Inexcusable Use
July 18th, 2018
You won’t believe this.
This nearly had Joe slamming his George Patton coffee mug on his tile floor.
Previously, Joe learned from Scott Kacsmar of FootballOutsiders.com that former (thankfully) Bucs running back Muscle Hamster (Doug Martin) had the worst back-to-back seasons of yards-per-carry since 1940 (that’s not a typo).
The past two years gave Joe irritable bowel syndrome to see how much Dirk Koetter called Martin’s number on running plays. It was clear to Joe that Martin wasn’t getting the job done, so Joe couldn’t figure out why Koetter himself didn’t see this.
Koetter’s Gayle Sayers excuse — clever! — only held so much water.
But then Joe read the following piece by stat nerd and folically-challenged Bill Barnwell of BSPN. He’s a rather thin-skin type, this Barnwell, who blocked Joe on Twitter for some unknown reason. Guess Billy blocks everyone who isn’t a devout slurper of statistical graffiti.
It seems Barnwell is very impressed with the Bucs’ offensive weapons except running back. In so many words, you could say that Barnwell doesn’t see Sayers on the roster, either.
And this is where Martin and his horrible rushing comes into play, which revolted Joe.
All the receiving pieces an NFL coach would want are here, but the Bucs will have to prove that their taste in running backs has improved after giving Doug Martin an extension, only to see him become the first NFL player since 1934 to carry the ball 100 times and average fewer than 3.0 yards per rush in consecutive seasons. Like Washington, the Bucs will depend on a second-round pick — USC back Ronald Jones — to move up the ranks here.
Can you imagine, 1934!!! This is just outrageous!
Shoot, Ira Kaufman was still in college then, banging out a term paper on his Remington Rand typewriter highlighting the Gashouse Gang.
Worst NFL running back in 83 years for crying out loud!
Now this is where things get interesting. Joe is confident the Bucs running attack will be better this year just by the simple fact Martin is back in California with Chucky.
The irony is, the guy Koetter publicly rebuked as not being Sayers is likely going to be his go-to guy this fall.
Ah, the circle of life in the NFL.
July 18th, 2018 at 9:04 am
Wonder how much our offensive line had to do with this ?
July 18th, 2018 at 9:08 am
The Bucs offensive line wasn’t close to the worst in the NFL much less worst in 83 years! C’mon. 🙂
July 18th, 2018 at 9:10 am
@Joe … “Can you imagine, 1934!!! Shoot, Ira Kaufman was still in college then.”
Ira, you’re not gonna take THAT sitting down, are you? That’d make you what, a little over 100? Don’t let Joe get away with that obvious slight Ira … Go for the throat. Payback is soooo sweet when the target deserves it. (Hey, Joe started it).
July 18th, 2018 at 9:13 am
HAHAHAHA!
July 18th, 2018 at 9:26 am
Martin played for Boise State, and Koetter coached the Boise State Bronco’s.
Anyone else think that may have had something to do with it ?
I was in total shock when we re signed Martin.
IMHO, that was pretty stupid.
July 18th, 2018 at 9:26 am
Destinjohnny has a point, though, Joe.
We wouldn’t have to have the worst OL in nearly a century for Koetter to lack faith in their effectiveness at a critical skill like pass protection. Couldn’t it be true that Koetter kept Martin on the field primarily as an extra piece of the protection scheme? Not only would that provide an extra man, it would be an extra man in space that he could move around to cover a known weak spot on the line or help protect against a clear mismatch on the defense.
It’s not the choice most of us would’ve made, but I can almost see Koetter making that choice, and I like and support the man.
July 18th, 2018 at 9:35 am
Sure, but constantly handing the ball off to him?
Look, Joe gets (to a point) the blocking argument — did anyone ever read that Eric Dickerson shouldn’t be on the field because he couldn’t block? Koetter has a hangup when it comes to running backs blocking first and running the ball second. It is sort of the same argument Mark Dominik had for throwing cash at Michael Clayton even though he couldn’t catch — imagine that, an NFL wide receiver being kept despite not excelling at his main responsibility.
The offensive line wasn’t a jailbreak. Joe understands folks will always blame the offensive line for everything short of five pancake blocks on each and ever play. Maybe it is just Joe, but Joe watches the NFL not just the Bucs and there were truly some wretched offensive lines. Bucs weren’t even close to that bad.
Martin had absolutely zero vision the last couple of years.
Have folks that quickly forgotten the vaunted Bucs offensive line featuring Anthony Collins, Garrett “Whoops” Gilkey and Josh Allen? Now that was truly horrible!
July 18th, 2018 at 9:42 am
I think most honest and loyal bucs fans were in disbelief when Martin got that extension
….. Good for him…….. He got paid
…. But he didn’t fool anybody that saw right through the BS
July 18th, 2018 at 9:48 am
Wonder what everybody will be saying when Martin finds himself again with the Raiders. Gruden will put his foot in his ass and make sure he’s back on track. Then everybody would be mad about another buccaneer player succeeding anywhere else.
July 18th, 2018 at 9:53 am
Joe,
You were right about Martin before a lot of us realized he was done.
Savor it……
It almost makes up for Manziel Madness!
July 18th, 2018 at 9:59 am
Is anyone really surprised? This is the same organization that drafted Bo Jackson in 1986 after he told them DO NOT DRAFT ME! Oh the players have changed but the stench is still the same.
July 18th, 2018 at 10:05 am
Joe failed to fire any bullets at the person responsible for giving said awful player an extension.
July 18th, 2018 at 10:06 am
Love the continued needling of Ira and his 63 years covering the NFL Hahaha!!
July 18th, 2018 at 10:12 am
Inexcusable sums it up but it also feels inadequate in describing how incomprehensibly stupid it was to keep playing martin.
Adding to the list of many, many head scratching decisions in Tampa throughout Buccaneer history
July 18th, 2018 at 10:13 am
Joe takes no pride in that. At all. Never want to see a Bucs player fail.
Besides, Doug Martin was always good to Joe. Seriously. But Joe has to be honest and write what he sees.
July 18th, 2018 at 10:15 am
🙂
July 18th, 2018 at 10:17 am
@TheBucsAnthem … “But he didn’t fool anybody that saw right through the BS.” He apparently fooled Licht & Koetter. They paid him & used him. Personally Anthem I think there were at least 3 factors in play as to why Martin fizzled in these last several years: (1) he didn’t trust the Bucs’ OLine, and at times for good reason; (2) play-calling left something to be desired (OK, I’m trying to be kind); and (3) Doug was trying too hard to make things happen, and IMO that’s when RBs fizzle (instead of letting the game come to him, he continually tried to force it & ended up ‘playing scared’ instead of ‘playing loose’).
July 18th, 2018 at 10:37 am
We have a horrible coaching staff. None of these bone headed choices will go away. I’m not sure how anyone thinks this season will yield more than 5 or 6 wins.
July 18th, 2018 at 10:47 am
Yet, there are plenty of people *still* that would try to make the case the Bucs had the worst offensive line in 83 years.
Good riddance to the Muscle Shamster.
July 18th, 2018 at 11:12 am
It will be better, but not for the reasons most people think. The right side of the O-line is in shambles, easily the weakest link of the team. Even if Dot plays, he is going to be average at best. Both Benenoch and Dot are much better run blockers than pass blockers. They will need to rely on the run game and play-action to keep the opposing D-lines honest so which ever QB is playing doesn’t get killed. As long as they can find a running back that can fall forward, they will be better.
July 18th, 2018 at 11:26 am
Never should have played a down in 2018. This was something I agreed 100% with Relaist on last offseason in that we should have cut him and moved on and found some new backs. There was a decent debate here with a lot of Drug Martin defenders but I never understood the decision. Guy at his peak was still not even elite imo.
We kind of saw what just an average run game did for the team with Barber towards the end of the season and we should have gone 4-1 or 3-2 at worst over those last 5 games if the defense held up their end of the bargain (Packers / Panthers choke jobs). Not counting the Lions against the Defense even though they gave up a game winning FG at the end. Our offense at least had the ball with a tie game and 4 mins left but didn’t get the go-ahead score.
July 18th, 2018 at 11:35 am
Joe – You were absolutely right about Doug Martin.
But you are absolutely WRONG about the terrible OLine play not having a part in this – um – “historic” stat. Both of our starting Guards were among the worst in the league and the run blocking suffered terribly as a result.
The very fact that both starting Guards from last year are already gone prior to training camp the very next year should clue you in to the fact that OLine play and run blocking in particular was a MAJOR problem for the Buccaneers last year. Year before as well…
Fingers crossed that Jensen is a difference maker and that either Benenoch or rookie Cappa can come on strong over the next 2 months and fill that gaping hole at RG.
July 18th, 2018 at 11:55 am
This has as much to do with coaching as anything. Trying to build a power blocking scheme while investing so deeply in a back that is a zone blocking runner shows a disconnect.
Pick is correct too, the guard play was horrific.
Going to Martin so devotedly cost the Bucs a minimum of 2 wins. (Lions and Panthers) Koetter using him in the key drive versus Carolina on the road was an absolute travesty.
July 18th, 2018 at 12:02 pm
I tried to look up just who that back was who rushed for less than 3 yards per carry back in 1934 to no avail. Joe can you please get with Ira I am sure he remembers.
July 18th, 2018 at 12:09 pm
Joe, I know you’d probably found this before I shared it with you in a comment on another article, but I feel proud you posted this after I shared it with you! Here’s to moving on with life after Hamster.
July 18th, 2018 at 1:05 pm
maybe he blocked you on twitter for constantly making fun of his bald head?
Just a thought.
July 18th, 2018 at 1:19 pm
Lol, still people making excuses for that lil scumbag
Thats funny
Last time Im gonna post this.
I posted it dozens of times while Martin is here
Doug Martin only played hard- when he had money on the line.
First year, contract year, contract year.
Other than that, he layed down.
It was that simple. He didnt care about team, career. Whatever.
Get paid, then dont get hurt.
Its like todays NBA. 3 kinds of players on a roster.
1) young Guys, trying to get a big contract
2) guys in their contract year, trying to get a big contract.
3) guys who have signed a big contract, and are just coasting. Making sure they dont get hurt. Dead money on the roster- that teams are constantly trying to trade away
There are exceptions. Mainly guys that are good enough to rack up sponsorship money.
There are guys that but in a journey man effort every night. Seems like less and less all the time
The NFL already has lots of Doug Martin types., How many FAs have come here, and went in to coast mode.
Now the NFL is campaigning for guaranteed contracts.
That should be fun.
July 18th, 2018 at 2:01 pm
It’s pretty funny that Joe complains about being blocked for an unknown reason. That’s happened to me, here, on more than one occasion. I never used profanities or lobbed insults. I just questioned something, or had a different opinion. Well, I wasn’t actually blocked, my comments were deleted. Same difference though.
July 18th, 2018 at 2:30 pm
I won’t sit here and make excuses for Doug Martin. What I also won’t do is bury my head in the sand and exonerate a horrid offensive line. When a defensive lineman is in the backfield and around the ankles of whatever running back you choose, it is NOT the running back’s fault.
Martin is gone and makes an easy target. We have to be fair and say that the combination of RB, OL, and play-calling attributed to the ineffectiveness of our run-game.
I wish Martin well, but he’s not a Buc anymore. We supposedly have an “upgraded” OL, so we’ll see. We better be able to run the football or it will be a long season.
July 18th, 2018 at 10:17 pm
“Horrid offensive line”
Can people really be that clueless?
Offensive line wasn’t horrid when it was his first year, or his two contract years!
Explain that
July 19th, 2018 at 2:36 am
I recall DK commenting about DM one year about his production. I believe he said something along the lines of it’s a contract year. LOL
July 19th, 2018 at 7:03 am
The funny thing is that Gruden thinks he has miles left on his tires, Gruden never even saw these kinds of stats apparently. lol, good let Grudenhave him. When your suspended several times and you come back to under perform, take a hike! Don’t need you, don’t care who you are.
July 19th, 2018 at 7:13 am
C’mon Capt Tim! Not only did the o-line not run-block well, Jameis was under siege all season. You simply cannot overlook that. It would not have mattered who the RB was. When Barber enjoyed his success is was at the end of the season with a bunch of 2nd teamers blocking, incidentally run-blocking well.
Again, not making excuses, he needed to be replaced. I’m just trying to keep it fair.
July 19th, 2018 at 10:43 am
I didn’t see many holes for Martin to run through. He seemed heavier, sort of like a slow meatball without the sauce.
July 19th, 2018 at 10:56 am
1. You weren’t looking.
2. How do you explain Peyton Barber finding holes? You know, Mr. He’s Not Gayle Sayer? Are you saying the Bucs offensive line was laying down for Doug Martin?
Can we please stop with the lame excuse the Bucs offensive line was the worst in the NFL and is the root cause of hepatitis outbreaks? Please?