What Must Doug Martin Do To Get Better?
May 26th, 2016
Joe asked Bucs running backs coach Tim Spencer the question shown in the headline?
Spencer was quick and energetic with a response.
“Doug is an easy guy to coach because he’s self-motivated,” Spencer said. “When you come to practice, you’ll see it. Doug is one of the guys who’s 10 yards, 20 yards, 30 yards down the field. He’s always hustling. He’s always working on his craft.
“I mean, he’s a pleasure to coach, and he wants to be coached. And so, he’s a leader. He sort of sets the tone and the other guys have to come up to it. I don’t think I have any problem, and we haven’t to this day.”
And there’s a big reason why the Bucs guaranteed Doug Martin about $8 million annually this year and next, when the could have dropped the franchise tag on him and made him prove his worth one more time.
Martin is driven and there’s no underlying concern that he’ll bank his fat check and coast.
May 26th, 2016 at 11:06 am
Still pimpin the franchise tag I see. I dont get why you think it would of been a good idea when as you can see we could pay him much less this year and still get him cheaper for the next couple seasons. Im just glad we got it done. Dougernaut should be a Buc for life.
May 26th, 2016 at 11:09 am
He didn’t answer the question, so I will: Score touchdowns.
May 26th, 2016 at 11:34 am
Nothing.
May 26th, 2016 at 11:41 am
No underlying concerns ? How about looking at his year 2 and year 3 tape. Not pretty. Then came year 4. A contract year and now he’s all universe. Amazing what you can do when motivated. It will be very interesting to see if he stays motivated or falls back to Year 2 & 3.
May 26th, 2016 at 11:44 am
I should add that his speed hasn’t increased. Watching him get caught from behind at the 5 is depressing, because we usually settle for a field goal there.
May 26th, 2016 at 11:51 am
Winning football games will get everyone motivated.
May 26th, 2016 at 11:59 am
You know uckinator you obviously haven’t haven’t watched many Bucs games because everybody knows he was injured those two years. If you had you would see he is one of the best cutters in the league and when you don’t trust your knees you don’t cut period. It’s obvious you’ve never been injured before ir you would know. If you had watched any of his rookie season you would see he ran as hard last year as he did then. The final game against the Saints in 2014 I knew he was back and that he would have a good 2015. Sure enough he did. You guys who cry this contract year crap are ridiculous. Last year if the defense hadn’t been so crappy Dougie would have ran away with that rushing title and he does get caught from behind sometimes because guys don’t sustain their blocks. If the defense is much improved look for him to have a better season than he had as a rookie.
May 26th, 2016 at 11:59 am
getting the ball to the 5 yard line is a golden opportunity not going for a touchdown is unacceptable in my book.It is also demoralizing to team and fans.Hope decisions like this are a thing of the past!
May 26th, 2016 at 12:29 pm
Those under 10 yard converions for TD’s will improve along with the overall offensive uptick.
May 26th, 2016 at 12:30 pm
make that conversions
May 26th, 2016 at 1:05 pm
Valrico Bob – are you saying that it’s 1st and 5 at the 5 after Doug’s run – and the Bucs don’t go for a touchdown? Unacceptable in your book by not going for a touchdown on 1st down at the 5? ummmmmm…… pretty sure that’s unacceptable in my mom’s book.
May 26th, 2016 at 1:20 pm
I’ll be happy if he matches this past year in yards. I hope he reaches the end zone a few more times though.
May 26th, 2016 at 1:43 pm
Doug should have a chip as well, very rarely mentioned with top RB’s in the league, even though I don’t know the stats, my guess is his 4 year total still puts him in the top ten over those years even with those two bad years in between.
May 26th, 2016 at 2:22 pm
Let’s see – $12M guaranteed for 1 year – or $15M guaranteed for 2 years (with years 3,4,5 locked in at a reasonable price at the Bucs discretion).
Why even bring up the franchise tag again Joe? All it does is remind readers how ridiculous Joe’s pleas were to make a bad decision for the franchise.
May 26th, 2016 at 2:25 pm
The best RB that we have, and arguably one of the top 5 backs in the league…….and when you get caught at the 5 yrd line look to the sideline and tell Coach K that your not coming out of the game!!!
May 26th, 2016 at 4:18 pm
I mean would it be better if he had never broke free in the first place??? I’ll take getting caught at the 5 yard line all season long. Any day.
May 26th, 2016 at 5:01 pm
Martin was the best back in football last year, he barely lost out to AD for the rushing title but had a better average and less fumbles. He was excellent. To the dullards that say “BUT WHAT ABOUT YEAR 2 AND 3″… he was injured jerk face, that and he was playing with no OC and Glennon as the starter. Got that? All RB’s have to prove themselves every year and this is no exception. Also Doug basically signed a 2-year deal, if he gets injured again the Bucs can take a RB next year and get him ready for the starting job then Martin can be cut after that. If Martin looks good and plays well then the Bucs have him signed until he’s 30.
May 27th, 2016 at 9:04 am
It would have been nice if he had answered the question. Glad Martin is a joy to coach, and he is a joy to watch when he is dominant like he was last year. I predict another great year for Martin. With Jameis at QB, the D cannot load up to stop the run. So Martin should usually have 7 in the box.