Has Doug Martin Peaked?
October 15th, 2013
Last year it was fun to watch Doug martin pound through linebackers and around cornerbacks for large chunks of real estate.
This year? Well, for the most part, Bucs fans are still waiting for that same punishing yet elusive runner from last year. Through five games, Martin seems, well, mortal.
This has Tom Jones scared. The Tampa Bay Times columnist is nauseous at the thought that, perhaps, Martin has been burned out by overuse.
Anyone else get a queasy feeling that RB Doug Martin, who has touched the ball 127 times in five games (495 in 21 pro games), is going to last about another year or two in this league? It was tough sledding Sunday: nine of his 16 carries were for 1 yard or fewer.
Joe totally understands where Jones is coming from. Running backs have short shelf lives and if you want to accelerate their timeclocks, a good start would be to hand a guy the ball 25 times a game.
That could be what is happening to Martin. Joe, however, sees the issue in a more macro lens.
The Bucs are just not blocking that well this year, partly because David Joseph is still recovering from his ugly knee surgery, and partially because Carl Nicks has been plagued by foot and toe issues.
If both Nicks and Joseph were healthy and playing at 100 percent, then Joe is confident the Muscle Hamster would have a lot more yards, and perhaps the Bucs would have a win or two.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:03 am
This is just beyond moronic…
October 15th, 2013 at 11:14 am
Everyone is trying to make this team out to be something worse than it is. We aren’t good, but Martin isn’t washed up.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:16 am
Why, when Joseph plays bad, it is because he isn’t “fully recovered”. It’s entirely possible he’s as fully recovered as he will ever be and just not gonna be that good anymore.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:17 am
Peaked? Hey Tom Jones – Schiano is in Syria today shutting down our federal government!
He has more yards and more catches than he did at this point last year.
I just checked outside, the sky is still up.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:22 am
How many runs got called back yesterday?
October 15th, 2013 at 11:23 am
Our o-line is a bigger disaster this year than our head coach. And that’s saying something.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:24 am
It seems like the media just is on a hunt to sh!t on every Buc player. Freeman, Davin Joseph, V-Jac, Revis and the list goes on. I understand the Bucs haven’t one yet, but saying someone has peaked when the line isn’t blocking and teams are over-loading the box? The media is on their typical witch hunt.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:27 am
And so it continues. The media has decided they don’t like Schiano and now they are striving to run him out of town. They accomplish this by trying to say he is ruining players.
Witch Hunt is right.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:28 am
No, I wont say that. I will say we are running him into the ground though. He’s averaging about 20 attempts a game whether he can get yards or not. We carry other RBs on the roster but rarely use them.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:30 am
100% line and the D knows we can’t throw
October 15th, 2013 at 11:32 am
Seth B Says:
October 15th, 2013 at 11:22 am
How many runs got called back yesterday?
______________________________________________
None yesterday, but at least 3 or 4 long runs were called back SUNDAY due to penalties, costing us close to 50 yards in offense.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:37 am
Tom Jones peaked in junior high.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:37 am
I’d be interested in Martin’s 1st down stats….It seems to me that the playcalling is an issue with his production. The Bucs have been predictable thus far. Our line isn’t blocking & we have a 210 lb tight end occaisionally.
We are have 6 rb/fb on the roster & martin is getting over 90% of the carries….from what I have seen from James so far, he is an ample backup & I’d like to see Demps get more touches.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:39 am
Price per pound, we have the worst value at O-Line in the NFL.
I hope Nicks can come back.
Penn is less dominant.
Zuttah may be hurt?
Davin Joseph doesn’t look the same.
Carimi is medically out.
Larsen is Larsen.
Dominick is responsible for this mess.
We should ease up on Martin handling the ball, as our run blocking is not so good.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:43 am
We do seem to have a knack for ruining players who had a good rookie season though.
October 15th, 2013 at 11:46 am
AFTER VIEWING THE TAPE OF SUNDAY….THIS OFFENSIVE LINE BETTER START SHOWING UP OR THEY ARE GONNA GO 0-16. THE OL PLAY HAS BEEN ATROCIOUS THE PAST 3 WEEKS.
IN THE NFL IT ALL STARTS UP FRONT…DAVIN JOSEPH….IF YOUR HURT SIT YOUR BUTT DOWN. I SEE GUYS JUST LETTING THE DL BLOW THEM UP AND LOOKING AROUND LIKE IM HURT DONT I GET A PASS?!
I DISAGREE WITH THE MEDIA BLAMING COACH SCHIANO…IF YOU LOSE THE HEAT COMES TO THE QB, HC OR BOTH. HE DOESNT HAVE FREEMAN TO BLAME ANYMORE SO THE FOCUS IS SOLELY ON HIM. WELCOME TO THE NFL!
SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS…I DIDNT REALIZE IT WAS ON AND DONT WANT TO retype. 🙁
October 15th, 2013 at 11:47 am
Kaput Says:
October 15th, 2013 at 11:37 am
“Tom Jones peaked in junior high.”
Ha ha ha LMFAO classic!
October 15th, 2013 at 11:55 am
3 of the 8 Probowlers Joe talks about are on the O-line.
Interesting how both Bostadt & Sullivan were praised last year for their coaching…and how miserable the performance of the O-line and Offense is this year.
I guess along with Martin that Schiano has also ruined Bostadt & Sullivan.
October 15th, 2013 at 12:10 pm
He hasn’t even come close to reaching a point that will be considered maxed out. The coaching has attempted to use him as a deep WR against the saints, no more check downs or screens with him, the blocking is non existent, dam penalties ruined anything that would be considered progress.
We all are aware what Doug can do for us, if we continue to just throw him against a brick wall then the bucs have wasted his talent .
October 15th, 2013 at 12:17 pm
How does that guy get a column?
October 15th, 2013 at 12:19 pm
Not Yet!
October 15th, 2013 at 12:31 pm
The reason why it may seem that Doug Martin has peaked is because:
1. The offensive line play has been poor to say the least.
2. Last year the Bucs had a quarterback who could throw it down field and hit receivers. This year, not so much.
October 15th, 2013 at 12:33 pm
really joe lol i think theres enough news to go around without getting on doug martin….he’s no different than the quarterback, he needs everyone to do their job so he can do his its not a one man show my friend thats basketball, cant say this is the ultimate team sport then post things like that
You obviously did not read the post. –Joe
October 15th, 2013 at 12:46 pm
Some peopld are going to be pissed about this, but davin joseph has been overrated for most of his career and his legs have bden shot for at least 3 years. I said before the season started that this team would go as far as this oline would take it and its come true. The biggest downfall of dominik’s time as GM has been his inability to build the oline. Penn’s best days are behind him, Joseph will be gimping around the rest of his days, i think its obvious Nicks can’t be counted on, Zuttah got his big contract based on association with the coach, and Dotson is still a project. This refusal to draft olineman his killed this team.
October 15th, 2013 at 12:50 pm
Also, last year they catered the running game to Martin’s inability to remain patient and let blocks happen for him by delaying handoffs by a split second. This year they aren’t doi g that and Martin is missing reads. Don’t let Martin off the hook this easily.
October 15th, 2013 at 12:52 pm
Over-used?? James Wilder handled the ball 492 times one season.
But Martin made me think of Cadillac Sunday, as in, ”one-year wonder.” I think more zone-blocking might help. We shall see.
October 15th, 2013 at 12:53 pm
Lol. I’d be willing to bet that every team in the NFL would take Doug Martin over their current running back with the exception of the Vikings. Yeah, he’s done. What idiocy.
October 15th, 2013 at 1:12 pm
Our O-line needs to man up and open some holes. A real hamster couldn’t run through the blocks of these guys. Terrible.
October 15th, 2013 at 2:18 pm
Maybe because he isn’t fully recovered?
October 15th, 2013 at 2:20 pm
Probably accurate.
October 15th, 2013 at 2:21 pm
HHHUUUGGGEEE difference.
Caddy blew out both his wheels. Martin, unless he is one helluva actor, has healthy knees.
October 15th, 2013 at 2:50 pm
Embarassing its a good thing we got that 12 game winning streak
October 15th, 2013 at 3:25 pm
SteveK Says
“Price per pound, we have the worst value at O-Line in the NFL.”
I said before the draft we needed to get a RT or LT. I knew Penn would start showing his years soon. Really I wanted a Center as well because I wasn’t sold on Zuttah. Still not. But he’s acceptable until we can shore up the other spots.
We’re stuck with Nicks. I think he is the best Oline guy we have, and I think he would be raising the level of the oline if he were in more. The toe and the MRSA is unfortunate…MRSA will be dealt with at some point. The two? A lifetime issue. Do I think a replacement for him needs to be drafted to train as a backup.
But you know…Nicks was a good investment. Who could foresee injuries?
All these fans swore up and down that we had to spend money….well this is part of the price. Most free agents are entering an age where injuries occur more often. We got lucky age-wise with Nicks, but he still got injured.
I’ve always felt that you build thru the draft and finish through free agency. There are only so many picks in the draft, so there is no way to do it all thru it, but you can do key positions.
I actually think the Free Agennts brought in the last couple years are good investments. Nicks. Jackson. Goldson. Important positions filled. But we also need that #3 WR spot, a DE, QB and Oline.
On the oline I thought Joseph had a better game. If both he and Nicks were playing we would see a huge leap. Penn has been slipping for two years now. RT has ALWAYS been a trouble spot for the Bucs.
October 15th, 2013 at 3:31 pm
I think Martin is fine. 20 carries a game is not a heavy load. That’s only 320 per season.
It’s just hard to run when defenses stack the box. I think it’s amazing that he has the yards he has at this point.
Unless the team turns things around, there’s no way Schiano lasts into next season. Whether it is during or after this season, I think he’s toast. I prefer AFTER the season…or near the end.
This team really is a hair from succeeding. Honestly…I think we would do a LOT better with a vet QB (good one) and some oline help.
October 15th, 2013 at 3:44 pm
I agree with gottbucs that Joseph is overrated, he never seemed to be a very good run blocker. I remember him getting steamrolled multiple times in the 2010 Steelers game, constantly knocked back 3 yards into the backfield at the snap. As far as Martin and the running game, what happened last year when Martin looked like he was running past papier-mache defensive dummies? It was the deep passes to VJ and Williams. When that deep game tailed off mid-season last year, so did the running game, to a point. This year, nobody respects the Bucs pass game, and everyone is loading up near the line, daring Bucs QBs to beat them…so far, that plan has been money.
October 15th, 2013 at 7:37 pm
Watch Sundays game and see when Martin starts juking. It’s always BEFORE he gets to the line of scrimmage. When he doesn’t, it’s holding on the Bucs.
Martin isn’t the problem. The o-line is getting blasted off the ball and the F is playing on the other side of the line of scrimmage.
October 15th, 2013 at 8:44 pm
How about using another back every so often to give Doug a chance to rest, etc. Where is Leonard? Every other NFL team has a two back system, we choose to insert the rookie James (who has done a good job) but lets see more of Leonard. We heard about all the wonderful things he can do from Schiano but I haven’t seen much of Mr. Leonard.
October 16th, 2013 at 9:25 am
They’ll ruin him just like ruined Cadillac Williams and Earnest Graham. This is a two running back league now morons!