RoJo’s Mentality
November 19th, 2020
Confidence.
One of the best stories of the year is how Bucs running back Ronald Jones went from being a camp-meat-level runner into one of the NFL’s best.
RoJo’s rookie year was a total waste. He was awful. His second year he was barely tolerable as a starter. This year? Pro Bowl level. That’s quite a step(s) up.
The thing that has caught Joe’s ear is when Bucs coaches, often Bucco Bruce Arians, talk about RoJo, the focus is on his confidence. Joe has never heard of coaches refer to a player’s confidence (or lack thereof) as much as Joe hears Bucs coaches discuss his when it comes to RoJo.
Bucs running backs coach Todd McNair, who basically took RoJo under his wing as a personal project when McNair arrived in January 2019, added more comments about RoJo’s head yesterday.
“The credit goes to him,” McNair said of RoJo’s breakout season. “He’s really matured since last year when we first came in. He’s shown a lot of maturity [and] a lot of growth. People forget how young he was, even coming in last year. He hadn’t really played the year before, so he was like a rookie and he’s rookie age.
“So, a year in the system and I think the offensive coaches sticking with him [and] giving him a lot of positive reinforcement – I think he’s just blossomed and his ceiling is still high. He’s got a long way to go still.”
But the conversation got more curious about Jones’ mental makeup.
“He’s got a tremendous amount of ability and it’s coming out,” McNair said. “I don’t even think ‘Ro’ understands how good he could be. He does stuff by accident and it’s like, ‘Woah.’ He probably can’t tell you what he did when he gets back to the sideline [but] he’s got a tremendous amount of ability in his body.
“He’s so unassuming of a person, so I think all that stuff is just starting to click with the age and the maturity. He’s starting to see what he can truly become.”
Look, Joe is happy as heck RoJo turned his career around. But Joe is starting to wonder the way coaches are always stressing his confidence or lack thereof. Did RoJo need some sort of off-field counseling from a professional? The way the coaches carry on about RoJo’s confidence and how they seemingly have to constantly boost his ego, it almost sounds like RoJo battles some form of an inferiority complex or depression.
(Remember, Arians detailed how he had to make sure after RoJo fumbled Sunday that RoJo didn’t get down in the dumps, and that he knew Arians still trusted him and wouldn’t pull him.)
Again, Joe’s happy for RoJo and in no way is making fun of him and his confidence issues. It is starting to sound like RoJo’s issues were far deeper and perhaps darker than just football.
And if so, that would explain a lot.
November 19th, 2020 at 9:04 am
keep it up rojo…
GO BUCS!!!!
November 19th, 2020 at 9:24 am
He showed a lot of potential last year, but didn’t get the carries. When he had a big run, it would get called back for a penalty. Wirfs has got to get a little credit too. I think if they would mix him up a little bit instead of always running up the gut, he would have even better success. I love how he explodes when he gets the ball. Maybe that’s where the confidence is. Fournette almost always pauses for something to open up.
November 19th, 2020 at 9:27 am
joe
get a life
all that presumptiveness
either get more details or layoff the less than amatuer psychology
jimm
November 19th, 2020 at 9:29 am
When you were never given a real chance as a rookie, then though you were better than the other runners combined your 2 bd year but the refused to feature you and then in your 3rd year you get benched for the slightest mistake even though you’re the best runner again, yeah I’d understand why he doesn’t confidence or trust in the people above him. It’s obvious he believes in his abilities so I doubt he lacks any confidence in the field.
November 19th, 2020 at 9:31 am
Simple answer to Rojo’s problems……he read JBF the last two years……and his coaches & counselors told him to stop.
November 19th, 2020 at 9:39 am
Whatever works man. Every time he has a good game we win handily. Go Bucs
November 19th, 2020 at 9:52 am
Rumble Young Man Rumble
November 19th, 2020 at 9:55 am
All the details Joe seems to need is the constant referencing to RoJo’s head by both his head coach and his position coach. Constant.
The coaches always referencing RoJo’s head sure suggests there was something wrong with his head, or otherwise they wouldn’ mention it so often.
November 19th, 2020 at 9:57 am
Confidence is crucial for an athlete. It’s part of what allows them to play without thinking. If a player starts second guessing what they can do they will never meet their potential.
November 19th, 2020 at 10:00 am
When you come out of college and you’re dominating, then you get like 10 carries all year, that has got to crush your confidence. And with the younger generation it doesn’t take much to get them doubting their ability or direction. But success breeds confidence and he’s getting the opportunity to see what he can do now.
November 19th, 2020 at 10:16 am
joe
thanks for the response
“it almost sounds like RoJo battles some form of an inferiority complex or depression.”
‘It is starting to sound like RoJo’s issues were far deeper and perhaps darker than just football.”
these two “conclusions” seem to me to be very very far reaches from the coaches mentioning confidence.
jimm
November 19th, 2020 at 10:19 am
So what? Everyone of us is different. It could be the star treatment he likely received his entire life or an overbearing parent or simply a reflection of his initial reaction to how kids are raised these days, with participation trophies. The fact is, is that he was young and is now maturing into his own man. I wish him the very best in his journey.
November 19th, 2020 at 10:20 am
…Dear Jo-ann Landers,
Our running back has self esteem issues. Should I recommend group therapy? Perhaps I can should put positive notes in his lunchbox?
Concerned Bucs Fan
Dear Concerned Bucs Fan,
I thought you only cared about production? You’re beggining to sound like a gossip column. Grow a pair.
Jo-Ann Landers.
November 19th, 2020 at 10:24 am
Year 1 it was well documented that Koetter doesnt use rookie backs. Using his 2.9 ypc against him is just silly. Koetter was in “save my own ass” mode instead of trying to develop players.
Year 2 was an odd one. To me Rojo showed potential, but they chose to play the vet Barber more often. The eye test to me showed that Rojo was close to breaking things wide open, wheras Barber was close to falling on his face. But pass blocking was very important, so Rojo didnt play enough to get in a rhythm. Funny stat, he has never averaged 4.0 or more ypc when he has less than 11 carries. He needs volume, he needs to get in a rhythm.
Overall he is a true bellcow running back. He needs 15+ carries in a game. He also is not a 3rd down back, he is lacking in the pass game. Hoping next year Vaughn steps up to that role and Rojo is goven the bulk of carries. He has shown he can compete for the rushing title, give him the chance.
November 19th, 2020 at 10:32 am
” He does stuff by accident and it’s like ‘Whoah’ ”
LOL I got a picture in my head of that Keanau Reeves meme!
November 19th, 2020 at 10:44 am
Well if he had been reading joe bucs fan the last few years that would explain his lack of confidence for sure.
After 3 years of reading how bad he sucked he started to believe it.
He’s a delicate flower but he’s finally starting to blossom.
November 19th, 2020 at 10:46 am
Jimm, let Joe write what he thinks, without you being a uppity @$$
Mike C
November 19th, 2020 at 10:47 am
I wanna see vaughn on 3rd downs and long passing situations.
Kid is our james white, if we’d give him the chance.
Bet
Fournette needs to join mccoy on the bench
Rojo & Key
November 19th, 2020 at 10:55 am
ROJO was a victim of the perfect storm his rookie year. He came out too early.
He was literally one year beyond being a freaking teenager playing with grown grizzled vets. He was physically or mentally mature much less ready to play in the NFL.
Combine that with a DESPERATE coach in his last year trying to keep his QB upright and no way ROJO was going to be given a chance to carry the ball given his blocking and pass catching liabilities.
He worked hard in the offseason and as TBBF likes to point out ROJO had a decent year last season.
It all seems to be coming together for him now, He’s gained his adult man weight and he now has experience.
November 19th, 2020 at 11:00 am
Speaking for myself I never once thought the kid was a bust just thought he needed opportunities! He is getting them now keep pushing Rojo remember cream always rises to the top
November 19th, 2020 at 11:02 am
My guess is Koetter wasn’t the best rookie coach for him. You come into the league as a very young guy and have struggles after being worshipped by tons of fans at a big time school like USC, yeah, that would probably hurt your confidence.
The way he was never really give a chance to ‘get going’ had to crush his confidence. At USC he broke off many big runs, yet he seemed like he’d never get that chance as a pro and Koetter probably made him feel he didn’t cut it and his life as a pro was over before it began,
So to get drafted and be super excited about starting a pro career in a sport you’ve loved your whole life, to being made to feel like it’s all over within the first 2 years… that would crush anyone’s hopes and dreams.
Somewhere along the way someone change his career by convincing him to hit the weights hard and put on a lot of weight. His body looks completely different this season compared to his other 2. It really is incredible and more people should be talking about it. He went from a tiny scatback to a bruiser.
You can tell that Rojo is a soft-spoken guy. He’s probably very introverted and it’s easy to get into his own head and lose confidence at times when there are struggles.
My hats off to Rojo. He worked really hard to gain weight, to improve, and to just keep going and finding a way to believe it will work out for the best.
He just needs to continue to put in more practice time in catching and holding onto the ball and he can turn into a special back.
The kid literally just turned 23 only 3 months ago. He’s still very, very young with a lot of upside.
November 19th, 2020 at 11:04 am
I have made fun of Rojo in the past because he deserved it, but I am happy as all hell that he has turned things around and is one of the better running backs in the league this year. It was never anything personal, Rojo seems like a good kid, and if he helps us win I will gladly sing his praises.
November 19th, 2020 at 11:17 am
I’m not sure what all these people are talking about with all the promise Rojo showed last year.
Barber got a lot of carries because he would lower his shoulder and get the extra yard. Neither one of them showed any kind of vision.
Rojo had promise because of his speed but otherwise he was indecisive and would immediately try to go to the outside every damn time.
There’s a reason they got Fournette and McCoy and drafted another RB.
I expected Fournette To have the starting job by now. Early in the season it looked like he might take it over eventually.
I can admit when I’m wrong. Rojo is a totally different back from what he was a year ago. Maybe it was the pressure and kick in the ass from a lot of other running backs coming in.
Maybe the playcalling is a little better. Maybe it’s the presence of Brady.
A lot of factors go into it but it is very obvious he is running with more confidence and is more decisive.
The most amazing thing to me, however, is his vision seems 10 times better.
Maybe there’s better holes and his decisiveness is helping with that illusion because I have never seen a back with bad vision develop it as the years go on.
Either way they need to keep feeding him the rock every damn game no matter what the score. He’s got the speed to break it and it really makes the entire offense go so much better.
Awesome ROJO! Keep it up And take a page from the great Emmit Smith, learn how to get hit. In almost 2 decades I never saw that man get hit awkwardly or real solidly
November 19th, 2020 at 11:31 am
Hey Joe,
Don’t you think a lot can be said for RoJo’s (so far) DURABILITY?
He came out of USC and into the combine with an hamstring injury that many thought hurt his 40-time and kept him showing everything he could do.
He’s been pretty darn durable so far this season with a lot of more playing time and a lot more punishment his body is taking. I think it’s also a testament to him putting on more weight.
But so many of these top NFL backs, like Dalvin Cook, etc. have gone from injury to injury at times. Yet Rojo is showing no signs of that so far and I think that’s also something to be excited about!
Sure, injuries can strike any player at any time, but some players are just more injury-prone than others. RoJo seems to be pretty durable at 23 years old with as hard as he’s running and even carrying the pile at times.
It’s very, very, very early on in his career… but with that weight gain, his improved confidence, and how hard he’s running and seemingly getting better at hitting holes as well as having some patience and good vision, RoJo sure seems like he’s turning into a really special RB for the Bucs — something we all know we’ve needed for a long time. And this hasn’t nothing to do with that 98-yarder.
If RoJo can improve his catching ability and hold onto the ball better, he could really become a rock-solid every down back that this franchise has been dying for.
YOU GO, ROJO!
November 19th, 2020 at 12:03 pm
Rojo Player Profile
Upgraded Skills:
Power up the middle. Making the first guy miss. Breaking weak tackles.
Next Level Up Ability (acquired after +1000 yards rushing):
Catching the ball.
November 19th, 2020 at 12:38 pm
RoJo’s first year was a disaster. Probably some immaturity as a 21 year old. ..but I blame Koetter and his staff, they didn’t even give the kid a chance.
I think Joe must have been asleep his 2nd year as he ran for 724 yds on 172 carries, which imo is pretty damn good for splitting time with Barber in backfield. He also had another 309 yards in receiving on 31 catches. Also remember he a number long yardage plays nullified by penalty. He only started 9 games in his 2nd year. Blame the coaching staff for usage as he was clearly the more effective RB, but continued to Barber almost an even split.
He has started all 10 games this year. 730/143 for a very good 5.1 yds per attempt. The only thing I would like to see more consistency from hame to game.
Let’s be honest, he is not silky smooth like Alvin Kamara, but he runs violent with a purpose and usually always falls forward for additional yardage.
Unlike the one Joe that was clamouring for Fournette, thinking he was the next Gale Sayers, and he would be the savior. I have never seen such a big RB so easy to tackle with alot of times 1 defender bringing him down. He also dances around the hole, instead of hitting the hole like Rojo. Fournette was way over drafted and will not be back with the Bucs. It will be Rojo and Vaughn in 2021.
November 19th, 2020 at 5:26 pm
Koetter screwed the kid over his first year. That had to shake his confidence
November 19th, 2020 at 9:15 pm
Joe you hit the nail on the head. When I look at Rojo I see Ricky Williams! Very talented RB, Rojo plays the position like Ricky. May take a year or more but it will probably come out Rojo is battling severe depression, as Ricky did
November 19th, 2020 at 9:24 pm
All he needed was more touches.He gets hot the more hes on the field. Keep him fed and he will keep getting better
November 19th, 2020 at 9:45 pm
Add to all that athletic ability, 20 pounds of muscle. I’ve said for a year now the guy looks like he’s still learning to drive a new car. It was really last week I saw on a couple runs it seems like he’s calibrated how to balance all the power and speed. Just seems like a naive kid who’s growing in confidence the more he learns his gifts.