Even if you are not a fan of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, fans of football understand that Doug Martin is under a lot of pressure to stay healthy this year, especially after receiving a PED suspension and will not be back until Week 4 against the Giants. The Muscle Hamster, which side note I would hate to have a nickname as terrible as Muscle Hamster, will has a lot of work cut out for him, after having a terrible year last year, which looked terrible, even before the injury, because TB Bucs General Manager Jason Licht stated that there is no guarantee that Martin will be the starter coming back into the season.
After numerous reports have come back stating that Martin looks quicker and bulkier than previous seasons, and Martin himself stating that he has lost another two percent of his body fat, he still has a question mark beside his name when it comes to consistency. After his rookie year coming into the league and rushing over 1,400 yards and 11 Touchdowns, he has been the definitive answer of inconsistency. Between being unproductive on the field when he is healthy, to consistently being injured, the Bucs still have faith in their little Muscle Hamster, especially after passing up on hometown hero Dalvin Cook and picking O.J. Howard instead. Martin will need to show his progress of improvement in training camp this year to ensure that he comes back as the starter in the regular season. Which will be difficult after seeing how well Jacquizz Rodgers and Charles Sims did last year, but if Martin can show he is committed to staying healthy and off of PED’s, he could easily win the starting position back.
Doug Martin will definitely have his work cut out for him, but for me, and every other Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan (ESPECIALLY Jameis Winston) we want to see the rookie sensation of Doug Martin return. With training camps starting back in full effect this week, one of our main attentions will be on how healthy Martin is, along with how productive he is being out of the back field.