After another season filled with a bit of disappointment, Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin will get a chance to prove that he is the same running back that he was in his rookie year.
Coming into the 2015 campaign, head coach Lovie Smith has made the announcement that has spilled out over the past few months that Martin will be the "lead back" for this Bucs team.
"We talked about being able to establish the run. Doug will be the lead guy doing that, so it's very important that we open up some holes and let him do his thing," Smith told reports.
The importance of Martin is vital this season as there will be a lot of pressure on Jameis Winston being a rookie starting quarterback, but if Martin can take some pressure off of Winston, that could give this team some success.
Martin has struggled mightily in the past two seasons posting just 456 yards and 494 yards in the previous two campaigns which is nowhere near the 1,454 yards that he produced in that fantastic rookie year he had.
If he does start to struggle a bit, there are backups waiting in the wings. Charles Sims and Bobby Rainey are two backs that have gotten some good playing time the past few seasons and they will be waiting to break out at the first chance they get.
Doug Martin is getting another chance which in today's NFL is fairly rare so if he wants to stay around, he needs to get back to his ways when he was a rookie. Since that rookie season, Martin has looked like a player that barely belongs in the NFL.
"Last year, none of us performed the way we needed to," Lovie Smith told the Tampa Bay TImes. "I just know Doug has been great through the offseason program. Seems like he is running hard out there right now. No complaints. Again, he, like the rest of us, plans on performing a lot better this year and he'll get an opportunity to."
It will definitely be an interesting year in Tampa Bay with a rookie quarterback and a team looking to bounce back from a brutal 2014 season.