Doug Martin Will Not Be Used “Sporadically”
May 3rd, 2012
Earlier this week, NFL Films analyst Greg Cosell chatted with Joe’s good friend “The Commish,” Justin Pawlowski of WQYK-AM 1010, about the Bucs draft.
In short, Cosell firmly believes that Bucs running back LeGarrette Blount has become a second-string running back as a result of the Bucs drafting Muscle Hamster, Doug Martin.
“Doug Martin was the only other true foundation back in this draft,” Cosell said. “You don’t draft Doug Martin to use him sporadically. You use him to be your bell cow.”
As both Joe and Justin have pointed out, it’s clear what kind of team new Bucs coach Greg Schiano will have by the pattern of players he drafted: bruising, fundamentally sound players.
Cosell echoed this, by saying coaches “express their world view in how they draft.”
You can hear the rest of Justin’s outstanding interview with Cosell by clicking this link.
May 3rd, 2012 at 1:36 pm
With as much as Schiano is planning to run the ball, I’m sure the Bucs can have 2 “bell cows” and everyone will be happy.
May 3rd, 2012 at 1:37 pm
One thing is for sure, that if the Bucs have a lead late in a game, it’s going to wear down a D to have to continue tackle Blount and Martin over and over.
May 3rd, 2012 at 1:41 pm
Run Douggie Run
May 3rd, 2012 at 1:43 pm
Both players will be used a LOT! But being he is a 1st round pick. Martin will become the Lead back. but it will be a healthy blend of each man.
If Blount can keep his act together and see the bigger picture( a super bowl ring). We very well could not only have the best O-Line in the business. But the most deadly RB tandem the league has yet to see!
I still see us being closer to how the Saints run multiple backs! Either way this is super exciting. Being a defensive minded person. I am having a hard time trying to figure out how to stop this Bucs offense. Because the moment you switch your game plan to stop either the run or the pass. The other can be exploited just as easily.
May 3rd, 2012 at 1:45 pm
Wasn’t it the Giants who had 2 “1,000” yard rushers and 1 who was 900+? the year they won the 1st SB against the Pats?
It will be amazing if we can get Blount, Martin, and Smith produce in a similar way.
May 3rd, 2012 at 1:47 pm
If the game is on the line you will see Martin in the backfield. The guy can do it all. I hope LGB maximizes what he does with his carries because Martin will be bringing it every play.
If either guy puts the ball on the ground they will find the bench pretty damn quick.
May 3rd, 2012 at 2:07 pm
Lmao great picture Joe. Doug wanted to leave the muscle hampster moniker at Boise, that just isn’t gonna happen huh?
May 3rd, 2012 at 2:24 pm
It doesn’t matter at this point. Blount, Martin, Smith all now have competition and can go through their first complete off-season for the Bucs collectively. The coaches will use the best combination to win depending on the defensive they are playing. It’s really cool knowing they have a RB coach who coached CJ2K and MJDrew as well. Schiano keeps saying they will pound the rock and it looks like they are assembling the team for just that.
May 3rd, 2012 at 2:24 pm
Everything that would have applied to a Richardson/Blount committee now applies to a Martin/Blount committee. Simple as that.
May 3rd, 2012 at 3:00 pm
941-Bucs
No the Giants did not have 2-1,000 rushers their Super Bowl win in 2007. Jacobs barely had over 1000 yds. 2008 they did, both Jacobs and Ward had over 1000 yds. They actually haven’t done it again since 2008. Last year they had a team total rushing of 1400+ yds.
May 3rd, 2012 at 3:02 pm
@ josh,
I didn’t think of that connection, was Byner the RB coach at Tennessee when LGB was in training camp for the Titans.
May 3rd, 2012 at 3:05 pm
Martin is the next mjd and smith is the next darrin sproles.
May 3rd, 2012 at 3:06 pm
Thank goodness, Blount will be used only sporadically.
No more frequent fumbles, missed blocks, wrong play run etc and a threat in the passing game.
I sure will miss the leaping of defenders though.
May 3rd, 2012 at 3:11 pm
I totally agree with you 941.If the other teams play run we will throw the heck out of the ball and if the play the pass watch out for the best o-line in the league to run it down their throats.If sullivan cant get it dun I bet he will be gone after this year.
May 3rd, 2012 at 3:23 pm
I believe that the bucs are planing the demise of LB. In addition to Martin they also picked up a couple of big fullbacks. Its not that LB will be jettisoned this year but I think his days are numbered. I believe he does not fit the type of personality that GS wants for the Bucs. If one of these big fullbacks produce, LB might become trade bait for a corner.
May 3rd, 2012 at 3:40 pm
I ABSOLUTELY detest the fact that so many “fans” now wish to forget that Blount was only good things happening to BUCS in recent memory. It’s not like Blount was the league leader in fumbles at any point. And whole versatility issue isn’t even valid seeing as how the former offensive coordinator couldn’t figure out how to utilize ANY of the offensive talent correctly. I don’t ever remember the guy not picking up a blitz…he was just never in to do so. I’m all for Martin being a BUCCANEER and Michael Smith too, but “fans” should really get the thought of Blount becoming an after thought out of their heads.
May 3rd, 2012 at 4:14 pm
Don’t know how many times I’ve said this, but to play under Chip Kelly as a running back you’d better be able to block and catch, and seeing how LGB was the number 1 back at Oregon before the infamous punch I’m pretty sure he can do both, his issues last season were the same issues every other offensive player had on this team, which was an inept OC who tried to run an offense with players he wished he had and not one with the players he did have. I’m still shocked he found a job after proving to the league he was beyond inept, that goes for Raheem as well.
May 3rd, 2012 at 4:20 pm
Blount didn’t even lead the Buc’s in fumbles, I think he was 3rd.
Politically, the 1st round draft pick will get the #1 spot. Lagarette will have to earn his carries, he will get the rock a lot if he can wear them down in the 4th quarter with leads.
May 3rd, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Blount didn’t even lead the Buc’s in fumbles, I think he was 3rd.
Politically, the 1st round draft pick will get the #1 spot. Lagarette will have to earn his carries, he will get the rock a lot if he can wear them down in the 4th quarter with leads.
I don’t understand why people resent him so much as an UDFA he is a godsend.
May 3rd, 2012 at 4:33 pm
Sorry Thomasina, but Blount is still going to get a bunch of carries this year. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if he ends the year with more than Martin, although I’m sure Martin will be on the field more and will catch a million more passes. He’s still an incredible talent, but just not an every down back. He will get his touches, though, make no mistake about that.
May 3rd, 2012 at 5:25 pm
He had 4 catches at Oregon flmike, four catches. In 2008 when he had 1000 yards and 17 TDs rushing, 2 catches. Between his 2 years at Oregon and 2 years in the NFL he has 24 catches total. He clearly is not capable of playing on passing downs. Can he learn? Sure, but he’s had 2 years in the NFL and at some point “bad coaching” can’t be an excuse anymore. I also don’t buy that a RB has to be able to pass protect and catch in Chip Kellys offense. You don’t need to pass block or catch as a RB on a read option or a WR screen(the majority of their offense).
@Miguel He may have been 3rd but the only player that has a bigger fumble problem on the team is Preston Parker(I didn’t realize Parker fumbled that much, 84 total touches and 8 fumbles. He should be cut.). Freeman had more fumbles than Blount by 4(he had 9) but he also touched the ball at least 4 times more than Blount did. For comparisons, Freeman had the same amount of fumbles as Eli Manning did last year, all the QBs I checked had between 5-10.
I checked a bunch of HBs and I couldn’t find one that had as many fumbles as Blount on so few touches. Closest would be Ryan Mathews with 5 on 272 or Brandon Jacobs with 3 on 167(Blount had 5 on 199). Bottom-line, Blount needs to fix the fumbling problem. He will get carries this year but I don’t think he will near the amount Martin will get.
May 3rd, 2012 at 6:25 pm
Look, it’s pretty simple math. Blount had 1007 yards on 201 carries (5 yards per attempt) in 2010. That was in a partial season for him since he didn’t arrive until the week after the final preseason game. Last year he had 184 attempts, 781 yards (4.2/attempt). Each year he fumbles about 4-5 times.
The league average last year (in a passing league) in rushing attempts per team was 436.6 attempts. That means we can use Blount exactly how much we have been the past two years and STILL give Martin 240 attempts. If Blount can get between 800 and 1000 on his carries and Martin can go over 1000, we’ll be one of the best rushing teams in the league. If these guys can beat Blounts average per carry (of 4.2, not 5), we’ll be one of the top half in production rushing. With the addition of Nicks, we could see all these numbers go up.
Martin can be the “bell cow” with 250 carries or so. Blount can give him a breather and be the 4th quarter “wear down their D” guy and still get 200 carries a year. Seriously, that’s still close to a 1000 yard season for Blount based on his history. If they can work with him on his fumbles, we may want to keep BOTH these guys around long term.
As for Blount having a major fumbling problem…. Arian Foster fumbled 6 times (to Blounts 5). Admittedly with more attempts, but you’d think more attempts is supposed to get these RBs in “a groove” and help them run stronger and better. Coming in cold off the bench would be more likely to fumble. But other comparisons would be Tashard Choice with 6 in 152 attempts, Ryan Matthews with 5 in 222, Felix Jones with 5 in 127, Reggie Bush and Ben Tate with 4 in similar # of carries. 5 is not good, but it’s not really “ride the pine” bad either. Do you realize Blount’s first fumble last year didn’t come until our 8th game against the Saints and we recovered? He didn’t fumble again until Nov 27th (game 11) where he lost 2 fumbles. Of his 5 fumbles, only 3 were lost and all the actual turnovers didn’t happen until Nov 27th and after. Do you forget (maybe so, since he wasn’t used much) that his first half of the year was pretty good? Even though deactivated for the first Saints and the Bears game, he still had 118 carries for 541 yards and a 4.5 average before he entered the game that lost his first fumble.
I’m glad we got Martin, but Blount is not some piece of trash we should throw away like yesterday’s news. He is effective, he doesn’t typically fumble, he makes defenders miss and he scores TDs. The guy lost 3 fumbles last year, give him a break.
May 3rd, 2012 at 7:05 pm
Martin has to come up with a Hamster Dougie Dance!!
Do the Hamster Dougie at half time and after a homegame win!!
May 3rd, 2012 at 7:55 pm
@ 941
Earth, wind, and fire!!
May 3rd, 2012 at 8:08 pm
Just how many passes did he drop last year? How many times was he thrown to? How many did he catch? What as his Yards After Contact? Who led the league in YAC? Give me a break!
May 4th, 2012 at 12:24 am
Most of Blounts fumbles in his 2 seasons with us have came after breaking multiple tackles and being swarmed by a group of defenders. For f###s sake most of his fumbles happened when he was trying too hard give the guy a break. Thomas 2.2 you are the biggest a##bag on this board I wish you would take a long walk off a short pier!!!!!!