Well, this sucks.
It is being widely reported that Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin will miss the remainder of the 2013 season with a torn labrum.
Unfortunately for fantasy owners, this could spell the end to some seasons. Martin wasn't performing up to level as the 21st-ranked fantasy running back through seven weeks and seemed destined to struggle even more with rookie Mike Glennon under center. With that said, owners could have withstood these struggles if Martin continued putting up RB2 numbers.
Now that he's lost for the season, these owners are pretty much forced to call it quits at about the mid-way mark of the fantasy year.
Brian Leonard and Mike James will likely shoulder the load with Martin out, but neither are really going to be able to duplicate even the substandard production we saw from Martin over the first seven weeks or so. The best bet here is James being a decent bottom-tier RB2 or top-tier FLEX option. Even then, that's stretching it a bit.
Interestingly enough, here at eDraft we wrote a featured article in our fantasy football preview magazine that compared Martin to Trent Richardson in dynasty leagues. At this point, they have combined for less fantasy yards than Knowshon Moreno.
Yeah, that happened.
In terms of dynasty leagues, this injury has little impact beyond 2013. It's not a lower leg or knee injury, which bodes well for Martin's ability to bounce back in 2014 and beyond. In addition, Tampa Bay is likely going to switch its coaching staff, offensive scheme and likely its quarterback moving forward.
The primary reason Martin failed to succeed after a breakout rookie campaign was Tampa Bay's inability to pretty much do anything in the passing game. Bring in a new coach, scheme and quarterback, and that will change drastically. Martin still possesses a ton of upside in dynasty leagues. Neither his lackluster performance in 2013 or this injury changes that much.
If you have Martin on a fantasy team, you are stuck between a rock and a hard place. There aren't any viable running back options on the waiver wire and other owners don't really take well to the idea of trading running backs who are performing well.
You may look to buy low/high (depending on which way you look at it) on the likes of Andre Ellington, Willis McGahee, Joseph Randle or Zac Stacy. Even then, you aren't going to get anywhere near the production that Martin gave you early in the season.
Just hope that you are stacked at other positions and have a viable RB1 to take over for Martin. If not, look forward to the 2014 season with a positive outlook because 2013 is pretty much over for you.