“Red Flags” For Doug Martin
June 2nd, 2014
There were more than a few eyebrows raised on the second night of this spring’s draft when the Bucs selected running back Charles Sims in the third round. If the Bucs ever had a loaded position on the roster, it was running back.
Most Bucs fans reacted in anger, horror, disbelief. Yet just minutes after selecting Sims, Bucs coach Lovie Smith told Buccaneers.com multimedia maven Scott Smith he was seeking a pass-catching running back, hence the selection of Sims.
Football savant Evan Silva or Rotoworld.com believes this spells doom for Bucs running back Doug Martin.
2 red flags on Martin: New OC Tedford underutilized RBs in pass game at Cal & TB drafted Charles Sims in Top-70 to be primary pass-game back.
— Evan Silva (@evansilva) June 2, 2014
There are two trains of thought here. One is to buy what Silva Twittered, and it seems logical. But Joe believes the end is not near for Martin and that Lovie wants to keep Martin on a pitch count of sorts. No position in the NFL has a shorter shelf life than running back because of the pounding backs take. It is actually smart to not run Martin into the ground.
The other option is simple: Sims gives the Bucs more diversity at running back. And if he is ever teamed with Martin in a two-back set, a defense certainly couldn’t key on the run, now could they?
June 2nd, 2014 at 9:38 am
Too much dam speculation. We need some football damit.
Bucs are back on the practice field tomorrow. –Joe
June 2nd, 2014 at 9:39 am
Lol so I guess lovie by saying Josh is our guy really means Mike glennon will start and saying Doug Martin is the bell vote really means he’ll be traded for the rookie lol lovie is so clever
June 2nd, 2014 at 10:16 am
“Joe believes the end is not near for Martin and that Lovie wants to keep Martin on a pitch count of sorts. No position in the NFL has a shorter shelf life than running back because of the pounding backs take. It is actually smart to not run Martin into the ground.”
I have to agree with this. I think Sims is a young guy who will further expand the passing game. We have not even seen what his running ability is in the NFL. I don’t see Martin being in trouble this year at all.
And a lot of RBs have slumps in their 2nd year. I fully expect Martin to blow up this year, assuming he gets a chance to behind a pass blocking line.
I do wish they would sign a couple good run blockers to the line.
June 2nd, 2014 at 10:17 am
Unless we can get a pro bowl DE or Guard, this is just nonsense. If they want to move a RB, then why not Rainey or James? Neither of these two have put up over a 1000 yards in a season. Why is it when we finally begin to build depth everyone wants to send someone packing. I mean is it a crime to have 3 or 4 potential pro bowlers at one position, especially when they don’t cost anything? I’m with gatrbuc17 on this.
June 2nd, 2014 at 10:18 am
Martin and Sims, what a double punch.
June 2nd, 2014 at 10:32 am
A Martin/Sims two-dimensional backfield puts enormous pressure on any defense.
A one back/one dimension backfield, not so much.
No need to burn Martin out. He’s already taken a hell of a beating the last two seasons.
June 2nd, 2014 at 10:55 am
As Joe mentioned before, Lovie does not want to wear down our main RB. So having a strong supporting cast helps. At the same time Sims is 6’0 which helps in the catching game. Both of these guys will be used differently.
June 2nd, 2014 at 10:55 am
So we have NO backfield when they had Spoiles. I’m ok with that, but Martin isn’t going anywhere
June 2nd, 2014 at 11:03 am
“If, I had a dollar for every theory, I’d be a”
June 2nd, 2014 at 11:07 am
Sims is going to have to learn how to block and pick up blitz’s before we see him on the field. Lets not forget that Martin can catch the ball and is very dangerous in open space. Sims will be a great compliment and hopefully our 3rd down back as well as a spot receiver!
June 2nd, 2014 at 11:17 am
Sims does not spell end game for Doug Martin. He’s another weapon and a change of pace for him. Sims does however spell doom for the backups.
June 2nd, 2014 at 11:18 am
Remember when Gruden passed on the “Rocket Backfield” by passing in Adrian Peterson when we already had Caddy in place ? Yea, how did that work out?
June 2nd, 2014 at 11:19 am
“Doug’s our starting tailback,” Smith said. “He’s on most of the billboards around here. He’s an All-Pro running back. There’s nothing to dislike about Doug Martin. At the same time, we want Doug around for many years. By that, you need to have some other guys. He can’t carry it every second of the way. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. We couldn’t be more pleased with him.” – Lovie Smith
June 2nd, 2014 at 11:23 am
This is the nonsense that was peddled for years by J.P. Peterson. So the Bucs were going to have two first-round draft picks in the same backfield at the same position putting themselves in cap hell spending how many millions on two part-time players? They would have been part-time because neither would have gotten the ball full-time.
Oh, sure you could have benched one of the two, and pay a guy tens of millions to sit on the pine when the team had holes all over the place.
Joe likes J.P. but this nonsense was simply trolling for calls.
Now if you want to argue that the Bucs passed on trading up with Detroit to take Calvin Johnson in that same draft, then you have an argument. The Lions wanted what turned out to be Gaines Adams and Sabby the Goat and Chucky passed. smh
June 2nd, 2014 at 11:23 am
My concern is will our RBs have holes to run through? Nothing frustrates me more than running the ball but getting no yards.
June 2nd, 2014 at 11:29 am
Possibly Joe..we’d still have AP most likely if he did draft him. It’s less of a risk this time around obviously due to the selection slot of Sims. It’s much more feasible to insert them simultaneously.
June 2nd, 2014 at 11:55 am
Doug martin leads all rb in dropped passes since he came into the league. And he didn’t play most of last season. And he still leads!!!! He has never been good at catching the ball, the previous coach just constantly lied to himself and thought he was.
June 2nd, 2014 at 11:57 am
Joe put that comment at the top
June 2nd, 2014 at 12:06 pm
I suspect during Lovie’s year off for the “self evaluation” period, he recalled what happened to CHI RB Matt Forte, who could run and catch the ball well, but was used too much and got hurt. Share the work load and keep these guys fresh.
June 2nd, 2014 at 12:24 pm
Martin isn’t going anywhere IMO. Not that it means much but he was one of the few players that showed off the new jerseys at RJS. Martin is a beast and seems like one of those players you would never need to worry about off the field. A pitch count for Martin can only be a good thing to keep him healthy and on this team for years to come.
June 2nd, 2014 at 12:49 pm
Lovie Smith is an Idiot.
I can’t wait to see him fall on his face and get run out of town.
Who Declares a Starting QB even before the season?
Who says that Doug Martin can’t catch? If you look at his stats he caught 64% of the balls which was thrown to him. And if you look who was throwing the bulk of the balls it was Freeman.
Doug Martin finished 5th in the league in rushing in 2012
Doug Martin finished 5ht in the league for receiving RB’s in 2012
Doug Martin Finished 2nd for Combined yards in 2012
Doug Martin Finished tied for 4th in Touchdowns in 2012 Rushing and Receiving.
Wasting a 3rd round pick at a position which is full of rookies who produce with another rookie is a wasted pick. They could have had Tre Mason or Drafted a WR with a 3rd pick instead of wasting it on a 6th round pick.
Same old bucs
June 2nd, 2014 at 1:15 pm
Personally I don’t think the Simms pick was a waste if Tedford uses him like a Giovanni Bernard type back and to spell Martin. Just as Glennon is going nowhere else anytime soon neither is Muscle Hamster. If the O-line can open up even a few small holes and pass protect for more than 3 seconds this offense has the talent to be top 10. Obviously the wildcards are how well the O-line performs, how healthy the team remains, and how quickly NFL D-coordinators figure out Tedford’s schemes (I know…Captain Obvious comments) 🙂
June 2nd, 2014 at 2:07 pm
I wasn’t sure about picking up a RB in the third but I have grown more comfortable by the pick everyday.
June 2nd, 2014 at 2:24 pm
With the makeshift offensive line that they currently have, Lovie may at some point this season need all of the RB’s that they have on the roster.
June 2nd, 2014 at 2:26 pm
Simms will be an important part of this offense. Most of the draft analyst suggest he was a bargain where he was drafted and the Bucs got a darn good player. Doug Martin has been overused under Schiano not to mention Martin has dropped alot of balls. While I agree that RB has depth, if Simms can be a difference maker then I am all for it.
June 2nd, 2014 at 2:27 pm
Once the tarp is off Tedford’s brain trust, we are going to see Martin return to his rookie season form.
Sims does provide us some new wrinkles, but he’s a different player than Martin.
June 2nd, 2014 at 2:50 pm
doug martin’s job security may have more to do with how guys like mike james perform. after seeing trent richardson go for a 1st round pick, lovie might not mind seeing 2 or 3 less heralded RBs proving they can handle the load. one or two high picks (or a starter-quality OL) for martin would help lovie continue to rebuild this team in his image
June 2nd, 2014 at 2:51 pm
that said, i love the douggernaut and hope the sims pick is more of a move to preserve the guy and keep the defense off balance
June 2nd, 2014 at 4:25 pm
Lol BS
June 2nd, 2014 at 5:15 pm
Ok so a coach did something in college so he’s obviously going to do exactly the same thing in the NFL.
Because we all know that works everytime.
If they didn’t want Doug Martin he would be gone by now.
See: Donald Penn, Davin Joseph, Mike Williams, Darelle Revis, Tom Crabtree etc….
June 2nd, 2014 at 5:57 pm
How many teams have a bell cow anymore? Bell cows are a dying breed.
There is plenty of room on an NFL roster these days to have 2-3 decent running backs. I think his job security is fine. I’d be totally fine with a BJGE Benard type combo running the ball. Me personally, I only want bell cows for my fantasy team. Since this aint fantasy, I don’t care how the ball is spread around.
June 2nd, 2014 at 8:00 pm
This is all about depth and not being hung out to dry if a back gets injured.
June 2nd, 2014 at 9:31 pm
Joe says JP was “trolling for calls”….funny…what’s that saying about “pot calling kettle…”
June 2nd, 2014 at 10:25 pm
lol
June 3rd, 2014 at 12:12 am
I am for letting all the RBs compete and keep the best and trade the rest for good picks. Sims is also insurance if our bell cow isn’t as good as he was because of his injury. Ask Joseph about that.