Bobby Rainey's Updated Fantasy Outlook Heading into Week 3

Bobby Rainey was enormous for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2 against the St. Louis Rams. Despite his team losing the game, Rainey compiled plenty of yards and was a fantasy stud for a week. He gained 144 yards on 22 carries while adding 30 yards through the air on three receptions.

A scoring output like this would have fantasy owners raving, except for the fact that Rainey isn’t the main component in Tampa Bay’s backfield. That job belongs to third-year back Doug Martin.

Martin missed the Bucs’ previous game due to a knee injury.

Brian Blanco/Associated Press

Unfortunately for Rainey owners, his Week 3 outlook isn’t as bright as it was last Sunday. According to multiple reports, Martin has returned to practice and looks like he’ll be ready to play Thursday night against the Atlanta Falcons.

This is big news for Rainey owners, because, clearly, Rainey’s scoring production is based around how many touches he gets. If Martin is a go, Rainey is nearly guaranteed to not match his Week 2 numbers.

The positive news is that Martin certainly isn’t a lock to play yet. The running back was practicing toward the end of last week too.

But since it seems the team is preparing as if Martin will go, let’s assume that’s the case Thursday night.

In Week 1, both running backs played, although neither performed particularly well. Martin totaled 10 touches for 16 yards, while Rainey added six touches for 20 yards and a touchdown.

ESPN.com’s Pat Yasinskas discussed the running back situation with Bucs head coach Lovie Smith. Smith said, “We want to play more than one running back, two, maybe three. That’s why we’ve had three (active) every time we could. That’s just making our running back position stronger.”

This isn’t a good sign for fans of either running back.

If Martin somehow doesn’t play, then Rainey is a must-start this week against Atlanta. However, it seems like his injury isn’t terrible and that he should be fine by Thursday. With Martin in the mix, I can’t recommend playing Rainey at all.

Although Atlanta’s defense ranks dead last in total yards surrendered through two games (944), Tampa Bay’s attack is just as bad. The Bucs offense ranks 28th in total yards and 31st in passing yards per game.

With the Buccaneers so limited offensively, the Falcons would be wise to pack the box with players and force quarterback Josh McCown to beat them. This won’t allow too much space or opportunity for Rainey to explode again.

Rainey obviously has a lot of potential, but leave him on your fantasy bench this week.