NFL Rumors: Doug Martin To Start For The Tampa Bay Buccaneers?
It’s only been six days since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers held their first training camp practice, but one player is already standing out as the potential starter — Doug Martin. Martin is battling LeGarrette Blount for the starting running back spot, and he seems to be leading that battle.
Martin, so far, has shown explosiveness that many analysts previously underestimated. He has had the best camp between the two main running backs, and has shown a natural ability to burst through the hole. His power shouldn’t be forgotten, either. So far, Martin has displayed the ability to plow through arm tackles. He has can also pass-block, which is a skill that Blount struggles with. All in all, Martin has looked like a complete running back so far, and could end up being the steal of the first round.
Blount, on the other hand, hasn’t had a bad camp so far, but he hasn’t impressed the coaching staff. Or at least, not as much as the rookie Martin. One thing that has stood out about Blount, however, is that his ball security appears to have improved over last year. Head coach Greg Schiano does not tolerate fumbling in the least, so all running backs will have to work on ball security.
Schiano sees a lot of similarities between Martin and Ray Rice. That may be the case, but Jeremy Zuttah doesn’t like to compare the two. “I don’t like to compare, every player is their own person,” he said. “Other than the fact that they look the same in their jerseys, I don’t really like to compare, they’re their own people.”
Whether or not their are similarities between the two, Martin can certainly be a great player in the league and that would be equivalent to Rice, who is certainly one of the top running backs around.
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it was a well written story, but it needs to be labeled sci-fi so as not to mislead others . . first of all, you have written this so matter-of-factly that one might think that you reporting the factual news . . but instead you are presenting your opinion about what is going to happen in the bucs’ world . . fact: doug martin has not played any full contact football yet, where guys will be dying to stop him dead in his tracks . . fact: everyone was just as excited about the last 7 or 8 running backs that were supposed to be the bucs saviors . . until the truth was revealed . . remember derrick ward? . . fact: legarette blount ran for 1000 yards in 10 games after not having the privelege of training with the team in the off-season or learning the playbook .. fact: blount may have only ran for a little less than 800 yards last year, but he had the fewest carries by far than any other backs who were logging those kind of yards or better . . again there were no off-season workouts with the team and limited access to the playbook . . one problem for blount last year was that as soon as the bucs got behind on the scoreboard, they all but abandoned the run and kept to the air in an attempt to play catch up . . that didn’t allow him many carries . . and of course, you heard about the fumbles . . but you’ve also heard about the game highlights and what a MONSTER! legarette blount is to bring down! . . just ask the green bay packers or at least go watch the highlights of last year’s packer-bucs game . . fact: legarette blount has been a force . . opinion: blount will be our man again this year . . he has already proven himself