RoJo Hopes Greatness Rubs Off
June 10th, 2020
Has famous workout partner
This is a big year for Bucs running back Ronald Jones.
Unless you are sold that third-round pick Ke’Shawn Vaughn is the next big thing in the NFL, Jones, the Bucs’ third-year running back, may be facing a do-or-die season.
Jones seems to realize this. Per J.C. Cornell of The Draft Network, who has a pipeline to some of the highest reaches of One Buc Palace, Jones hasn’t been in his home state of Texas this summer.
Instead, per Cornell, Jones spent time working out feverishly with park-violating, home-invading new Bucs quarterback Tom Brady.
Ronald Jones spent a week working out with Tom Brady in Tampa during his time off with @coachLukeNeal.
Can’t wait for the season and to see @rojo in this new Tampa Bay offense run by @TomBrady. #GoBucs
— JC Cornell (@CornellNFL) June 10, 2020
Joe hopes RoJo finally breaks through this year. Joe understands a lot of people are pointing to the former second-round picks’ good final two games of the 2019 season as a harbinger of what he can do this season.
Joe holds up two games in one hand and 30 games in the other and quickly notices a wide disparity.
Yes, after a rookie season where he was fully invisible, RoJo showed he can play at some level in the NFL. But is RoJo a top-25 back in the NFL? And if he isn’t (Joe sure isn’t sold that he is), then what are we talking about here?
A quick search of running backs this century who have gained 800 or less rushing yards in their first two seasons doesn’t exactly fill Joe with massive confidence (RoJo has 768 yards rushing since the Bucs drafted him).
We will see if Brady can get the most out of RoJo. If somehow RoJo breaks out and makes a Pro Bowl, not only does Joe believe the Bucs will land in the playoffs, but RoJo should never let Brady pick up a check again in a local eatery or watering hole while Brady is still with the Bucs.
June 10th, 2020 at 5:06 am
If the Oline can get their sh!t to grand eliminate the dumb penalties I believe we will have one of the best offenses the NFL has ever seen. It’s going to be awesome!
June 10th, 2020 at 5:39 am
I believe the opportunities will be there. It’ll be up to Rojo to shine. I’ll be rooting for him!
And I agree with JP09. An improved, more disciplined OL will go a long way toward opening up the run game and protecting the QB.
June 10th, 2020 at 6:11 am
Dirk doesn’t use rookue running backs. He had a special anti rookie attitude for Rojo it’s hard to gauge him over two years. Joe pointed out many times not to expect Rojo to get the ball his first year.
June 10th, 2020 at 6:46 am
I will repeat this until I see it in an article from Joe……
The disparaging of Rojo continues…..yet:
If Rojo was given the ball 15 times per game……15…….then he would have had 1008 yards.
Do the math…..4.2 ypc x 15 x 16 = 1008 yds.
Give the man the ball……
June 10th, 2020 at 7:10 am
TBBucsfan-
I agree, but Rojo needs to eliminate his pass protection and mental mistakes, which is the main reasons he saw inconsistent playing time.
If he matures, as I think he will, we will all see someone special because the man has talent.
June 10th, 2020 at 7:31 am
I can imagine Joe stickling pins in a RoJo doll.
The obsession continues.
One wonders what kind of fantasy numbers RoJo could put up with 20 touches a game.
Maybe I’m alone, but RoJo is the first back since early Doug Maritn that I thought could break a long run on every carry. In fact, he broke a few that got called back.
Since Arians is no fan of rookies, since he was not who drafted RoJo, and since the team had no faith in run blocking on the right side, why is anyone surprised RoJo got few touches and took half a season to gain some trust from Arians?
June 10th, 2020 at 8:37 am
Weird bench marks and sample sizes.
He didn’t get any opportunities year 1. 1 touch a game I guess is enough to evaluate someone?
June 10th, 2020 at 8:56 am
ROJO is going to be good this season. Improved OL and QB play along with ROJO having another year experience behind him. I actually believe we will run the ball pretty successfully with ROJO and Vaughn.
June 10th, 2020 at 8:59 am
Please.
If RoJo does well, the Bucs do well.
And when the Bucs do well, Joe does well.
There isn’t a single player on the Bucs roster — and never has been — that Joe hopes fails.
June 10th, 2020 at 9:08 am
What’s being missed here is the fact that Rojo spent a week working out “feverishly” with Brady. I’m sure some time was spent practicing hand offs, but I bet a lot of time was spent taking passes coming out of the backfield. Hopefully, Rojo will develop into that safety valve coming that everyone knows Brady relies on. Get Rojo in open space and look out. So yeah, looks like Brady is going to rub off on everyone, including Rojo.
June 10th, 2020 at 9:17 am
I think ROJO is going to surprise some people this year.
Not only does he have Brady, but the entire right side of the line has been improved.
June 10th, 2020 at 9:37 am
Not getting Akers or jk dobbins will come back to bite us
June 10th, 2020 at 9:51 am
I’m definitely not sold on this dude, but I hope that he finally kicks a$$ this year. Since our front office stubbornly refuses to bring in a legitimate running back (and has for years), all I can do is wish and hope that either Rojo or Vaughn become one.
June 10th, 2020 at 10:00 am
Still trying to understand all the love for O.J Howard and Ronald Jones. They are both “look like Tarzan, talk like Jane” players. Nil production and average at best statistics….. Maybe they will both have a metamorphosis & transform in beautiful butterflies this season, personally I think O.J is a moth though. Ill give Rojo just a game or 2 to show something above average before I completely give up on him.
June 10th, 2020 at 10:00 am
He going to great 👍🏾
June 10th, 2020 at 10:04 am
This year or bust. Good luck.
June 10th, 2020 at 10:19 am
I don’t get it. The man had over a thousand yards from the line of scrimmage. 260 yards away from 1,000 rushing yards, but folks don’t have faith in him? I mean, time and time again to keep tell you —>JOE<— that had those few runs not been called back, had he been given more touches, had he not been splitting so many reps with Peyton, how many yards do you think he would've ended up with? We all know he got screwed is first year, so let's not pretend like that didn't stunt his growth and continue using that to measure him.
June 10th, 2020 at 10:24 am
I think Vaughn will surprise us this yr!
June 10th, 2020 at 11:00 am
Dare Ogunbowale is going to have a breakout year! … long pause. I did that just to see if I could get Joe to spew a mouth full of his favorite brew across the room.
I can’t understand why all the real manly Bucs fans don’t like the dude. Seems like anyone with gun, bow, and ale in his name should be a fan favorite.
June 10th, 2020 at 11:04 am
Barring injury I predict this will be the year RoJo pulls a (good) Derrick Henry impression…remember when after a couple “meh” seasons Henry seemed to finally transform his game from “no more Murray to split carries with, why is this guy looking like a potential bust!?” to “feed this guy the ball, he’s a freaking beast of a RB!”. Winning lottery numbers and psychic readings also available for a nominal monetary donation 😀
June 10th, 2020 at 11:23 am
He would have broke out had our underqualified oc not given a theid string rb kore snaps than our best rb
June 10th, 2020 at 12:27 pm
ROJO will be fine. I do not wish to talk about stats this year except for W’s & L’s.
Yeah I hope ME13 and CG14 both get 1000 yards but it’s nothing in importance compared to how many wins we get.
The reason this offense is starting to look really scary is not just having a 20 year GOAT to survey the field and make the right selections…it’s who is he going to select…two Pro Bowlers at WR…an HOF at TE another potential TE or two at TE.
And now we have Vaughn and ROJO out of the backfield. Take any set of defensive personnel in the league and tell me how you would use them to stop this team.
The ONLY way I can see of stopping them is throwing the kitchen sink at Brady.
IF he gets any time at all with this group of targets he’ll carve up any NFL D.
However throwing the kitchen sink at TB12 and blitzing like crazy has it’s own set of challenges and leaves defenses vulnerable. If this OL is in the top 15 of the league in pass pro we are going to be scary good.
June 10th, 2020 at 12:36 pm
I’m not high on Rojo. He’s got good speed (not great).
>Doesn’t see holes.
>Doesn’t make the first guy miss.
>Doesn’t break tackles.
>Not a reliable receiver.
>Good speed but never been a home run threat.
Don’t mean to hate but he doesn’t have starting RB talent. I’m not even sure he has backup RB talent.
June 10th, 2020 at 1:05 pm
I’m no expert, but in the last 2 or 3 Super Bowls, has any body seen Zeke, Lev Bell, Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara – the last tome we saw an all pro RB in the SB was Marshawn Lynch, can anyone even name a RB from the last few Super Bowls. ROJO can get the job done, by committee if Ke’ Vaughn is the other guy. Give me a backfield like the Panthers has with DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart – consistency
June 10th, 2020 at 2:06 pm
I like ROJO but I think Ke’Shawn Vaughn is a hidden gem. I wouldn’t be surprised if Vaughn starts by season’s end.
June 11th, 2020 at 1:43 am
if rojo loses the red hair, he will be okay…
those were traits of mccoy and kwon…
we’ve moved into new times…
do the right thing rojo…
get off that old bucs look and get on the gravy train
June 11th, 2020 at 2:21 pm
My gut feeling is that RoJo will advance his game and ease the doubters minds.