Lovie: Rainey Has “Instincts” Of “A Great Running Back”
September 15th, 2014
The new starter?
So if Doug Martin is healthy on Thursday, will he return as Tampa Bay’s starting running back?
Listening to Lovie Smith on his radio show tonight, one might not think so.
Lovie issued very high and direct praise of Bobby Rainey, and it sure seemed like Lovie wants to see a lot more of the man who cranked out his third 125-plus-yard rushing total in his last nine games. Rainey gashed the Rams yesterday for 144 yards on 22 carries.
“You judge most running backs based on, I think, on whether they can make and opponent miss. And there were guys around from time to time yesterday, but Bobby, great cuts,” Lovie said on the Buccaneers Radio Network.
“To be a great running back you have to have instincts on when you stop, change direction, you know, high, low, whatever. And Bobby has all of those. As I talked early on in the season, we talked about playing more than one tailback, needing at least two each game. As Bobby showed, with Doug [Martin] down, he can step up and fill that role very well.”
Later, Lovie accepted the notion of host TJ Rives, who compared Rainey to Warrick Dunn, who twice ran for 1000+ yards as a Buccaneer (1998 & 2000).
Lovie said both Rainey and Dunn know how to make a guy miss, use their speed, and run between the tackles.
Now Joe doesn’t think Rainey is in Dunn’s league by any stretch. Dunn was a heck of a pass blocker and one of the more versatile backs of his era.
Rainey’s not there yet, but he did have a versatile performance against the Rams. He ran hard and shifty with a purpose — a level of desire Martin hasn’t appeared to show since 2012.
September 15th, 2014 at 8:02 pm
Lovie better not mess with the ONE thing that is working, if he puts in martin and there are 2 or 3 1 yard runs. Then the last remaining few of the bucs hardcore fans will turn off the TV!!! and maybe the season!!!
September 15th, 2014 at 8:22 pm
He’s the only person small enough to fit thru those tiny holes.
September 15th, 2014 at 8:27 pm
Thats what she said
September 15th, 2014 at 8:35 pm
Rainey did a nice job yesterday.
Partly because of Rainey
Partly because the offense line did some excellent blocking for him.
September 15th, 2014 at 8:41 pm
I would like to know if Lovie is over-riding Arroyo on play calling when it gets down to critical situations or is he letting the kid make the call.
Who made the calls to go conservative??
September 15th, 2014 at 8:50 pm
Tedford made the calls yesterday. Rainey better be the starter !
September 15th, 2014 at 8:56 pm
I said during the off season we should consider getting rid of Martin and I still stand by that. I don’t think we can get much now with the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately NFL but if the opportunity should arise, Martin needs to go. He is too inconsistent, his blocking is sub par and he isn’t near as elusive as Rainey. Rainey has a little something special and a desire to prove it which I think Martin lost.
Speaking of lost, I wonder if its Martin’s lost weight which is holding him back? He definitely looks much slimmer than the past two years. It could be affecting him.
September 15th, 2014 at 8:58 pm
@Capt. Blighe,
Tedford did not call plays yesterday. Please see the camera shots of him with no mic on his headset. He was just a viewer with not much input. A mighty frustrated looking viewer might I add with his face buried in his hands a few times.
September 15th, 2014 at 8:58 pm
Dougillac shouldn’t be starting anymore Rainey has earned it he has move vision better moves and hits the hole with way more authority the dougillac. Rainey is the better runner and receiver dougillac is a one hit wonder.
September 15th, 2014 at 9:11 pm
I’m not giving up on Doug Martin just yet. I really do like James and Rainey, but let’s give Doug a little more time…see if he answers. If Doug gets going, along with Rainey, James, and improved Oline run blocking…we could have a very fun rushing attack. Would be nice to get the play action pass going too.
September 15th, 2014 at 9:14 pm
Rainey is an up and down performer. Martin is coming off a significant injury last year and was taken out of the last game with some type of knee injury, don’t know the severity yet. To see fans bailing on Doug’s future ability is senseless to me. He has’nt had enough attempts to judge him to be anywhere near expendable.
September 15th, 2014 at 9:28 pm
Joe any word on Dougie Fresh’s status for Thursday night? Or what kind of knee injury it is? Only remember hearing about Mankins hyper extending his knee
September 15th, 2014 at 9:51 pm
I would like to see Doug pick it up too. While the Bucs been sucking…He, GMC, and LVD have been making this miserable ride much better. Injuries been affecting everyone this season.
September 15th, 2014 at 9:56 pm
I would like a coach who doesn’t things like “We didn’t want to score points in that situation”.
September 15th, 2014 at 9:57 pm
Im going to keep saying this trade doug martin! To the ravens..
September 15th, 2014 at 9:57 pm
Doogie is not durable enough, but we need to have two good runners to keep fresh legs in the game. We need to hang on to him until Sims comes back and beats him out. Then it is time to trade Doogie for a promising Guard or DE. If we get McCoy back Thursday with a cast on his hand and fresher having taken most of the Rams game off we could be competitive with Atlanta. All is not lost. Lovie and Tedford need to be creative this time out and not so conservative in the game calling. Dungy had a number of losses until his team got it all together. We are not out of this yet! We have new Offenses and Defenses that haven’t been mastered yet.
September 15th, 2014 at 10:04 pm
Rainey did great. He also had some HUGE holes to run through. Use both backs, it’s not a hard concept. Who cares who officially “starts”.
September 15th, 2014 at 10:09 pm
I hate the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sh1lly azz defense.
WITH A PASSION.
If this team can’t stop the pass then I am just gonna tune this team out. Terrible product. TERRIBLE football product being put out on that field. I hate Lovie’s sorry defense.
September 15th, 2014 at 10:13 pm
Bucs fans have no idea what they want, saddest most confused fans in the league. Atleast Martin has one full season of production a full season 16 games not a few games here and there in which his legs are fresh…. Pathetic. Doug matin was heavily criticized for his running and blocking but I called it… I said that if Rainey ran for over 100 not one of you idiots would mention the blitz pickups he whiffed on and I want him to take Martin’s job just to see some of our brainless fans turn on him when they realize there’s a reason he wasn’t drafted and didn’t make the first team that picked him up on waivers, they game plan for quarterbacks and running backs. No team has yet gone into a game saying we have to stop bobby Rainey. So Damn simpleminded and easy to please
September 15th, 2014 at 10:25 pm
What happened the last two years is gonna happen again this year went be so forgetful. Midway through schiano first season teams decided they weren’t gonna let the bucs run the ball and dared us to throw. Freeman, Glennon and next up is mcclown, teams only do that if they don’t respect the skills of your quarterback that goes for Glennon to…. This was always gonna be a 4 win season
September 15th, 2014 at 10:30 pm
When’s the last time dougillac had a 100 yard game??? Matter of fact when’s the last time dougillac had a 20 yard gain I’ll wait..dougillac has had 3 good games his whole career 2 years ago. Where 5 to 600 yards came in all of them. He goes down so easy on contact and his vision since 2012 has been garbage. What blitz pickup did Rainey miss I haven’t seen it? I did see dougillac whiff twice high school style trying to block with his head down. Almost got our qb killed both times (matter of fact maybe we should leave him in).
September 15th, 2014 at 10:41 pm
@buc4lyfe,
You are right, he had a full season of looking really good. Then what happened last year? In 2012, he averaged 4.6 yds/carry with 90.9 yds/game. Last year he averaged 3.6 yds/carry and 76.0 yds/game.
Even worse, his receiving yardage really tanked last year going from 9.6 yds/catch to 5.5 yds/catch.
Shall I bring up game 1 this year? 9 carries for 9 yds. Is that improvement? Not at all. He is not a great runner right now and seems to have a bit of LeGarrette Blount disease. He has trouble finding a hole and doesn’t seem to hit it hard.
My criticism is more about his running and catching skills than blocking skills. He and Rainey are probably equal in blocking skills but to be honest, I’m not sure I saw Rainey being asked to block much. I just think Rainey is a better runner. He is so shifty and hard to grab with great burst.
Maybe Martin can get it back, maybe not. I say ride the hot horse while you can and don’t get off till he’s done.
September 15th, 2014 at 10:44 pm
Dead on knucknbuc. You and I are seeing the same Doug Martin. I even recall his rookie campaign having a number of rough outings. Those few big games really saved his average.
@buc4lyfe, check his stats if you will:
http://www.nfl.com/player/dougmartin/2532899/careerstats
September 15th, 2014 at 10:49 pm
@knucknbuc please dear God just stop talking. Why exaggerate the situation? Doug has not looked impressive in awhile, agreed. Neither have the Bucs.
That being said, in 2012, he had 5 games well over 100 yards, 2 games very close to 100 and almost 500 receiving yards on the season.
His last 100 yard game was Game 2 last year prior to his injury half way through the season.
Wtf are you talking about his vision for? Do you rewind each game, watch all of the snaps, and then decide if Doug made the right read. No, you just use buzzwords like “vision” to sound intelligent. Just stop it.
He’s a good back and Rainey is a good back, we’re lucky to have the RB situation we have.
September 15th, 2014 at 11:12 pm
Were in rebuild mode.. trade him.. getwhat we can.. we need dline help bad and a qb in years draft we dont need this kuxary we are very far from being a good team!
September 15th, 2014 at 11:18 pm
RealityCheck says: You are right on point, could not agree more. Martin is a good back, to down grade him is just being a hater. Let Martin get healthy and you have two good backs, no need to trade him and regret it later.
September 15th, 2014 at 11:56 pm
#Bobby4BellCow nuff said.
September 15th, 2014 at 11:58 pm
I think Rainey should be the starter and let Martin be the change of pace back. doesn’t hurt to have 2 RB’s who can break one to the house on any given play. But for the last 2 seasons Rainey has shown to be a better RB than Martin at this point.
September 16th, 2014 at 12:11 am
My stance has always been that the drafting of Sims meant the beginning of the end for Martin. I like Martin and I hope he sticks around, but the coaches just seem to want to go in another direction. Having said that, the direction they have chosen recently in Rainey has really payed off. I was very impressed with him last Sunday. He has good vision and his short stature actually works to his advantage because defenders have a hard time finding him. We’ll see if he can keep it up.
September 16th, 2014 at 1:21 am
Sims will be the eventual starter, martin, glennon, barron,banks, and maybe the other saftey will not be with the bucs next year. This offense will be awesome next year with winston at qb and the D will be much improved, forcing more turnovers.
September 16th, 2014 at 2:46 am
It’s all about what have you done lately you’re only as good as your last game.
September 16th, 2014 at 4:14 am
Tuff lil dude!
September 16th, 2014 at 6:35 am
There’s a lot of hamster lovers here. I’ve been telling this since last year: martin is average at best. Rainey is a better option because he can find the holes instead of bumping into the OL and waiting to be thrown to the ground. Mike James is disappointing so far.
Anyway if Lovie starts Doug thursday, I might stop watching the game. Same as if Lovie plays GMC. There’s no reason in the world to start him with a broken hand
September 16th, 2014 at 6:55 am
Incognito Says:
September 16th, 2014 at 2:46 am
It’s all about what have you done lately you’re only as good as your last game
That’s a silly argument…. What if Martin has the next 100 yard game and Rainey can’t get going are you gonna change your mind back to Martin…. Any of you, what if Martin goes out there and explodes and he’s unstoppable? You sound like you’re with that other crowd, you know the ones that were calling Gerald McCoy a bust after 2 seasons.
clafollett Says:
September 15th, 2014 at 10:44 pm
Dead on knucknbuc. You and I are seeing the same Doug Martin. I even recall his rookie campaign having a number of rough outings. Those few big games really saved his average.
So Martin was like 2nd in the league of yards from scrimmage his rookie year because of two games? Please stop talking. He might not be playing good but you really sounds like a hater, trade our top running back to the ravens and start the guy the ravens cut? Yes he ran for 9 yards in week one but what did Rainey do? Yea exactly think hard. Martin has more value than Rainey as a player that’s why we can trade him, Rainey is worth absolutely nothing in the open market
September 16th, 2014 at 11:02 am
Where are the big bodies in the end zone? Who is calling plays here, Ray Perkins?
September 16th, 2014 at 1:13 pm
go with the hot hand!
September 16th, 2014 at 1:43 pm
I’m not a buccaneers fan but yet a New England Patriots fan up here by the harba! Anyways, I have a fantasy problem where I have doug martin and hoping for a rejuvinated year. Any chances big Logan Mankins (ex pat) helps the hampster out or are we going to see Rainey taking over the number one back duties. Whats the buzz down their in the practice facility? I’m number one on the waiver wire with Rainey and gates sitting their (I don’t have a good tight-end), what should I do???
September 17th, 2014 at 3:06 pm
EVEN-STEVENS. Get a life.