Bucs to make resigning him a big priority this off-season.

Gholston provides great versatility along the front four as he can play inside or outside as well as depth. Having a rotation of Gholston, Spence, Ayers and if healthy Jack Smith gives this team four quality ends which most teams can't say they have. Gholston should get a nice raise but nothing drastic as I see him getting anywhere from 3 to 5 million per year due to his production and age. The best news about Gholston is that there is untapped potential so he could still become a better player which is scary. I believe Gholston will be one of the first to resign back with the Bucs and Jason Licht will have a big smile on his face.

Interesting Buc Stats For Consumption During The Bye Week

 
by Douglas O'Connor
follow on Twitter @Ren_Daxt

    No Buccaneers football this weekend, no problem. We here a Real Bucs Talk gotcha covered. Most of you that read our blog more than likely follow @TBBuccaneers on Twitter. I'd like to introduce you to another organizational Twitter feed that all Bucs fans should be following, @BuccaneersPR. They are continuously putting out great content, just like us. Tweets about Buccaneer stats and records that our kind of Buc fan gobble up like a handful of jellybeans.

    Recently they tweeted out a 57 page PDF file that had some interesting tidbits. I've sifted through the abundance of material and picked out some of the more interesting facts and placed them here for your enjoyment.

Jameis Winston started the season outside of the top 10 for passing yards in Buccaneers franchise history. After 5 games he has moved into 8th spot. Knocking out local legend Shaun King and pushing down Brian Griese and Jeff Garcia one spot. Winston should pass Craig Erickson by mid season and be right on the heels of  6th place holder Steve DeBerg after 16 games.

Brent Grimes interception Monday night bumped him up to 4th in most picks since 2013, Only 2 behind stat leader Richard Sherman. It's not to far out of the question to see Grimes leading this category by years end.

Tampa Bays Defense is impressive in a few categories. They rank 3rd in 3rd down conversion rate at 31.1% only .7% behind the leading Seahawks. Not surprising the Bucs defense also has 3rd best single game 3rd down rate. It was on Monday night against the Panthers 12.5% where they only went 1 for 8. The Bucs defense is also ranked in the top 10 in yards per rush, coming in at 9 giving up only 3.65 per carry.

Kwon Alexander is 3rd in the NFL for solo tackles with 37. Less than a handful behind 2 of the best linebackers in the league. Carolina's Luke Kuechly and Buffalo's Zach Brown. Kwon has also only one of 6 NFL linebackers that have recorded 100+ tackles, 5+ sacks and 3 interceptions in his first 16 games.

Bryan Anger is among league leaders in net yards and punts downed inside the 20, but he's the punter so who really cares. #KiddingNotKidding

Mike Evans has taken a lot of flack from Buccaneers fans during his short career and rightfully so. Leading the NFL in dropped passes, consistently drawing undisciplined penalties and complaining to the refs every time a defensive back breathed on him. Won't exactly endear you to your fan base. Given all of Evan's short comings he has always put up impressive numbers, some of the best since he entered the league. Mike is 9th in receiving yards with a total of 2,706 to start his career and ranks 8th in total receiving touchdowns with 19 during that same amount of time. This year he ranks 7th in receptions, 5th in receiving TD's and 7th in yards. Evans has turned a 180 in relation to his drops, penalties, and attitude. If he keeps this up he'll be a shoe in for his 1st Pro Bowl.

     Please feel free to comment below. Check out other articles in the archives to the right and give the blog a follow if you'd like.

    As always, thank you for reading and Go Bucs!    

3 Positives From Week 1 Win

The Bucs prevailed over the Falcons today 31-24 and there were a lot of bright spots but here a few that really caught our eye.

Winston Deep Ball

Jameis did miss his first deep throws early in the first to Humphries and a wide open Evans in the end zone but he made up for it as the game went on. Winston connected with ASJ for a 30 yard TD on the first possession after halftime and a 45 yarder to Evans the drive after. Both were perfect timing passes that dropped right in the receivers hands. With the size of all our bucs receivers and tight ends the deep ball will be used heavily and its a great sign that Winston has the timing down.

Redzone defense

A major weakness of the bucs for the past 5 or more years has been defense, but primarily red-zone defense and today they showed improvement. Of the 4 times the falcons got into the red-zone the bucs stopped them 3 times. The bend but don't break defense could be coming back but improvements still need to be made.

Punter/Special Teams

Overall the special teams had a picture perfect day. Roberto Aguayo made his first and only regular season kick for 43 yards as well as all 4 of his extra points. The coverage teams all did their part as there were no big returns to flip the field. The biggest highlight to me was punter Bryan Anger as he was booming kicks left and right. Anger had 5 punts averaging 45 yards per punt, with a long of 57 yards. Field position is huge in this game of inches and Anger can be seen as a weapon as he can determine where the other team will begin their drives.

Bucs Add Power By Signing Punter Bryan Anger

The Buccaneers upgraded their special teams today by signing former Jaguars punter Bryan Anger per Buccaneers.com.

The #Bucs have agreed to terms with P Bryan Anger!

READ MORE --> https://t.co/Pya9XVTjY7 pic.twitter.com/J8c7Q4bgkJ

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@TBBuccaneers) March 22, 2016

Bucs already have last year's starter in Jacob Schum, who did a decent job with an 42.0yds per punt average. Schum will have to up his level of play if he wants to beat out Anger to keep his starting spot. Anger had a riduclous career punt average with 46.8yds per punt and has been really consistent in his first 4 years as a pro. Another smart signing by the Bucs as this brings in a healthy competition to the punting position, in which field position is always important in today's game.