Now, The Bad Bobby Rainey
July 11th, 2015
Bobby Rainey was an easy tackle for defenders, claim the spreadsheeters. (Photo courtesy of Buccaneers.com)
Yesterday, Joe brought word (and disgust) about why Bobby Rainey was shelved last season amid a plethora of head-scratching, vodka-chugging decisions that resulted in one of the worst seasons in Bucs football history.
But as much as Rainey should have had more snaps, Joe’s not about to pretend Rainey was another Walter Payton.
In fact, if you believe the stat geeks, few running backs went down easier than Rainey.
Matt Claassen of Pro Football Focus ran his spreadsheets and found Rainey was one of the worst running backs in the NFL after contact. Again, per Claassen, of the 94 runs Rainey had last season, in only 17 of them did he gain three or more yards after initial contact.
In Claassen’s research, that was the third-worst percentage of running backs in 2014. Not good.
Of course, cynics and sophists would argue even Jim Brown would have trouble running behind that sieve the Bucs trotted out masquerading as an offensive line.
July 11th, 2015 at 8:40 am
Love Rainey, but sometimes lack of competition at a position makes players look better than they really are. I still think he can be valuable to our team.
July 11th, 2015 at 8:58 am
And Martin has the same exact problem of going down after initial contact.
July 11th, 2015 at 9:02 am
No one is looking for B. Rainey to be a starter. Only a contributor. All good teams have depth, and that is what Rainey is. Everyone knows our RB’s and our OL. Until we have a good OL, our RBs will look like crap. Hopefully Rainey this year is a bit better. Hopefully he doesn’t come down as easy and doesn’t fumble as much. I would like to see him do good. I would like to see this whole team look good. God are you listening?
July 11th, 2015 at 9:21 am
Superb OLines can make even a mediocre RB look good by opening holes that even Grandma Moses could run through.
Bad OLines can make outstanding RBs look really bad by not opening any holes at all.
The 2014 Bucs OLine was really bad, which was made even worse by really poor coaching and QB play. At this point, I don’t think anyone really knows how good or bad our present flock of RBs is.
My guess is that they’re ‘average’ in comparison to all other NFL teams. If our OLine mans up, one or more of our RBs will have a decent season. Figuring out which one that will be is Dirk Koetter’s job.
July 11th, 2015 at 9:32 am
I genuinely like our stable of RBs. Would the Buccaneers even consider drafting a RB in next years draft? I know we have other needs like DE and OL but an excellent RB would open up our strong passing game. Ezekiel Elliott from Ohio State would certainly fit the bill….but he will probably go in the first round.
July 11th, 2015 at 10:19 am
I too like our backs, all of them. I don’t have school girl crushes on any player unlike the ones Joe develops.
In reality I can’t see or believe any coach would start another player over another if said player was head and shoulders beer than the other. It just doesn’t make sence. Besides, the end result can lead to the coach bring fired.
All of our backs are pretty much from the same mold.
the only difference would be FA Dominique Brown who seems to be built along the Beast mode.
I would love for Brown to develop into that type of player but according to his scouting reports he will have to change his mind set for that to happen.
The Bills trading him was like us letting go if Michael Bennett. He carried the Hawks to two Super Bowls.
July 11th, 2015 at 12:24 pm
The Bucs RB’s in 2014 had a lot of injuries that limited their performance.
The truth is that on occasion the OL blocked just good enough to open a hole that on rare occasion one of our RB’s was able to run through for more than 5yds.
If we’re being honest, Rainey was healthier than both Martin and Sims and took advantage of an OL that was just rounding (ha-ha) into mid-season form. ATC, he made the most of the situation and showed flashes of understanding how to pick holes in a ZBS.
That said, Rainey hurt the team with untimely fumbles, after big gains, and was benched. That led to the premature debut of Sims who hadn’t fully recovered from ankle surgery. We really haven’t seen a fully healthy Sims but if his college reel is any indication of his…uh…skill set then lets hope that our QB, WR’s and TE’s have a banner year.
Other than Martin’s rookie year, the Bucs have a lot of mediocre RB’s who, other than the anomaly of the 2013 OL blowing big holes through defenses, can’t get much yardage after contact.
July 11th, 2015 at 5:10 pm
Unfortunately, Bobby Rainey has Bobby Gaiters disease. If you don’t Know what that is, google Bobby Gaiters, and see if you agree with me.
July 11th, 2015 at 10:03 pm
Ok, can we please just stop talking about rainey now? He has his talents but hes not an every down back people think he could be. COP back is all he is.
July 11th, 2015 at 11:17 pm
Dougertron didn’t have an ok or even a good season, he had a GREAT rookie season. Once things clicked for him he showed what he could do with a decent line. Last two seasons he has been injured and you could tell it in his running he ran tentatively not trusting his body plus it’s no wonder with that line last year why his numbers sucked but I know I saw near the end of the season he was running better and if he is fully healed this season is going to be much better. Bobby Rainey is an excellent change of pace back and going only by reports Domonique Brown is a good short yardage back. Was never impressed with Simms or that new Samoan kid who looks like he has no balance. Unfortunately we kept Warhop so our run game might not be too good no matter who we put back there. Lovie should have never canned the o line and rb coaches from Shiano who got a lot out of so little in 2013