Can Martin Repeat 2015?
May 29th, 2016
Key to strong offense.
Judging Doug Martin’s career, the guy is either red hot or ice cold.
Martin’s 2012 rookie year was sensational. He ran for 1,454 yards, his career best. The next two years (granted, he was banged up) Martin didn’t even total 1,000 combined. Of course, last year he blew up for 1,402 yards.
If the Bucs are to play meaningful games in January, Conor Orr of NFL.com would like to know which Doug Martin shows up, the 1,400-yard rusher or the invisible back?
What are realistic expectations for Doug Martin? Some analysts were crazier about a long-term deal for Martin than others. Consider us undecided. Martin, a former first-round pick, will be 28 at the end of the season and is coming off a campaign with nearly 300 rushing attempts. The Buccaneers will continue to lean on him despite an offensive line that is breaking in young starters because a developing quarterback needs a good running game. How good will he continue to be if he approaches 300 carries again this year?
Joe believes Orr’s questions are fair, aside from the offensive line. Orr noted how the Bucs were breaking in young starters. He’s right, but given their performance, consider those linemen (Donovan Smith and Ali Marpet) broken in. If they weren’t, it’s doubtful Martin would have had such a good season.
Of course, one way to keep the tread on Martin’s tires — running backs pushing 30 generally start falling off the grid — is to have Charles Sims more involved.
May 29th, 2016 at 4:22 am
Would be hard after a great season
May 29th, 2016 at 7:38 am
This question immediately makes me think of J.R. Sweezy’s first presser with the team when he stated “I live to run block”,shortly after Joe or someone posted video of him powerdriving defenders into the ground. My verdict says yes.
May 29th, 2016 at 8:37 am
Our quarterback is still young, still developing, we will need another strong season from our running game.
May 29th, 2016 at 9:08 am
Vitale will have an impact as well.
May 29th, 2016 at 9:22 am
I predict right now, and I don’t want to jinx him, but I predict the Muscle Hamster will lead the league in rushing this season.
Stay tuned.
I think Doug’s going to go OFF!
Yes I said Muscle Hamster.
May 29th, 2016 at 10:12 am
I think silky smooth Sims will get more snaps this season , lessening the load on Martin.
May 29th, 2016 at 10:33 am
I predict that c-sims and Doug will have a total of 3250 all purpose yards ppl I said all purpose yards not rushing
May 29th, 2016 at 10:51 am
It’s going to be tough. I wouldn’t be surprised to see defenses selling out to stop our run game. Luckily we have an oline, and a qb. Jameis might be the best thing to happen to Doug in his NFL career.
May 29th, 2016 at 11:19 am
Our running game, as a whole, is expected to duplicate last season. Doug, without a doubt, is our cowbell and Sims needs to keep finding open field. I don’t expect Vitale to be a primary target but Koetter will surely run some plays at him. He’s gonna need to make plays when he gets the ball.
May 29th, 2016 at 11:24 am
Largo…that’s what I was tellin’ my wife yesterday!
May 29th, 2016 at 12:49 pm
I expect to see a lot more of Sims! Both spelling Martin as RB and also lining up as a receiver. I think Sim’s touches go up significantly this year.
Shouldn’t be hard to sell Doug on the idea. Yes players want to play but Doug now has his contract and so any plan to stretch his career and reduce some of the wear and tear should be music to both Doug and his agent’s ears.
May 29th, 2016 at 12:49 pm
If Martin average 15 runs a game and can average 4.5 yards per carry he gets 1000+ yards and has under 250 touches. Not including check downs and played passes. So Martin stays healthy, and not get run into the ground.
May 29th, 2016 at 1:06 pm
the answer is almost always no. most RBs can’t do that year in year out. Even if he was just as fresh as he was at the start of 2015 (not many carries the previous 2 years), you’ve also got Sims emerging
May 29th, 2016 at 1:29 pm
All of our RBs (Martin, Sims, Vitale and yes, James) have talent. All seem to see the hole and adjust pretty well, and none have horrendous histories of fumbling. Play-calling and QB play will be critical to the success of our RBs, but neither of those is nearly as important as OLine play. Our RBs will only go as far as the OLine takes them. Hopefully it continues to improve even more this season.
May 29th, 2016 at 1:31 pm
The bet is on…
I bet anyone on this site…. only one of you.
I bet Doug Martin wins the rushing title in 2016.
If I win you buy me an Ali Marpet jersey. If you win I buy a jersey of your choice.
The odds are NOT in my favor I can assure you.
Any takers?
May 29th, 2016 at 3:47 pm
87… All the bettors in Vegas don’t have the odds in their favor either, that a tough bet to bite on. Somebody probably will for the fun of it. I already read the above article and comments.
May 29th, 2016 at 4:54 pm
I think Martin will be just as effective, but I could easily see him get fewer yards and carries. Maybe he’ll have a higher YPC. Wouldn’t be bad to get a third RB some carries like Mike James or Peyton Barber. I don’t see Sims handling a lot more carries. I think this will become more of a passing offense, and if defenses are back on their heels, it can only help the running game.