Buccaneers Should Take a Look at James Starks
The Buccaneers must seriously consider signing James Starks.
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The struggle at running back for the Buccaneers is real. We all witnessed it first hand in 2016. When the leading rusher posted 560 yards for a team that values the ground game, there are problems.
Add to that the fact that Doug Martin will miss at least the first three games due to his suspension, and may be given his outright release, we know the Bucs need help. It isn’t as if Charles Sims set the world on fire when he was healthy last year. The Bucs must beef up the running game.
A little bit over one week ago, I talked about some potential replacements for Martin. Well, it’s time to add one more, James Starks. For anybody that missed it, he was cut by the Packers, as reported by Yahoo! Sports. Let’s take a look at the body of work by Starks, as he would make an excellent fit with the Bucs.
Now, one might question the theory when you take a look at his stats and see he has been basically a backup his entire career:
| Games | Rushing | Receiving | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Age | Tm | Pos | No. | G | GS | Rush | Yds | TD | Lng | Y/A | Y/G | A/G | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | Lng | R/G | Y/G | Ctch% | YScm | RRTD | Fmb | AV |
| 2010 | 24 | GNB | 44 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 101 | 0 | 16 | 3.5 | 33.7 | 9.7 | 4 | 2 | 15 | 7.5 | 0 | 12 | 0.7 | 5.0 | 50.0% | 116 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2011 | 25 | GNB | rb | 44 | 13 | 2 | 133 | 578 | 1 | 40 | 4.3 | 44.5 | 10.2 | 37 | 29 | 216 | 7.4 | 0 | 17 | 2.2 | 16.6 | 78.4% | 794 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 2012 | 26 | GNB | rb | 44 | 6 | 2 | 71 | 255 | 1 | 22 | 3.6 | 42.5 | 11.8 | 6 | 4 | 31 | 7.8 | 0 | 9 | 0.7 | 5.2 | 66.7% | 286 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2013 | 27 | GNB | rb | 44 | 13 | 1 | 89 | 493 | 3 | 41 | 5.5 | 37.9 | 6.8 | 13 | 10 | 89 | 8.9 | 1 | 23 | 0.8 | 6.8 | 76.9% | 582 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| 2014 | 28 | GNB | 44 | 16 | 0 | 85 | 333 | 2 | 41 | 3.9 | 20.8 | 5.3 | 29 | 18 | 140 | 7.8 | 0 | 28 | 1.1 | 8.8 | 62.1% | 473 | 2 | 1 | 5 | |
| 2015 | 29 | GNB | rb | 44 | 16 | 4 | 148 | 601 | 2 | 65 | 4.1 | 37.6 | 9.3 | 53 | 43 | 392 | 9.1 | 3 | 30 | 2.7 | 24.5 | 81.1% | 993 | 5 | 5 | 8 |
| 2016 | 30 | GNB | rb | 44 | 9 | 4 | 63 | 145 | 0 | 11 | 2.3 | 16.1 | 7.0 | 25 | 19 | 134 | 7.1 | 2 | 31 | 2.1 | 14.9 | 76.0% | 279 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Career | 76 | 13 | 618 | 2506 | 9 | 65 | 4.1 | 33.0 | 8.1 | 167 | 125 | 1017 | 8.1 | 6 | 31 | 1.6 | 13.4 | 3523 | 15 | 11 | 30 |
The idea with Starks, however, is that he more than makes the most of his opportunities. When he gets the chance to carry the rock, he excels.
First of all, coming to the NFC South would be a great fit for Starks. Against Bucs divisional opponents, he has run the ball 69 times for 356 yards, an average of 5.15 yards per carry. For teams that he will face twice a year, these are obviously excellent numbers.
Next, we look at his career game logs. How did Starks do when he carried the ball a significant number of times? For point of reference, I chose 10 carries as the benchmark. That is a number where you can see that the player drew a decent amount of playing time, and were relied on to carry the rock.
In 27 games with Starks fitting that criteria, Starks has carried the ball 375 times for 1,638 yards. That computes to a very healthy 4.36 yards per carry, and if you remove one performance of 11 carries for five yards, the number jumps to 4.48 yards per carry. Like I said, when he gets the ball, Starks makes the most out of the opportunities.
What is another benchmark to look at for a player? How he performs in big games. When the bright lights are on, how does he respond? Over ten postseason games, Starks has carried the ball 121 times for 523 yards, an average of 4.32 yards per carry. On the biggest of stages, the Packers Super Bowl win, he carried the ball 11 times for 52 yards, nearly five yards per carry. A team that is looking to make the jump to playoff football could do a lot worse than a guy like Starks, who gets it done even when the stage is large.
The Bucs need help at the running back position, and Starks doesn’t make a great deal of money. It’s a deal that could be made on the cheap, and would be a great move by Licht.