Before the NFL draft, Buccaneers running back LeGarrette Blount said he wouldn’t be happy if Tampa Bay took running back Trent Richardson early in the first round. As it turned out, the Bucs took running back Doug Martin late in the first round, and Blount is fine with that -- because he still thinks he’ll be the No. 1 option in the running game.
Asked if he still sees himself as the No. 1 back, Blount said today, “Yeah, until they take it away.”
In fact, Blount said, “they” can’t take it away from him at all: Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports that Blount sees himself as in control of how much he carries the ball.
“Nobody can affect my carries but me,” Blount said. “They drafted [Martin] because we needed him. But at the end of the day, we’re both going to play. But don’t nobody affect my carries but me. Not what he does, not what anybody else does, just how I practice and how fast I get the offense down pat.”
Blount said he lost some weight to get ready for organized team activities, motivated in part by a desire to prove he can carry the load.
“I had the idea they were going to draft another guy,” Blount said. “Them drafting a running back might be what I needed to become an every down back.”