Buccaneers not sure if Doug Martin will start
By Jason Evans
Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin may not regain his starting spot once he comes back from suspension.
Doug Martin was once a focal point of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense. The former first-round pick has had two 1,000-yard rushing campaign in his career including most-recently in 2015. Last year was a struggle, only playing in eight games along with being hit by a four-game suspension.
Martin will miss the first three games of this season finishing up his suspension. However, there is no guarantee that when he returns he will regain his starting spot in the Buccaneers backfield.
"“It might not,” Licht said. “Look, he has done everything we’ve asked him to do, and he looks reminiscent of 2015 when he was playing for his contract. He looks the same out there, mentally and physically. So he might be one of those guys that needs a carrot. And he’s got a pretty big carrot in front of him right now, because there’s no guarantees that he’s going to be here. And he knows that. We’ve talked to him, and he’s good with it. He goes, ‘I understand.'”"
The Buccaneers do have some depth in the backfield to cover themselves. Jacquizz Rogers will take over as the starter with Charles Sims filling in as the third-down back. They also have Peyton Barber and drafted Jeremy McNichols in the fifth round this year.
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Martin getting his job back depends a lot on how the Buccaneers are doing on offense. They brought in DeSean Jackson in free agency and drafted talented tight end O.J. Howard in the first round to give quarterback Jameis Winston all sorts of options.
If the Buccaneers are humming right along after three weeks, they may not want to upset the apple cart and keep going with what works. If they could use a jolt in the running game, you could see Martin regain reps in the offense after the suspension.