Tampa Bay RB Ronald Jones needs big season ahead of 2020 NFL draft
By Bryan Perez
If Tampa Bay running back Ronald Jones doesn’t break the season-long slump he suffered in 2018, the Buccaneers could look to the 2020 NFL draft for his replacement.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected former USC running back Ronald Jones in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft because of the silky smooth running style that made him one of the most productive running backs in college football during the 2017 season.
He began training camp last summer as a fantasy football darling and a rookie who many expected would eventually ascend to a starting role in 2018.
Instead, Jones had one of the worst rookie seasons of any highly regarded prospect to come out in quite a while.
Jones appeared in nine games (zero starts) and managed just 44 yards on 23 carries. I’ll save you the math; he averaged just 1.9 yards per carry.
Gone was his ability to churn out 5.9 yards per carry, like he did in his final season as a Trojan, when he dazzled for 1,550 yards. And while Jones will be given a chance to prove he belongs in the starting lineup in 2019, the bigger threat to his long-term role in Tampa Bay could be looming next April.
The 2020 NFL draft will have several first-round worthy running backs in its class. Clemson’s Travis Etienne and Georgia’s D’Andre Swift are the headliners, with guys like Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor and Vanderbilt’s Ke’Shawn Vaughn not far behind.
Assuming Jameis Winston takes a significant step forward in his development under Bruce Arians, the Buccaneers passing game is loaded with weapons like Mike Evans, O.J. Howard and Chris Godwin. But if there isn’t a legitimate threat in the running game to challenge opposing defenses, the passing game’s effectiveness will naturally go down.
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So it’s do-or-die time for Jones, even if it’s only his second season. Running back is an easy position to evaluate in the pros; you either have it or you don’t. Jones didn’t look like he had ‘it’ last season, and there’s a big-time bunch of prospects ready to come into the league and take his job.