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Do the Buccaneers have the worst running backs in the NFL?

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Do the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have the worst backfield in the NFL? Marc Sessler of NFL.com certainly thinks so.

Doug Martin's rookie season feels like decades ago. He's won over new coordinator Dirk Koetter, but we need to see it firsthand before putting the Bucs higher on this list. To be fair, that offensive line was no help last season.

The noise on Doug Martin coming out of the offseason program so far has been positive, but there's only so much you can glean from from non-contact drills. But other than that, I can actually kind of see why the Bucs are ranked this low. Bobby Rainey's been okay, but you can hardly call him a difference maker. Charles Sims has mostly looked useless on the ground, although he's been solid on third down. Beyond that -- are we really trusting Mike James or undrafted rookie Dominique Brown to do anything?

Couple that with the Bucs' uncertain offensive line situation, and things could look very, very bleak for the running game this year. They may be solid, too -- the Bucs do have players who could hit their stride, after all. But that's a bit of a long shot, and the Bucs do not have a good history of actually hitting their long shot.

If the Bucs can't find a way to make the running game go with this sub-par group of backs, they're going to have to rely on Jameis Winston's passing ability. That ability is considerable, but asking a rookie quarterback to carry your entire offense is always going to be a problem, no matter the quality of receivers he's throwing to. The Bucs need to give Winston some help here, but right now it certainly looks like that help isn't going to be very useful.