Doug Martin is not only second in the league in rushing yards he is also 3rd in rushing attempts. In a league, that seems to be dominated by passing, Doug Martin has a amassed 1,214 yards just shy of Adrian Peterson’s 1,251 yards. Thursday night Doug Martin should take the lead with the most rushing yards in the NFL. Then it will be a back and forth between AP and Martin until the season is over.
The Buccaneers seem satisfied with allowing Doug to carry under 20 times a game, regardless of how productive he is. It becomes a real head-scratcher. Martin is producing big runs of 20 and 24 yards or more, and then the Bucs seem to stop using him altogether. But, when you are playing catch up, as we have been doing a lot, they rely, on Jameis Winston’s arm to get us back in the game. That may be one of the reasons why Doug seems, to be faded out. Another reason could be that we have another great running back in Charles Sims, who has been a major part of the running game and is great at catching the football as well.
I would like to see Doug Martin get the ball 20+ times every game, just like every other Buc fan. Regardless, of how things went this season, Doug Martin has been running extremely well and deserves to be re-signed with a big contract.
“They used to say North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith was the only one who could hold Michael Jordan to under 20 points — by underutilizing him. It’s starting to feel a little like that with Doug Martin, who can only be held under 100 yards rushing in a game by the Bucs. You remember. The Bucs led the Colts 12-6 at halftime and Martin finished with 97 yards on 14 carries, including a 56-yard run. Tampa Bay was outscored 19-0 in the second half and Martin had only three more touches after his long gallop, making the Bucs the first team this season to freeze their own running back.” – Reported by Rick Stroud
More on this here: Not using Doug Martin enough proving costly for Bucs
