Bucs Still Have Big Plans for Ronald Jones II
After a dismal rookie season, many wondered if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had made a huge mistake by using a second-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft on USC running back Ronald Jones II.
Sure, Jones had been an explosive, big-play machine for the Trojans, but he barely saw the field in his first NFL season. When he did, he didn't exactly make the most of his opportunities. He rushed for just 44 yards on 23 carries, averaging an anemic 1.9 yards per attempt.
But in his first season under new head coach Bruce Arians, Jones showed flashes of the potential that made him such a high draft pick. He pushed incumbent Peyton Barber out of the starting spot, and tallied over 1,000 total yards on the season. He boosted his per-carry average to 4.2 yards per rush, and tied Barber for the team lead in rushing touchdowns with six.
Heading into the 2020 season, Barber was allowed to walk in free agency, and some believe the Bucs will be looking to draft a three-down runner to supplant Jones as the team's full-time starter. But head coach Bruce Arians appears more interested in adding a pass-catching specialist to the group instead.
“Our backs did a very good job in the screen game last year, especially RoJo," Arians said on a media conference call back in March. "I thought he really excelled for the first time in the screen game. And, Dare [Ogunbowale] was pretty solid. But just using backs out of the backfield as wide receivers, as primary receivers, that’s not RoJo’s deal. Hopefully we can find somebody like that who can compete with Dare on third downs and become more of a wide receiver threat.”
Bucs general manager Jason Licht concurs with his head coach, and still expects big things from Jones in his third NFL season.
"Well, we do think Ronald still hasn't even scratched the surface of what he can be. He made a huge jump from year one to year two. He didn't have to do much to do that because year one wasn't very good for him, but year two we felt very good about where he came. We think he still has a tremendous amount of upside. That doesn't stop us from wanting to add to that group, which may be something we do depending on who's there, where they're at and what other positions we're looking at. We have a lot of faith in Ronald, and in fact, we have more faith in him now than we ever have."
So, while it won't be surprising to see the Bucs target a running back in the early rounds of this year's draft, it may not be the round or type of back many expect.
What Bucs fans can expect this season is another step forward in Jones' career, as he works to live up to the high expectations that came along with his own draft slot.
