Two RoJos Emerged
October 4th, 2020
RoJo is on pace for 1,000 yards! (Photo courtesy of Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Ronald Jones proved a lot today in the Buccaneers’ sloppy but thrilling win over a bad Chargers team.
First, RoJo was an animal in the running game, showing a consistency that Bucs fans really haven’t seen before. And he ran hard, flashing a Mike Alstott-style run for the second week in a row, as well as moving the chains, protecting the ball and flashing speed and vision.
RoJo finished with 20 carries for 111 yards and through a quarter of the season, RoJo is averaging 4.43 yards per carry and is on pace for 1,012 yards this season.
Holy S*#%!
But the other RoJo who showed up is the running back that can’t drop. RoJo had three drops in the first half today, and that’s likely why he got pulled in the red zone for rookie Ke’Shawn Vaughn late in the game. And Vaughn caught the winning touchdown on a ball that was no easy grab and likely one RoJo would drop.
Regardless, if RoJo can keep running hard and producing like has through four games, Joe will be blown away and bow to the coaching staff and front office that kept a load of faith in him.
Lots of season remaining, but RoJo has to be feeling crazy confident right now.
October 4th, 2020 at 4:52 pm
True observation.
October 4th, 2020 at 4:53 pm
He is not a great pass catcher by any means. He did have 6 catches too tho. Seems more concentration issues than anything. Here is to hoping Fournette comes back next week and there is a good mix of both him and Rojo. Ride the hot hand.
October 4th, 2020 at 4:55 pm
Clearly recess at Berkeley Prep didn’t benefit RoJo so much after all.
October 4th, 2020 at 4:55 pm
RoJo has shown excellent vision, burst, cuts, and strength, but has not been given a full opportunity or been put in a position to succeed. Today he got both, and we saw what he can do. Lenny has not looked good, he only had 2 good runs. Look at the film and you see Lenny missing holes and cuts. RoJo hits them! Unfortunately he still has bricks for hands, so it looks like the rookie is going to split time with him. Hopefully Lenny doesn’t cut into their time, he is the perfect example of feeding a mediocre-average back so that the average fan would think he’s good.
October 4th, 2020 at 4:57 pm
Need to see more of Vaughn. I think he could be the best of the bunch. His skills match up best with Brady at QB. The big question on him will be ball security and blitz pick up. Time will tell.
October 4th, 2020 at 4:57 pm
We desperately needed a strong Rojo today and got him……..runs very, very hard and (no jinx please) hangs onto the ball.
I was impressed with Vaughn’s first effort……a real confidence builder to get his first TD in his first game.
October 4th, 2020 at 4:58 pm
Vaughn had a rough drop over the middle and he looked timid on his few carries. But the td was a pretty play by vaughn.
October 4th, 2020 at 5:01 pm
Rojo will fix those drops.
October 4th, 2020 at 5:02 pm
Great game from RoJo, and I liked what I saw from Vaughn too…gotta see him run more though to get a feel…great pass catching
October 4th, 2020 at 5:02 pm
I’m really thrilled for RoJo especially since Joe can’t stand him and is always bellyaching how bad Jones is, not to mention the little “rub it in your face” rant he went on after Fournette had a singular good game during on one of Ira’s podcasts, I hope hope Ira and the Fans rub it back in the face of Joe, you go RoJo.
October 4th, 2020 at 5:03 pm
???????????????????????????????????????
You just described Walter Payton or Barry Sanders. Calm down.
His runs up the middle were damn impressive.
October 4th, 2020 at 5:15 pm
Haha yes okay I may have gone overboard by saying “excellent” but he certainly gets very good marks on all those checkboxes!
October 4th, 2020 at 5:30 pm
Still not impressive, he’s just keeping the driver seat warm for Lenny. Nothing to see here.
October 4th, 2020 at 5:42 pm
Rojo is the better runner!! He has always ran hard like that and has had break out plays!! I can think of a 54 yarder FOR A SCORE called back on a hold… I can think of A BIG run that Dotson held on where he also scored!! And it was a BAD call on Dotson… I can also think of a 62 yarder that he got dropped at the 4 or 5 that was also called back on holding…. The dude has always produced and anyone that has played the game and knows what they’re looking at can see he is the better runner!! Better moves, better vision, hits hard on every run, wears down the defense…. But he does have problems catching it!! But running the ball he’s just had bad breaks on a bad team!!! No other running back comes in and does anything!! I see one person already saying they want to see more of Vaughn over Rojo!! 🤣 …. Are you kidding!! He got dropped behind the line every run he had because he froze and looked a little panicked and timid!! A couple good catches tho and maybe his confidence builds and he’ll be ok…. But Rojo is the best back on this team for getting those hard yards and wearing down a defense and that’s what you want!!!
October 4th, 2020 at 5:54 pm
Vaughn will be new third down back by end of year
Shady has to many drops
That moment was amazing After vaughn td
He jumped into bradys arms. It was an instant classic
I was dying.
October 4th, 2020 at 6:03 pm
Yall are crazy fornett is light years better then these guys
October 4th, 2020 at 6:03 pm
Yea he needs to deff work on those hands.
October 4th, 2020 at 6:08 pm
Rojo ran well….but he’s yet to explode like his highlights from college. He reminds me of Michael Pittman, hard runner, looks the part but never much consistency
October 4th, 2020 at 6:21 pm
He’s definitely more confident, especially after contact.
Now I’d like to seem him get into the open field and turn on that 2nd gear and take it to the house.
But I’ll take his running like today all day any day.
Now as for those hands… cmon bro, you can’t get worse at catching…
October 4th, 2020 at 6:23 pm
Fournette had 1 good run.
RoJo has been averaging more YPC every single game except at Carolina (b/c of that long touchdown run).
The biggest thing bringing him down last year was lack of carries.
If he had average just 12 touches per game (which is nothing) he would have been a 1000 yard back last season
(which apparently is the only thing that makes a RB good in Joe’s eyes lol)
October 4th, 2020 at 7:01 pm
These damn on pace people are killing it. Think rojo is going to rush for a 1000 yards now since we’re doing the on pace thing after a 100 yard rush game?
October 4th, 2020 at 7:13 pm
Rojo had a nice running day. He dropped at least 3 passes. Fournette is a much better back than Rojo. Let’s be real, and I wanted him drafted with that pic in the 2nd round.
October 4th, 2020 at 7:44 pm
rojo has nice running promise. I as a hard core
Bucs fan I am confident he continues that trajectory however you can naturally catch a ball or you can”t. You can train to improve but it may continue to be a liability. Not a downer but we can’t expect him to be no other than he is.
October 4th, 2020 at 8:43 pm
All the hate for Rojo is astounding to me. Give the dude 20 carries a competitive game and he’ll deliver.
He’s been running hard, and might not have any dazzling 50+ yarders to his credit, but he’s doing his job when put in the right position.
I like the idea of the Rojo/Fournette combo, especially later in the season as we get closer to the “pl****fs”.
****
BTW: The First poster that knows what “Lightbox” is, ill send you $5 via Venmo. – You can’t google it though.
October 4th, 2020 at 8:45 pm
@ unbelievable
Well said bro.
Cheers and Go Bucs!!!
October 4th, 2020 at 8:47 pm
ROJO looked great today!
Need that consistently. But, he doesn’t catch it well. It’s part of the reason Vaughn was drafted.
Either way, between those two and Fournette and giving McCoy his touches here and there, it is going to be mostly by committee, unless you have a week like this with a lot of injuries.
As good as Rojo looked, it was good to see Vaughn get some touches. He is pretty damn quick.
I can’t believe how they went from no running backs to having a pretty damn good crew all pushing each other.
October 4th, 2020 at 8:52 pm
Greg- You are mostly correct. Some people just don’t have great hands. But, running backs can get better by running better routes. If he doesn’t have a defender ready to pummel him, he can take that extra split second to keep his eye on the ball and ensure he catches it before trying to make a move.
The quarterback can help with that by not leading him into a defender. Until Fournette is back and gets into the mix, I expect Rojo and Vaughn to tagteam, along with McCoy getting in there for several plays a game. Rojo Should see the bulk though
October 4th, 2020 at 8:55 pm
Unbelievable-
Fournette had a damn good game against Carolina.
I don’t understand why everyone feels the need to put one down to elevate the other.
It is awesome that we finally have a good group of running backs.
I fully expect a running back by committee most of the way unless you get something like this week where someone is hurt.
I think Vaughn is going to continue to see touches.
McCoy will be used in the pass game here and there. Rojo and Fournette will get the bulk of the carries when healthy.
October 4th, 2020 at 9:40 pm
Vaughn will end up being the best back on the Bucs roster if they give him the touches. He’s that good in my opinion.
October 4th, 2020 at 10:53 pm
I make fun of Rojo sometimes because it is deserved, but he played well today outside of the drops. He is not a pass catching back and probably never will be. It’s up to the coaches to put what skills he has to our best advantage. If we keep throwing him the damn ball, I’m just going to blame the coaching.
October 6th, 2020 at 9:01 am
Buczilla, great point about how coaching counts. To be a top/feature running back for this team, you need to CATCH the ball, along with toting it. Until then, it will be a running-back-by-committee — one that will telegraph, uncompetitvely what play is likely to come.