The Doug Martin Effect: How It Could Improve the Struggling BC Offense

Last season many of us wondered what kind of effect Kevin Rogers would have on Chase Rettig. Looking at Rogers' historical record it was clear that he had a positive impact on all the quarterbacks he had worked with at the college level. Unfortunately Rogers never got the chance to work with Rettig or the offense for an extended period of time and we know how the rest of that story unfolded.

Now that Spaziani has had a chance to hand pick his offensive coordinator we get another opportunity to reboot the offense and see if Doug Martin will be the savior Eagles fans have been clamoring for since the departure of Steve Logan.

Let's look at the impact he had at New Mexico State in his one season as offensive coordinator.

Passing

QB Matt Christian
2011: 145-of-277, 2,158 yards, 52.3% comp. %, 7.79 yards/attempt, 15 TDs, 8 INTs, 129.9 rating
2010: 114-of-237, 1,372 yards, 48.1% comp. %, 5.79 yards/attempt, 8 TDs, 2 INTs, 106.2 rating

Now let's for the sake of fun say that Rettig improves at the percentages that Christian did. That is roughly a 60 percent increase in yards, touchdowns and a nice spike in rating as well. Chase Rettig threw for a little less than 2,000 yards last year, could he throw for 3,000? Highly doubtful, but if Martin could sprinkle some of his magic on Rettig's game he could end up around 2,500-2,600 yards with 18 TDs, and that would certainly be a step in the right direction.

Receiving

WR Taveon Rogers
2011: 59 recs, 1,048 yards, 17.8 average, 9 TDs
2010: 18 recs, 278 yards, 15.4 average, 2 TDs

WR Todd Lee
2011: 39 recs, 592 yards, 15.2 average, 3 TDs
2010: 24 recs, 280 yards, 11.7 average, 3 TDs

RB Kenny Turner
2011: 46 recs, 514 yards, 11.2 average, 3 TDs
2010: 25 recs, 203 yards, 8.1 average, zero TDs

Last season Bobby Swigert and Colin Larmond Jr were the leaders on the team in receptions and yards. But neither of them were consistent and disappeared against physical secondaries. Looking at the improvement Doug Martin helped institute at New Mexico State it appears that he could really make the BC wide receivers into more of a threat than in the past. Again, I'm not saying that Swigert is going to turn into the next Wes Welker, but he could become a more effective slot receiver and catch around 70 balls. Larmond, on the other hand, could be come the deep threat that Taveon Rogers became for NMSU. He won't get 1,000 yards, but Martin could help him reach the 700 yard plateau and possibly double up his touchdowns (4 last season).

The BC running backs were pretty much irrelevant in the passing game, mostly because they had to stay back and block. They averaged just over 2 receptions a game (Finch led the corp with 11), but if new offensive line coach Jim Bolman can solidify the blocking schemes, could they become another weapon for Rettig?

Rushing

RB Kenny Turner
2011: 219 carries, 1,074 yards, 4.9 average, 10 TDs
2010: 115 carries, 461 yards, 4.0 average, 2 TDs

RB Robert Clay
2011: 42 carries, 133 yards, 3.2 average, 1 TD
2010: 54 carries, 226 yards, 4.2 average, zero TDs

I don't know how much of a change Doug Martin can do here. BC's running game in 2011 was mediocre, but it was no where as awful as NMSU was in 2010. Simply establishing Harris and Finch and getting more 100-yard rushing games out of their backs should be the only goal for BC on offense.

Just looking at the changes Doug Martin made in his previous position at New Mexico State, you'd think he was a miracle worker. Coming to BC is a whole other story, and whether he will be able to institute what he wants on offense without Spaz meddling with his plan remains to be seen. We have been through 4 offensive coordinators and all the game plans seem to be very similar. Will Doug Martin finally be the coordinator that is allowed to run the offense the way he sees fit? We are going to have to wait, the home opener is still six months away.