2017 Buccaneers Preseason: Week 2 grades vs Jacksonville Jaguars
This may become Deja vu all over again as the Buccaneers running game got off to a great start against the Jaguars, but sputtered across the finish line.
Doug Martin has been impressive at camp, and thus far in the preseason, you have to like what you see there.
Of course, you won’t get to see it until Week 4 of the regular season due to the suspension he still has to serve.
Still, five carries for 30-yards and a touchdown was nice to see in the first-half of work for Martin.
His score came on a goal-to-go play from the two, as he beat Jacksonville linebacker Telvin Smith to the corner of the endzone.
Martin also chipped in two catches for 11-yards before he was done for the evening. A nice contribution from a player not known for his receiving ability.
Peyton Barber probably had the best night following Martin.
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The second-year undrafted player from Auburn posted 42-yards on the ground off of nine carries.
Barber is a personal favorite of mine to make the 53-man roster, so it makes me a little happier than most to see him run so efficiently.
Most of his carries gained solid yards. It’s important to have a depth back who can get consistent progress rather than a guy who has one 40-yard burst followed by a bunch of one-yard carries.
No score for him will take some of the polish off his performance, but the coaching staff should be happy with what they saw.
Jeremy McNichols saw the most action of any Buccaneers running back.
The Boise State rookie carried the ball eleven times for 32-yards.
It was hard for him to find good lanes to get going in, but he did have some nice pushes as the team wore down the game clock.
We’ve yet to see some of the athleticism so many were excited to see, but his struggles to learn the playbook have become growing tales coming out of camp.
Two more games will tell us all we need to know about how the team might use him in the regular season.
Charles Sims chipped in as well, and ultimately eight Bucs were credited with a carry. This includes punter Bryan Anger’s safety late in the fourth quarter.
Like the quarterback position, we need to see more from the backups after the starters sit. Even more so from this group though.