Buccaneers: Five Players that Must Step Up in the Second Half

Doug Martin

Dougie? How could I possibly have Dougie on this list? He hasn’t played enough for me to talk about, right?

The truth is that Martin didn’t look that great when he was healthy. In week one against the Falcons, he ran the ball 18 times for 62 yards. The following week he ran it seven times for 23 yards before injury put his 2016 campaign on pause. His average per carry so far has been 3.4 yards, a far cry from is 2015 average of 4.9 yards per carry.

These are not the numbers of a running back that is looking to have his name remain in the same sentence with players like Adrian Peterson.

Looking at his career so far, if we are going to be fair, we have to describe it as up and down. Two out of his first four seasons were elite, the other two were marred by injury and a dip in the numbers. 2016 went right back to the numbers dip before he went down with the hamstring problem.

James Yarcho talked about how the Bucs are at a tipping point. Martin is arguably at the same type of tipping point. He needs to step things up for the benefit of a 2016 run and to show he can still be an elite running back.

Next: Bucs Fall to 0-4 at Home

What do you think? Agree? Do you have others that need to step up? Feel free to sound off in the comments below.