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Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Is Doug Martin elite again?

By Kevin Parvizi

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As a rookie, Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin was fourth in the NFL in rushing yards and second behind only 2,000-yard rusher Adrian Peterson in yards from scrimmage. The “Muscle Hamster” earned his nickname by bouncing off of defenders and carrying the Bucs offense with an average of 4.5 yards per carry. A first-round pick out of Boise State, Martin looked like an immediate superstar, and few backs looked as well-rounded as him.

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Unfortunately, a blend of horrendous blocking, poor coaching, and woefully ineffective quarterback play turned Martin into one of the NFL’s least efficient backs in the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Injuries also played a role in Martin’s slide, as he missed a combined 15 games in the previous two seasons, stumbling to an average of just 3.6 and 3.7 yards per carry in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

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Whether it was playing under the abysmally dysfunctional “team” that Greg Schiano “coached” in 2013 or playing for an offense bereft of a real offensive coordinator in 2014, Martin was clearly set up to fail. Frustratingly, Lovie Smith and the coaching staff seemed to value hand-picked Matt Forte comp Charles Sims and journeyman Bobby Rainey above Martin, so some were understandably worried that Martin would simply end up being a one-hit wonder a la Michael Clayton.

Thankfully, the Buccaneers coaching staff and offense as a whole were given a shot of legitimacy via the addition of Dirk Koetter, formerly of the Atlanta Falcons. Koetter smartly trumped up Martin as “his guy” this offseason, and I’m sure the confidence boost had something to do with the 2012 first-round pick looking more spry in training camp.

As we all know, preseason fantasy hype is meaningless, particularly when said player will have to continue to run behind a bad line. But even though the blocking has been, for the most part, poor, Martin’s performances have been anything but sub-standard through the first five weeks of his highly-anticipated bounce-back season.

With 405 rushing yards so far, Martin is tied for second in the NFL in that statistic, as only Chicago Bears star Matt Forte is above him. Red-hot second-year rusher Devonta Freeman, who has been piling up monster stats in these past three weeks, is the man tied with Martin, but what the Buccaneers back has done is undoubtedly more impressive in my eyes.

Firstly, he doesn’t benefit from having Matt Ryan at quarterback. Jameis Winston has produced some quality performances, but, as we saw against the Carolina Panthers, he’s also had some duds. But even in a four-pick performance against Josh Norman and Carolina, Winston still didn’t prevent Martin from topping 100 rushing yards with over 5.0 yards per carry to boot.

Secondly, Martin has notched his 405 rushing yards on three less carries, and he is one of only five running backs with at least 75 carries and 4.5 yards per carry (Justin Forsett, Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, and Carlos Hyde are the others).

Additionally, only four players have scored more touchdowns than Martin’s four this season, and he’s been quite clearly the Tampa Bay Buccaneers most impressive player on offense through five weeks. Even with the likes of Joe Hawley and Gosder Cherilus struggling in front of him, Martin is still killing it, and he’s starting to play his best football.

Oct 11, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin (22) runs for a first down during the second half of an NFL football game Jacksonville Jaguars at Raymond James Stadium. Tampa won 38-31. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Martin absolutely trampled the Jaguars yesterday in the Bucs narrow 38-31 victory, amassing 123 yards on 24 carries with two touchdowns in the process. A factor in the passing game, Martin had three catches for 35 yards and a TD, and, after catching five passes against Carolina, he’s starting to become a bigger factor in that facet of the game.

What makes Martin’s day all the more impressive is the fact that the Jaguars run defense is actually really good. Even including Martin’s 5.1 YPC performance on Sunday, the Jags have allowed the second-lowest yards per carry to opposing teams this season (3.5).

After his rookie seasons, Doug Martin was legitimately in the discussion as one of the NFL’s best running backs, because we all couldn’t wait to see what a player with seemingly no real holes in his game would do in his second season. This season, he’s playing as well as any back in the league, and he’s forcing a huge quantity of missed tackles, partially because he has to in order to keep his yards per carry at 4.5 or higher behind a below-average line. That said, Martin’s situation on offense is no longer unworkable, and that’s helped him get back on track.

Five weeks is a small sample size, but I have every reason to believe that Martin can continue to be a workhorse and the star of this offense. He’s running with authority, he’s making defenders miss, he’s getting more than the blocking in front of him, he’s scoring touchdowns, and he’s contributing positively to the Buccaneers passing attack.

The best reason to believe in Martin? No running back in the NFL has more runs of at least ten yards than Martin, who has 14 such plays, according to Sporting Charts. It’s further evidence that he’s overcoming the situation in front of him with his own talent, and I’m sold on the fact that he’s back to his best.

Next: Who did the Bucs take in our latest Mock Draft?

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