Grotesque Doug Martin Stat
December 22nd, 2016
Doug Martin is having a rough year. How rough you ask?
Well, Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times did some digging, and if Martin’s miserable average of 2.9 yards per carry continues, it will be one of the worst seasons in the past decade for a running back.
@gregauman: Only once in last 10 seasons has an NFL RB had as many carries as Doug Martin and averaged less than his 2.92 yards: Bernard Pierce in 2013.
Pierce played for the Crows from 2012-15, and when he finished with 2.9 yards per carry in 2013, he lasted just 20 more games in the NFL.
Of course, Joe assumes too many Bucs fans will scream the dozens (hundreds?) of running backs the past 10 years with better numbers than Pierce all ran behind a virtual Hogs offensive lines that had perfect blocks each and every snap opening five-yard holes to run through.
Martin, who has run behind dreadful lines, the 2014 Anthony Collins-led line, for example), is on pace for his worst season.
December 22nd, 2016 at 7:04 am
Cut the chord and draft a wr and rb early this year in draft. Martin got paid and has checked out. I think a lot of us balsam this coming unfortunately. I was not on the re sign martin bandwagon because he is so fragile. I know we are stuck with him for at least another season but I truly hope bucs realize I need more weapons on the offensive side of the ball if we want to be seen as true competitors for a Super Bowl run.
December 22nd, 2016 at 7:13 am
Joe, I was with you on this but I think it is as simple as teams selling out to stop the run and daring Jameis and Evans to beat them. No other real weapons to worry about on the Bucs O other then Evans and Martin. Teams have figured out the formula to beat the Bucs. I think it is that simple. Martin has NEVER had the best instincts as a RB, but the effort seems to be there to me. But we cannot pretend that Hawley and Smith are not struggling. Smith struggles with speed rushers and Hawley lacks the size and strength as a Center. That’s why ATL dumped him. Marpet and Pamphile are the future. Maybe Smith. But the rest are backups. Simple as that.
December 22nd, 2016 at 7:22 am
“Stats are for losers” – We have bigger problems than Doug Martin at RB. He will be fine…. move along, nothing to see here….
December 22nd, 2016 at 7:30 am
What is funny is most posters agree that Martin AND the O-line have been a disappointment – Joe believes only Martin has been a disappointment.
December 22nd, 2016 at 7:32 am
Checkout the grotesque articles at bucsnation and pewterplank about the offensive line. Pretty telling to me. But joes seem to think the oline is doing great. My eyes see the running back getting the ball with a defensive player having a hand on him immediately
December 22nd, 2016 at 8:03 am
It’s not linebackers shooting the gaps, it’s defensive linemen either pushing them back or beating them with speed to get in the backfield. Where is the stat that says how many times the RB is hit in the backfield and just gets back to the line of scrimmage. No, Dougie hasn’t broke out any long runs, but he runs hard to get the yards he can get.
December 22nd, 2016 at 8:21 am
Check out Gurley’s ypc. Not much better. But let’s keep killin’ our guys. It’s good for morale. I guess this Joe doesn’t buy into the ‘Culture Change”. You ‘da man.
December 22nd, 2016 at 8:29 am
I think it’s a combination of the awful run blocking, Doug being dinged up and predictable running situations (how many first down runs for 2 yards is Dirk gonna call???) Joe likes to blame Martin but I put more on the line and Dirk not playing to his teams strength which obviously isn’t run blocking
December 22nd, 2016 at 8:37 am
Martin is done… Unreliable bum. He’s had way more bad games than good coupled with two decent years surrounded by three horrendous years… Fan boys have no leg to stand on defending the dancing Gerbil
December 22nd, 2016 at 8:49 am
The template is set on how to beat the Bucs: double/triple Evans, shadow Brate and stack the LOS to stop the run.
Unless Winston can do a better job of getting completions downfield, we’ll see more shutting down the running game.
The lack of weapons and depth at WR & TE is putting the brakes on this offense.
December 22nd, 2016 at 9:19 am
I just watched the game again last night, Martin had plenty of opportunities to get to the second level. Especially in the first quarter. The first series, he was able to get 3-4 yards at a time untouched. Last year’s Doug, when he was working for a contract, would have broken a few tackles and gotten extra yards. This year, he dropped as soon as he was touched. That fat wallet must be awfully heavy. It’s hard to stay upright.
December 22nd, 2016 at 9:37 am
Was never a huge fan of resigning the dougillac. Idc what anybody says the run blocking hasnt been good but theres been some holes hes just not seeing them or hes lost a step. Imma go with both the run blocking has been pedestrian at best but dougillac has been a straight up bum stop making excuses. He sucks and is overrated. Id rather trade him for a 3rd rounder if someone is willing to take his contract.
December 22nd, 2016 at 9:39 am
Football Outsiders ranks the bucs OL as 31st in the league with runs stuffed behind the line of scrimmage at 24%.
http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol
How can you blame a running back for his yards per carry when he is getting tackled before he can even get to the line of scrimmage every 4 times?!?!?!
December 22nd, 2016 at 9:40 am
Patrick in Va., if Martin is struggling in part because he’s lost a step or because he’s injured or because he’s not being patient to find a hole, I could buy that. But you are really full of crap if you really believe the dude isnt giving full effort.
December 22nd, 2016 at 9:47 am
Leighroy. I’m with you. If you’ve read my comments the last several weeks, you know I have been preaching the same thing.
But I say, for whatever reason, if Doug doesn’t get hot early this Saturday, then I say go with Rodgers. I’m not expecting him to do any better mind you, but I want the primary issues of our running game struggles to be exposed once and for all.
December 22nd, 2016 at 9:47 am
They need to put Rodgers back in. He literally got the Bucs jump started after the major fail with SIMS as feature back. Why they haven’t gone back to him, I don’t know.
December 22nd, 2016 at 10:04 am
@ Patrick- I re-watched the game as well and 100% disagree. There were FAR more times where a defender was 3 yards in the backfield than not. Re-watch the “head-butt” play. That play says it all.
Now, I don’t disagree that he may have broken more tackles last year. Whether it’s the injury or O-line, I don’t know. What I will say is this; I think if there were a better back on the roster, Coach K would be using them. Sims? We saw what he brings. Rodgers? He’s too light in the a$$! Barber? He’s too green and a liability in protection.
I hope that he can get out of this funk. We could sure use a run-game.
December 22nd, 2016 at 10:05 am
I’m no fan of Martin and disagree w the resigning but I’ll give credit when it’s due and Martin give alot of effort out there. I’m seeing a o line that just misses assignments like that Sims screen pass that could of been huge in the 4th quarter. There are times when our oline take dives at defenders legs and missed. It’s problem ……. run/pass block. Winston gets too many sacks also.
December 22nd, 2016 at 10:11 am
@tampatony….I agree…I think its a combination of all 3 but I put most of the blame on the oline…..so many times have I seen doug, quiz, barber have to make a man miss in the back field….even on the head butt play, a defender was in the back field as soon as doug got the ball….I think doug still isn’t 100% but he’s giving 100% effort….dirk has to help his players out with the play calling….mixing it up on first down will help along with changing the pace from huddle up to up tempo…..DIRK NEEDS TO USE SIMS LIKE TY MONTOGMERY FROM GREEN BAY!!!!!…..GO BUCS!!!!
December 22nd, 2016 at 10:19 am
Koetter should adjust to defenses playing the run by spreading it out and running slants to Evans and Sheppard. Get Sims on linebackers and throw short passes. A 5 yard gain on first down one a crosser is better than a 5 yard loss on a Martin stuff.
December 22nd, 2016 at 10:19 am
I think they need to franchise tag him.
Oh wait.
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:16 am
The whole Doug Martin thing is tough to choose sides.
I wanted him to be franchise tagged originally, and still think it would have been a better idea. Given the year he has had, we could have resigned him after the season for a lot less. He is injury-prone. 3 of 5 years have been plagued with injuries. That makes him a 40-60 player. I pointed out last year that he was a 50-50 player…2 good years, 2 bad ones. He didn’t deserve the contract he got. I knew he would get injured again.
I like Doug, and want him on the team, but we’ve seen other RBs come in and do well enough too.
That said…Doug had an injury that took a while to recover from. It’s only natural that he have problems finding his feet afterward. Add to that the offensive line issues and the fact that teams have been stacking the box to stop him…well there you go.
As the passing game and offensive line improves, he’ll start producing again, if he stays healthy.
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:34 am
Well put Bonzai!
It’s hard to be overly critical of Martin when he is clearly an effort guy. If we can shore up the line and bring in additional weapons it would be a boon for everybody on offense.
As opposed to drafting a RB with other needs being so glaring, I’m in favor of his retention with an eye on developing Peyton Barber as the feature back. Any thoughts?
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:52 am
Bucsfanman and Bonzi
all that is just lovely but when you get to the bottom line answer me this question Is Martin a reliable running back week in and week out. It takes reliable consistent performers to win consistently and stay out of the basement.
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:56 am
“What is funny is most posters agree that Martin AND the O-line have been a disappointment – Joe believes only Martin has been a disappointment.”
Exactly. The only negative thing Joe has written about the O-line that I can find is in specific regard to Cherilus. It’s been a weak point of the team just as much as Martin or our #2 WR; but there are no articles about it while there are countless takes on how we need a #2 WR and how Doug Martin sucks. Just weird to me.
Every other Bucs site I visit has said the O-line has not played well this year; and there are various articles & statistical breakdowns to show this.
No one is saying the O-line is 100% to blame for everything; but at the same time they’re not producing.
Joe has said before “I don’t hate Martin. I hate a lack of production” – well according to almost all stats the O-line is experiencing a drastic lack of production – yet they get very little criticism here outside of the RT.
There’s a 25% chance each run that our RB is going to get hit before he gets to the LOS. That’s freaking terrible.
We have 24 negative running plays; compared to 17 for the next worst team (LA); with a league average being 8 or 9.
A negative running play might as well be a sack. And we’re doing 3X as bad as the average NFL team in that category. Some of that is predictable play calling – but if your O-line is just decent it still shouldn’t be happening at such a rate even if everyone knew you were running the ball.
December 22nd, 2016 at 11:59 am
I think in general this boils down to Joe not really wanting to break down O-line film lol.
It’s just easier to say we need a #2 WR or a beter RB. THose are flashier options and he likes flashy. Think of Johny Manziel obsession.
December 22nd, 2016 at 12:01 pm
@bucsfanman….I would like to see us develop barber….he has the size…just needs to work on pass pro, his hands and the playbook…..ran hard at Auburn….GO BUCS!!!!
December 22nd, 2016 at 12:27 pm
Funny how Joe always talks about how stats can be manipulated and don’t really tell the whole story. But when it comes to Doug Martin, all that matters are stats.
Hey Joe, why don’t you actually watch some game film? Or even better, here’s some stats for you that matter:
Bucs are tied at 30th out of 32 team for runs stuffed at or behind the LOS on any down.
Bucs are 31st of 32 teams in Power runs (runs of less than 2 yards on 3rd down, 4th down, and goal line situations)
I mean you guys do run a football blog, would it kill you to actually watch some football?
December 22nd, 2016 at 12:29 pm
@tmax- The short answer is maybe. BUT, would he be as oft-injured if he wasn’t trying to one-cut 4 yards BEFORE the line of scrimmage? It’s a question worth asking IMO. I refuse to believe that last year was an aberration. He didn’t just forget how to play. AND he was consistent to boot!
December 22nd, 2016 at 12:51 pm
Lord Cornelius, to be fair, the Joes did call out Hawley as well. Hawley is a warrior, I like him, but he is too undersized to play center in today’s NFL.
December 22nd, 2016 at 1:14 pm
“Lord Cornelius, to be fair, the Joes did call out Hawley as well. Hawley is a warrior, I like him, but he is too undersized to play center in today’s NFL”
I must have missed that but that’s good and I agree. Need a bigger presence there
December 22nd, 2016 at 4:25 pm
The definition of beating your head against a brick wall.
December 22nd, 2016 at 5:36 pm
If he was running behind the Cowgirls line he’d have 1,700 yards from scrimmage. Our line gives him nowhere to go much like in 2014.