Doug Martin's Minor Injury Shouldn't Deter Fantasy Owners from Starting Him

Four days after sending a chill down the spine of his fantasy owners, Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin returned to practice Thursday.

As noted by Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times, Martin was a full participant and is considered highly likely to play in Sunday's game against the St. Louis Rams. The third-year back missed Wednesday's practice as he continues to recover from a knee injury suffered in Week 1's loss to the Carolina Panthers.

That he was back in practice mostly jibes with expectation. His leg was wrapped postgame after being rolled on in the second quarter, but Bucs coach Lovie Smith has maintained the team considers the injury "minor."

Cliff McBride/Getty Images

"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, per Dan Hanzus of NFL.com. "Bobby (Rainey) 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."

Of course, most remember the game for more than Martin's injury. They remember his wild ineffectiveness. Playing in his first game since Week 7 of last season, Martin carried the ball nine times for one yard. Adding only one reception for nine yards, owners in non-fractional leagues were left with a goose egg from a player who was the eighth running back off the board and a second-round draft pick.

Odds are, if you had Doug Martin on your team last week, the curse words sent Martin's way far outweighed his production. (Which I guess is probably the case for even Peyton Manning most weeks; fantasy owners are some foulmouthed folks if social media is any indication.)

And if his numbers weren't bad enough, there are even some rumors being floated that Martin was not benched for an injury. That instead he was benched because he couldn't block a lawn chair. Steve Gallo of The Huddle cited sources saying Martin's missed blitz pickups—and, watching on tape, there were quite a few—ultimately led to Bobby Rainey getting extended work.

Smith has subsequently denied the report, per Auman, but the facts stand. Anything that could have gone wrong did for Martin in Week 1. 

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

Luckily, things cannot possibly be as bad as they seem. Trust me, I looked! Since the merger, there has not been a single running back to carry the ball at least 144 times and gain 144 or fewer yards (Martin's current pace).

There has not even been a running back to carry 100 times and average one yard per pop. Or 50! Donnell Bennett of the 2000 Kansas City Chiefs is the only player with at least 25 carries to pull off this historic feat of futility.

See! Good signs!

Throwing away the sarcasm for a second, owners are stuck putting Martin in their starting lineup for Week 2 whether they enjoy it or not. Selecting him in one of the first two rounds was a bold showing of faith or an act of desperation from someone scared by a running back run.

It was a bet that Martin was much more the 1,400-yard, double-digit touchdown back of his rookie season than the forgettable guy he was in 2013.

That's a stance with which I disagreed—public record shows Martin was outside my top 20 running backs last week—but it's one his owners made. Benching a player taken in a high-priority round can only be done when he's out of the lineup at this point in the season. Anything else is a complete contradiction to your team's preseason beliefs.

Whether Martin will reward that faith, well, this.

In our early Week 2 rankings, Martin was the No. 15 running back on my board, though it was far from a comfortable projection. The Rams allowed 185 yards rushing at home last week against the Minnesota Vikings, but 102 of that went Cordarrelle Patterson's way. Adrian Peterson was much more nondescript, finishing with 75 yards on 21 carries and adding 18 yards via two receptions.

Tom Gannam/Associated Press

Even with Chris Long playing on designated injured reserve after undergoing ankle surgery, the Rams have one of the NFL's best front sevens. Aaron Donald looked stellar in his pro debut, Robert Quinn is one of the best defensive players in football and Michael Brockers ain't too damn bad either.

Add in solid run defenders like James Laurinaitis and Alec Ogletree, and teams without dynamic talents like Patterson are going to have a difficult go.

That said, Martin is clearly the best running back on this team. If he's healthy and his pass blocking doesn't send Smith into fits of rage, he's going to get the bulk of the workload. The reason he was drafted so high was simple: Everyone looked at Tampa Bay's roster and realized the carries have to go somewhere.

You drafted him; you start him. It might not feel great, but it's the reality Martin's owners created draft night. Fingers crossed.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter

All ownership percentages are via ESPN. All stats are via Pro Football Reference.