Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Buccaneers: Jacquizz Rodgers to See Bigger Role Moving Forward

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

A great call by Buccaneers staff as Jacquizz Rodgers is set to see a bigger role.

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Even during a winning streak, the Buccaneers work hard to get better. You can never sit back in this league or your opponents will catch up with you. James Yarcho wrote about how the red zone efficiency could be better, and how they are relying on the leg of Roberto Aguayo too much.

The running game has also left a lot to be desired. Ranked 17th in the league is hardly where they expected to be with Doug Martin leading the charge. But, Martin is averaging only three yards per carry, Charles Sims only averaged 2.8, and both have been hurt.

It puts a lot of weight on the shoulders of Jameis Winston.

But there has been a bright spot. Jacquizz Rodgers was signed in September and has been solid. He posted back to back 100 yard games in October, followed by a 69 yard performance in week eight. Unfortunately he missed time due to injury, but made his return last week. In a change of pace role, he ran the ball seven times for 29 yards, an average of 4.14 yards per carry. For the season, he has carried the rock 95 times for 422 yards, leading the team, and has averaged 4.4 yards per carry.

This week, offensive coordinator Todd Monken spoke to the media, and gave us an interesting tidbit moving forward (per the team media website):

“It’s good to get him back and I would assume he’ll only be better this week in a little bit of more of an expanded role.”

It’s a superb idea, and one that will only help the Bucs.

First of all, who are we to question the Bucs coaches of late? We all thought the season was going down the toilet after the loss to the Falcons. What happened? They stuck with Koetter’s plan, and a four-game winning streak is upon us. It’s safe to say that Koetter and company have pulled all of the right strings so far.

We have to be honest about Doug Martin. Has he been the same player as he was last year? Absolutely not. Now, I know he has been hurt, but I’m talking about when he has been healthy. He hasn’t put up a 100 yard performance, and the closest he got was 87 yards in week 12. But, it took him 23 carries to get there. That is hardly dominant.

He has never put up two dominant seasons in a row. Can we say he ever will? We don’t really know, do we? Be honest. We don’t.

Enter Jacquizz Rodgers, a guy that has proven to be explosive when he has gotten the touches. Imagine getting him 10 carries a game, or 12 carries a game. The effect is two-fold. It gives the Bucs an element on the ground that they haven’t had all season, and it saves Doug Martin’s legs, which should render him more effective as they make the push, hopefully to the playoffs.

I have seen mixed feelings about this. Embrace it, ladies and gentlemen. It is a fantastic idea.

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