Will Jones Carry Bucs?
June 18th, 2018
Difference-maker?
When a team spends a second round pick on a player, it is reasonable to expect that player to make a dent of a contribution at least towards the second half of the player’s rookie year.
It seems Adam Rank is expecting much more from Ronald Jones.
Yes, Tampa Bay selected Jones in the second round. Still, Rank, of NFL.com, seems to believe Jones will blow up early in his rookie campaign and make such a mark on the Bucs’ offense that the Bucs will break their nine-season playoff drought this year.
Saquon Barkley is the most-talked-about rookie running back. And he should be. But Jones is just as important to his team’s development. Tampa Bay hasn’t had a lot of consistency at the position in recent years. The Bucs haven’t had a running back break a 50-yard run since 2015. Jones will change all of that. He topped more than 100 rushing yards in 13 of his last 19 games at USC, eclipsing 140 yards in seven of those contests. His name dots the record books at USC, and if I’m not mistaken, the Trojans have a pretty nice stable of backs in their proud history. Remember Ricky Bell, the prolific USC RB who went No. 1 overall in 1977 to these same Tampa Bay Buccaneers?
Jones, who was taken 38th overall in April, is already expected to be a three-down back for the Bucs. That might surprise some, because he compiled just 40 targets in college, but converted on 32 of them. He had a pretty sick catch-and-run against Texas, which, no doubt, helped convince Tampa he can be stellar out of the backfield:
Joe sure hopes Rank is correct but, even though it is June, Joe didn’t get any strong vibes from underwear football that Jones is going to be a bellcow-type back. Then you throw in Bucs coach Dirk Koetter’s sketchy history with rookie running backs, Joe thinks expecting Jones to be the good version of Doug Martin or Cadillac Williams may be a stretch.
Joe senses Jones is going to get roughly 10-12 plays a game until or if he shows he deserves to be fed the rock more.
June 18th, 2018 at 12:23 am
Nice addition.
For a 3rd down back he was drafted high though.
Being 6’0 195 makes it hard to have more then 12 touches a game and are it through a season. The nfl is rugged man
June 18th, 2018 at 12:28 am
With Barber, Rogers and Sims on the roster, we have the makings of a quality running game.
June 18th, 2018 at 1:09 am
Probably a better Charles sims at best potential
June 18th, 2018 at 1:31 am
I’m hoping they’ll bring in 1 more back after teams make their final cuts or maybe even a veteran like Demarco Murray as insurance in case Barber or Jones goes down.
June 18th, 2018 at 1:40 am
Tonight was First time I watched highlights reel of this guy. Very exciting! Could be something special!
June 18th, 2018 at 1:52 am
W. Dunn was 5’9” 175 and got 200-280 carries a year and lasted a long time in the NFL so I think ROJO will do just fine. People calling him a 3rd down back are gonna look pretty stupid really soon. He isn’t a Wr who can run the ball like Alvin Kamara or McCaffary. ROJO is a pure every down running back.
June 18th, 2018 at 6:23 am
Too small!
June 18th, 2018 at 6:46 am
Why do people keep saying he’s 195 or even 200? Koetter clearly said he’s 209 and that’s the weight he likes him at since mjd was the same weight and did well in the league.
June 18th, 2018 at 7:44 am
He won’t be a three down back right away. Barber isn’t going anywhere they will be a.reallu.nice one two.punch
June 18th, 2018 at 7:56 am
“Jones, who was taken 38th overall in April, is already expected to be a three-down back for the Bucs.”
Except for the fact that Peyton Barber is still our #1 RB on the roster and we have Charles Simms. It’s so freaking annoying trying to read national media articles when the writers do no investigating and have no clue. Probably don’t even know who Peyton Barber is.
June 18th, 2018 at 8:00 am
yeah dunn was smaller than rojo and the smaller backs seem to find the knack of not letting d-line and db’s or line backers to get a good square hit on them, thus futhering there career’s i seen alot of film on rojo and he is a strong man for his size i think he will be fine, or i hope so
June 18th, 2018 at 9:32 am
LOL at Bucs “fans” piping in with disparaging comments about ROJO’s size and then citing his weight as 12-15 lbs less than it is.
5-11 – 207 lbs is not a problem. Ya know what WILL be a problem? For defenses that is – ROJO’s speed. This dude is fast. Faster than you think. ROJO does NOT get caught from behind without a nice angle.
And just wait until you see this RB cut. Jones has some of the best cuts I’ve seen in awhile. Great vision and he actually seems to accelerate immediately out of cuts and can do 2 or even 3 cuts in a row without seeming to slow down at all.
ROJO and Barber are gonna make a nice “dash and smash” combo.
If we can find a RG – I think the Bucs running game gets “fixed” big time in 2018!
June 18th, 2018 at 9:49 am
dude has no clue what he’s talking about .. jones is expected to be a 3 down back already ??? really because i’m pretty sure peyton barber is going to start majority of the games and get a good portion of the carries and if charles sims is on the roster he is gaurenteed the 3rd down role , and regardless jones won’t be taking on that role not with his questionable hands and questionable pass pro that he showed on tape .
June 18th, 2018 at 9:58 am
Should have drafted Guice.
June 18th, 2018 at 10:27 am
The guy is explosive and a nice addition but flip on the bama film…
Almost every player from that d is in the nfl
June 18th, 2018 at 11:31 am
@pickgrin
Totally agree here
“ROJO and Barber are gonna make a nice “dash and smash” combo”
With improved blocking I feel pretty good about our stable of backs.
June 18th, 2018 at 2:05 pm
Miken
They should have drafted both. Dunn needed Alstott and vice versa
June 18th, 2018 at 3:00 pm
For those wondering, Rojo is 5-11 208 lbs according to the buccaneers website. Dalvin Cook was 210 lbs at this point last year. Not far off.
June 18th, 2018 at 3:28 pm
Jones will suprise a ton of Buc fans. Because he was a USC guy, he went under the radar in Florida. He has big time ability.
June 18th, 2018 at 8:52 pm
While Joe senses 10-12 plays for Rojo, another beat writer assumes more in a recent article that got Mike Florio of NBC Sports reciting it. “RB, Ronald Jones a second-round pick from Southern Cal, could post the biggest numbers since he should get 15 to 20 touches per game.” -Rick Stroud, Tampa Bay Times.