Doug Martin Fantasy Football News | Shark Bites

Adding to an earlier report, FOX's Jay Glazer reports that Buccaneers RB Doug Martin will not play today because of his knee injury and that RB Bobby Rainey will start in his place.  That doesn't make Rainey an attractive fantasy option but does slide him into range for flex consideration.

Bucs insider Tom Krasniqi tweets, "The feeling I'm getting is that Bucs RB Doug Martin is UNLIKELY to play today."  Most reports over the past few days have been optimistic about Martin's Week 2 status.  He sounds like a true game-time decision now.  Martin is best off on fantasy benches this week if you have another viable option.  Krasniqi expects to see "a lot" of RB Bobby Rainey against the Rams, regardless of Martin's status.

Bucs RB Doug Martin (knee) is questionable for this weekend's game against the Rams.  He got in limited practices on Thursday and Friday.  It looks like Martin will play on Sunday, but between the knee issue and last week's dreadful performance, he's just a borderline RB2 for Week 2.

Bucs RB Doug Martin (knee) returned to a limited practice on Thursday.  He "did some work in full pads," according to insider Rick Stroud.  For now, we're guessing Martin plays against the Rams this weekend, but we'll have a better idea of his status tomorrow afternoon.

Bucs RB Doug Martin (knee) did not practice on Wednesday.  It's not a good start but also not a death knell for his Week 2 availability.  Check back tomorrow for another update.  RB Bobby Rainey would start against the Rams if Martin is out.

Bucs HC Lovie Smith was vague when asked why RB Doug Martin didn't play on the final drive of Week 1.  “Doug did go down with a little minor injury there, so we had to make a change, and from there he was able to come back and he was ready to go,” Smith said. “Bobby had come and had given us a little bit of life, and as I’ve mentioned we want to play more than one running back throughout. So it was just a perfect time to keep both of them involved.”  Martin had totaled just 9 yards on 9 carries before injuring his knee.  It's possible the move was a result of both his performance and health.  We'll keep an eye on Martin's status in practice this week.  If he's active for Sunday's game against the Rams, he should stay in fantasy lineups.

Bucs RB Doug Martin suffered a knee injury in Sunday's game against the Panthers.  He didn't seem to be limping as he walked to the locker room and was later seen back on the sidelines.  Martin never returned to the game, though.  We'll pass along an update when we get one.

The Bucs have placed RB Charles Sims (ankle) on the IR designated-for-return list.  That knocks him out for the first 8 games of the season.  Sims is expected to be sidelined until Week 10 or 11 anyway.  Bobby Rainey will serve as Tampa's #2 RB in the meantime but is unlikely to see more than a handful of touches per game.  Doug Martin will be a workhorse in the Bucs backfield.

Bucs OC Jeff Tedford might not be available for this weekend's season opener, according to the Tampa Bay Times.  Tedford was hospitalized last week after an undisclosed surgery.  He was at the Bucs facility last weekend and has been helping with the game plan for the Panthers.  But might not be able to attend Sunday's game.  "Obviously, Jeff's been leading our offense through the whole offseason, so any time you take a piece away, there can be some disruption," QB Josh McCown said. "But the coaches seem like they are, so far, doing a great job picking up the slack and doing what we need to do."  It's not an ideal situation, but it also isn't enough for us to downgrade any Bucs in the Week 1 Rankings.

Fox Sports' Jay Glazer reports that the Patriots and Bucs have agreed to a trade that will send OG Logan Mankins to Tampa in exchange for TE Tim Wright and a draft pick.  Mankins is a 6-time Pro Bowler, including each of the past 5 years, and finished 18th in Pro Football Focus' 2013 rankings.  He's a huge upgrade for the Bucs.  His arrival is especially good news for RB Doug Martin.  But Wright looks like the biggest winner here.  He turned in a promising rookie season, totaling 571 yards and 5 TDs on 54 grabs.  He had fallen to 3rd on Tampa's depth chart, though, and wasn't looking like a fantasy option.  Now he joins a Patriots team that loves to get the TEs involved in the passing game.  Wright could play a significant Week 1 role if TE Rob Gronkowski isn't ready.  Even when Gronk plays, Wright could emerge as a poor man's Aaron Hernandez.  Consider him an intriguing late-round flier in your fantasy draft.

Update: The draft pick the Patriots are getting is a 4th-rounder in 2015.

Bucs RB Doug Martin carried 12 times for 38 yards and caught 2 passes for 27 more in 2 quarters of work Saturday at Buffalo.  The yardage numbers don't matter nearly as much as the fact that he got 14 carries before halftime in the team's dress rehearsal for the regular season.  Charles Sims' injury ensures that Tampa Bay will treat Martin as a workhorse, making him 1 of the safer RB bets in the 2nd-3rd round range in which he's going in fantasy football drafts.

Bucs HC Lovie Smith believes RB Doug Martin is "going to rush for a lot of yards" this season.  There was talk of a committee backfield in Tampa all summer.  But with RB Charles Sims (foot) out for at least the 1st half of the season and RB Mike James dealing with a shoulder injury, the backfield belongs to Martin.  "He's a key guy," Smith said. "Doug is our bell cow. He likes that role. He's had a good camp, hasn't missed a beat."  Offensive line play is a concern for Martin, but volume alone should support him as an every-week RB2.  He's a nice value anywhere in the 3rd round.

Turns out Bucs RB Charles Sims' ankle injury was more serious than the team initially let on.  The rookie will undergo surgery tomorrow to repair a broken bone.  He's expected to be sidelined 12-14 weeks.  That puts him out until November.  And it's tough to see him making a fantasy impact the rest of the season considering all the time he'll have missed.  Sims is now off the redraft radar.  His loss is RB Doug Martin's gain.  Sims was looking like a serious threat to Martin's workload, especially in the passing game.  Tampa still has RBs Mike James and Bobby Rainey to spell Martin, but look for the former 1st-round pick to re-emerge as a true 3-down back.  Click here for our updated projections for the Bucs backfield.

Buccaneers RB Charles Sims had a walking boot on his sprained right ankle Thursday, according to Tampa Bay Times beat writer Rick Stroud.  "Walking boot" still sounds ominous, but we've seen more guys go that route cautiously in recent seasons to deal with relatively minor ailments.  HC Lovie Smith seemed to downplay the severity of the injury, and we're still nearly a month from the Bucs' 1st real game.  This will be a situation to watch, however, especially if you plan to draft -- or have drafted -- Sims as a handcuff to Bucs RB Doug Martin.  Don't alter your draft plan on Sims at this point.  He's going so late that there's little risk, barring the announcement of something more serious than a sprain.  And when healthy, Sims easily carries much more all-around upside than the other reserve backs in the Tampa backfield.

Bucs OC Jeff Tedford reiterated that he'll use a committee approach at RB this season.  “I think you have to alternate," Tedford said Tuesday. "... I don’t believe that one back can carry the load. It’s just too physical. I think you probably need to have two to three guys to bring different things to the table. But I think you at least need to have two to be able to spell them here and there and keep them healthy and that type of thing."  Doug Martin will remain Tampa's lead back but won't approach the 368 total touches he racked up back in 2012.  He'll likely cede a chunk of passing-down work to rookie RB Charles Sims.  Either Mike James or Bobby Rainey also figure to pick up a handful of touches per game.  The division of labor will leave Martin as more of a high-end RB2 than elite RB1.

Bucs rookie RB Charles Sims was widely considered one of the top pass-catching backs in this year's draft class.  It's no surprise, then, that Tampa Bay is expecting him to make an impact as a receiver.  "We just felt like Charles would bring something else," HC Lovie Smith said.  "I'm talking about as a pass catcher out of the backfield. He has excellent hands, great quickness. He gives us a little more in the passing game than what we've had."  The Tampa Bay Times' Gary Shelton guesses that RB Doug Martin will continue to dominate 1st- and 2nd-down action, with Sims entering on 3rd downs.  That might be enough to make Sims a PPR factor this year.  And it'd obviously put a dent in Martin's PPR upside.  Of course, Martin is a talented receiver in his own right.  Tampa's backfield will be worth closely monitoring this summer.

The Buccaneers picked up West Virginia RB Charles Sims with the 5th selection in Round 3 of the 2014 NFL draft.  Sims caught 203 passes over 4 college seasons, 3 at Houston and then a final season at WVU.  He also averaged about 5.9 yards per carry across the 2 stops and backed that up with 2 sub-4.5 times in the 40 at the Scouting Combine.  We've been excited about Sims' fantasy upside, but Tampa's not a good landing spot.  RB Doug Martin's coming off a disappointing year that ended with shoulder surgery, but new HC Lovie Smith has already deemed him the "bell cow."  And a healthy Martin saw 12.5% of Tampa's targets back in 2012, the 3rd largest share among all RBs.  Sims looks more like a handcuff with the Bucs than a potential flex starter (when Martin's healthy).  He's still worth a dynasty stash for whenever the situation improves.

Bucs RB Doug Martin has shown no lingering effects from his shoulder injury during this week's minicamp.  “Is he coming off an injury? You can’t really tell," HC Lovie Smith told The Tampa Tribune.  “He’s taken every rep we’ve asked him to."  Martin has also impressed his new coaches.  “To finally see him on the football field, he’s compact and he runs downhill an awful lot, but the wiggle that he has, he can make people miss in the open field."  Smith has indicated that Martin will be the Bucs' workhorse this year.  We'll certainly be watching him into and through the summer.  Martin figures to be one of the most interesting players as we put together our projections in the coming weeks.

ESPN's Pat Yasinskas penned a post touting Bucs RB Doug Martin's 2014 fantasy value.  Yasinskas believes Martin will once again be a "fantasy force" this season.  "[Mike] James and [Bobby] Rainey aren’t quite in Martin's class and that means the rotation isn't going to split up the carries too much," Yasinskas writes.  "Martin still will get the bulk of the carries and he’s shown he can produce in fantasy and real life."  Yasinskas adds that the Bucs might run even more under the new coaching staff than they did under former HC Greg Schiano.  And mixing in James and Rainey will "help keep Martin fresh."  Martin probably won't reach the 368 touches he totaled in 2012, but he shouldn't have trouble topping 300 this year.  That'll put him in the RB1 mix.