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Doug Martin looking good


michaelredd9
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The Bucs offense looks like it's going to be very productive.  Dougie doesn't have much competition at running back.  His MFL public league adp is 84 in part because he is suspended for the first 3 games.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000815801/article/bucs-gm-licht-doug-martin-looks-like-2015-doug-martin?campaign=Twitter_atn

Perhaps no veteran player has done more to improve his standing during offseason workouts than Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin.

A clear cut candidate after struggling last year and being suspended at the end of the season for violating the NFL's drug policy, Martin has earned nothing but praise this offseason after he spent time in rehab.

NFL Network's Mike Garafolo spoke to Bucs general manager Jason Licht as the team closed minicamp on Thursday. The assessment of Martin's on-field improvement was glowing.

"I had a conversation with [Licht]. He said, '[Martin] looks lean, he looks like he's finishing his runs -- obviously, there is no contact in the spring -- but it looks like he's finishing his runs. He looks like he's got that burst. He looks like he's got that burst. He looks like the Doug Martin of 2015,'" Garafolo said Thursday on NFL Network's Inside Minicamp Live.

The report from Licht meshes with everything we heard from beat reporters during minicamp about Martin looking quicker and fresher than last season.

If the Bucs do indeed get 2015 Martin -- who rushed for 1,402 yards -- the offense surrounding Jameis Winston will be among the most dynamic and diverse in the NFL. Tampa owns the receivers in Mike Evans, DeSean Jackson and rookie Chris Godwin to overwhelm defensive backfields. The tight end duo of Cameron Brate and O.J. Howard should eat over the middle and in the red zone. If Martin is back in form, it will keep the Bucs in good down and distance, making Winston's pass attack more potent.

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He has been rising in the ADP this summer. He was going at the start of the seventh round, then started going in the sixth. I imagine he'll end up in the fifth or even fourth by August if the reports remain so positive on him. Missing the first three games hurts a lot while it is happening - especially those initial weeks when you are trying to get out to a fast start. If he can repeat 2015, it would make the Bucs very dangerous on offense this year.

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2 hours ago, DMD said:

Missing the first three games hurts a lot while it is happening - especially those initial weeks when you are trying to get out to a fast start. 

 

With the depth of players available in fantasy drafts that I'm comfortable starting ever increasing, I think this is less true than it was 10 or 20 years ago.  Wide receiver and tight end are way deeper nowadays with teams passing so much and there are even a few more fantasy starter quality running backs available since fewer workhorse running backs means more NFL teams have rbbcs with 2 running backs putting up fantasy starter quality numbers.  So players drafted in rounds 10-12 are now fantasy quality starters whereas 10 or 20 years ago this wasn't true.  With the replacement player inserted for the suspended player being much higher quality means that this strategy hurts far less than in previous years.  For example, if I draft Doug Martin as my 3rd running back, having him on the bench for the first three weeks means I have to start my 4th receiver instead.  Randall Cobb, Corey Coleman, Cameron Meredith, and Breshad Perriman all have an adp between the 37th and 48th highest for a receiver putting them as 4th receivers on fantasy teams.  Having quality players on the bench is a nice luxury that makes drafting suspended players a much less risky proposition.

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Martin's 2017 $7 million salary was guaranteed until his suspension when it became non-guaranteed.  It'll also be 3/17th's lower than $7 million which makes his non-guaranteed 2017 salary to be $5.7 million.  That's a lot of money for a running back who was ineffective in 2016 and has baggage.  But the Bucs really don't have any other good options at running back.  A renegotiation is probably coming.

Dirk Koetter won’t necessarily be saving a seat for Doug Martin

Posted by Mike Florio on June 22, 2017, 10:00 AM EDT

 

At a time when Buccaneers running back Doug Martin has received plenty of praise for his work during the offseason, his coach has opted for pragmatism regarding the things that will, or won’t, happen when Martin returns from the final three games of his PED suspension.

Asked during an appearance on the Ira Kaufman Podcast, via JoeBucsFan.com, how Martin’s return will be handled if the Buccaneers are moving the ball well at that time.

“Well, you answered your own question,” Koetter said. “That is all hypothetical, all right? Everything — how do I know if everything is going to go that way? Hopefully, at the end of the three games Doug is still in good health. But we have no idea what is going to happen to our other tailbacks by then. So, I don’t spend too much time worrying about that kind of stuff. . . .

“How can you have too many good players? I sort of look at it as we will cross that bridge when we get to it, because, why worry about it until you have to? We have a lot of other stuff that we need to be concerned with. You know, if everything was 100 percent perfect — I don’t have experience with a guy taking three weeks off and then coming back. So, you will have practices in there and we would have to see how we are doing as an offense, how we are doing with our running game. We will just have to see.”

That’s hardly an unequivocal endorsement, and it’s hard not to wonder whether the Buccaneers, who owe Martin no guaranteed money due both to the suspension and the fact that (despite being a vested veteran) he won’t be on the Week One active roster, will consider dumping Martin if the other tailbacks on the roster are getting it done. It’s likewise impossible to rule out a trade, given that other teams may have needs at the position by the end of September, due to the inevitability of the injury bug.

Regardless, there’s a good chance that the running game will be thriving without Martin, given the extra attention defenses will be devoting to stopping one of the best collections of pass catchers in the game. Rarely if ever will the Bucs be facing eight men in the box, while will make it easier to establish the run with players who are younger and cheaper than Martin.

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  • 2 weeks later...
3 hours ago, tazinib1 said:

Fools gold. 

 

Agreed.  I'd be surprised if they didn't cut him, and then maybe resign him with as much money as he's going to be due this year.  He got a huge contract, played like crap, and then let them know he didn't care by getting suspended for drugs.  They also picked up another RB this year in the draft.  Not huge on Martin this year.

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  • 2 months later...

Anyone heard any updates on his status?  If I'm not mistaken, he has 2 more weeks left on his 4-game suspension due to the Bucs being forced to take their bye during NFL Week 1...however I'm not seeing any current chatter on him at all, though...I've been holding him in one league, but sure could use his roster spot elsewhere, although I don't want to just throw him away...I did read somewhere awhile ago, that he's not guaranteed to get the starting job once he returns...not sure whether to interpret that as "motivational coach-speak" or not...thoughts?

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11 minutes ago, the outlaw said:

Anyone heard any updates on his status?  If I'm not mistaken, he has 2 more weeks left on his 4-game suspension due to the Bucs being forced to take their bye during NFL Week 1...however I'm not seeing any current chatter on him at all, though...I've been holding him in one league, but sure could use his roster spot elsewhere, although I don't want to just throw him away...I did read somewhere awhile ago, that he's not guaranteed to get the starting job once he returns...not sure whether to interpret that as "motivational coach-speak" or not...thoughts?

With the way Quizz has been playing, it should be his pretty easily.

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2 hours ago, the outlaw said:

Anyone heard any updates on his status?  If I'm not mistaken, he has 2 more weeks left on his 4-game suspension due to the Bucs being forced to take their bye during NFL Week 1...however I'm not seeing any current chatter on him at all, though...I've been holding him in one league, but sure could use his roster spot elsewhere, although I don't want to just throw him away...I did read somewhere awhile ago, that he's not guaranteed to get the starting job once he returns...not sure whether to interpret that as "motivational coach-speak" or not...thoughts?

Wrong. He comes back in Week 5. His suspension was only 3 games. I'll be starting him immediately out of need (looks like Ty Montgomery may be out for a while), but I don't think Quizz has done anything to deserve anything more than change of pace duties after Martin returns.

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Martin was suspended for four games but served one game in Week 17 last year.

 

I too am looking forward to seeing him. He was impressive in the offseason and the Bucs need him to step up. Jacquizz Rodgers has done nothing to promote himself for staying as the starter.

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I'll be Starting Quizz this week vs the Giants at home over Buck Allen ( Alex Collins is gonna mix in now). I hink the Buccs will try to impose the run game since the Giants are very tough to pass against. Philly backs looked pretty good last week. Having said this, I too own Martin and Can't wait to no longer have to make RB2 decisions. 

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Yeah I'm actually hoping he doesn't do well week 5 against the Pats, as far as FF is concerned. Hoping they "ease him in" and have him split carries with Quiz at the most.

 

That way I can try and buy low for him lol. I have Rivers and Mixon. Hoping to acquire Brees and Martin in a trade after week 5. Both Brees and Martin's playoff schedules are phenomenal. 

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It'll be interesting to see if the Buccaneers try to force him to take a large pay cut.  Spotrac shows him making $5.76 million (minus 3/17th because of the suspension) with an additional $1.4 million available in escalators.  He averaged 2.9 ypc last year and was plagued with injuries.  He wasn't very good in 2013 or 2014 either and was also injured in those years.  So in the last 4 years, he was only good in 2015, a contract year.  If Tampa Bay decides to play hard ball, there is little he can do.  I doubt he could get even $3 million on the open market with the season already started.

 

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It will be "put up or shut up" with Martin.

 

if he has a at least a good game, near 100 with a TD and no fumbles, TB may just wait and see.

 

I'm sure Doug knows he is playing to keep the contract current and from being cut.  Hard to say with no other TB RBs doing squat.

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On September 29, 2017 at 0:02 AM, DMD said:

Martin was suspended for four games but served one game in Week 17 last year.

 

I too am looking forward to seeing him. He was impressive in the offseason and the Bucs need him to step up. Jacquizz Rodgers has done nothing to promote himself for staying as the starter.

 

DMD, thanks for the clarification - I thought his suspension was 4, but didn't know (or couldn't remember) he had served 1 of them Wk. 17 last season....

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