Terrell Davis: Breakout For RoJo
June 26th, 2019
RoJo talk.
Looking back on the 2018 season, Joe virtually can’t go three minutes before wanting to chug a bottle of Pepto Bismol.
The defense was something out of “Chernobyl.” A wide receiver tried his best to Pearl Harbor the career of the franchise quarterback. The kicking was like something out of a “Saw” movie, which has become a proud Bucs tradition.
Perhaps the most disappointing of all was one of the most electric running backs in college football who the Bucs drafted in the second round was a total no-show. But have no fear, Bucs fans, Hall of Fame running back Terrell Davis has faith in RoJo, Ronald Jones.
Typing for NFL.com, Davis projects RoJo to bust out this fall.
2019 projection: 750 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
Jones’ rookie campaign was a disappointing one, as he was a healthy scratch for the first three games of last season and then was sidelined with a hamstring injury later on. Thankfully, it’s a new season. Bucs running backs coach Todd McNair said during minicamp earlier this month that Jones looks more like the player the Bucs took in the second round than the one on the field last fall. This is an encouraging report heading into next month’s training camp. He’s talented, explosive and is going to get his opportunities to win the starting job over Peyton Barber. If he performs to his ability, Jones could lock up the RB1 gig before too long. Jones and the ground game should also benefit from Jameis Winston’s development under first-year Bucs head coach Bruce Arians. And let’s not forget what David Johnson did under Arians’ direction as well.
Now Davis makes a heckuva point about David Johnson and what he did for Bucco Bruce Arians in Arizona. But is RoJo the same type of runner?
But 750 yards as a breakout? Man, that’s thin as can be. That’s less than 50 yards a game.
That is progress from what RoJo did last year (not a damn thing) but man, less than 50 yards a game? You can find unemployed cats playing dominoes at a barber shop that can probably get that kind of production.
June 26th, 2019 at 10:15 am
Come on, Joe! 750 yds and 6 TDs as the complement to Barber is HUGE! I see he said RoJo could challenge for the #1 spot, but sounds like his projection plays it safe. He is likely projecting approx 10 carries a game for the kid, which would be 4.7 ypc. Now THAT’S a breakout!
June 26th, 2019 at 10:18 am
True, FIFTY yards a game average albeit not great if you look at it singularly. What if it’s a two horse backfield of Barber and RoJo and RoJo gets 750 yards and Barber adds in around the same total and you get 1,500 yards COMBINED out of the duo?
This is not a league of the bell cow back anymore. Also, running backs are used completely different. More importantly is the 6 touchdown stat. Then add in another 5-6 from Barber. I like that production.
The key is how many receiving yards does he gather this season. You add that on to the 750 yards and then throw in Barber’s production and you got nice production from our RB’s.
I’m just happy EVERYONE (outside and inside the Bucs’ organization) is glowing about RoJo. It gives me hope and it’s a hell of a lot better than what we thought would be the case going into this offseason after an abysmal rookie year and the overall lack of running game we had last year.
June 26th, 2019 at 10:28 am
Dork Klueless Koetter is to blame for misusing Rojo, look what happened the year after DK got fired in Atlanta, 2nd year back Freeman became a star, Arians made a washed up Chris Johnson a viable back, then turned DJohnson into a stud, everywhere BA coaches, he makes his lead back a star
June 26th, 2019 at 10:33 am
Looking back on the 2018 season, Joe can’t find a place to be that doesn’t make Joe want to chug a bottle of Pepto Bismol.
____________
I guess you missed the first 2 games then huh Joe?
It was short lived but as exciting as hell!
June 26th, 2019 at 10:42 am
“Lol
Total bust
Doesnt have any skillset to succeed in the NFL
isnt elusive nor have the the physicality to break tackles
Pass catching? He still catches with his gut. Skills he should have learned in pee wee
Doesnt belong in the NFL”
Kobe Faker
June 26th, 2019 at 10:47 am
Training camp is coming
June 26th, 2019 at 11:00 am
Kobe I really hope you are wrong on this one for the team’s sake lol.
I still feel like his tape vs OSU/ALabama/other big programs was solid.
Had some of the most yards after contact in the country in college. He actually DID break a lot of tackles. His first preseason carry he broke a tackle, had a cut back, and gained 5 yards when it could/should have been a 0 yard gain.
The biggest thing is can he become a complete back that can pass catch / run good routes / pass block / etc to where you can take advantage of his skill set better vs just a pure in between the tackles runner which is what he kind of came out as.
June 26th, 2019 at 11:04 am
Joe—
You can negatively spin anything. What a gift.
June 26th, 2019 at 11:15 am
Ive been like a broken record on this subect. Two things killed the running game, contstantly playing from behind and trying to catchup, and predictability. ROJO got like 2 carroes per game, and the bucs made it public knowledge he was having trouble catching passes and everyone knew Koetter wouldnt give him a chance to pass block. So every time rojo took the field the defenses blitzed the running back.
The Bucs were also.in the bottom 5 of the league in pass attempts to.our rbs. If you take that away from guys like barkley, hunt, kamara, every NE running back their run games would be much less succesful because defenses would stack the box knowing they didnt have to play coverage against the runing backs.
IT WAS COACHING!!!!!!!!
June 26th, 2019 at 11:26 am
BucEmUp—
All excellent points!
June 26th, 2019 at 11:27 am
If Jones can be a good receiver out of the back field or can catch the ball in space his speed can be a great complement to Barber.
June 26th, 2019 at 11:40 am
50 ypg isn’t good, but 63 is? That’s 1008 yds. 100 yd games was the goal years ago. It isn’t about stats, it’s about production and impact. If the RBs can make an impact and keep defenses off balance with 50 ypg each – I’d take it!
June 26th, 2019 at 11:41 am
The O/line will play the biggest part of any success the Bucs running back group!! Go Bucs Go Shuy!!
June 26th, 2019 at 11:49 am
RoJo??? Seriously? The guy has done nothing to warrant him having a “nickname”…..
June 26th, 2019 at 11:52 am
@Joe queue the air raid sirens for Rojo, here comes the tackling! No more underwear football runs to the house.
June 26th, 2019 at 11:52 am
I think I remember I heard he had gained some weight. In a good way. Yeah Joe 750 yds on a Bruce Arians team that already likes Peyton Barber and who will not be one of the people traded before the regular season. A one-two punch on a throwing happy team will be nice.
June 26th, 2019 at 11:56 am
@BucEmUp: Casual fans will ignore your comment if they even understand it.
June 26th, 2019 at 11:58 am
Please BA just keep things simple for Rojo… He has amazing physical talents. Don’t over complicate his role in the offense. He will be just fine…
June 26th, 2019 at 12:02 pm
If Rojo can catch a few screen passes here and there combined with 50 yards a game rushing I would say “hell yes!!!”. P. Barber will add another 50-80 yards a game and we have ourselves a solid backfield…
June 26th, 2019 at 12:21 pm
BucEmUp-
To add to your point…Barber only had like 91 receiving yards all year. That was our starting RB, mind you!
June 26th, 2019 at 12:22 pm
“Had some of the most yards after contact in the country in college. He actually DID break a lot of tackles. His first preseason carry he broke a tackle, had a cut back, and gained 5 yards when it could/should have been a 0 yard gain.”
Wow! Talk about damning Rojo with faint praise.
With the 70th pick, Gump could have selected the #1 RB in the country in yards after contact (6.18) for his entire career at Memphis. For the last 4 years no other back even breached 5 yards after contact. That’s because Darrell Henderson was hit in the backfield early and often, sound familiar.
DH also led the country in rushing TD’s (22) last year and is the all time NCAA (all divisions) leader in yards per carry (8.2). He also had 57 runs of 20+ yards from scrimmage, all accomplished as a back up, 3rd down back.
DH also was rated the best hands of any RB in the draft. Last time I looked, the Buc’s coaching staff was trying to teach Rojo fundamental (Pee Wee) receiving skills like how to hold your hands up.
Although, to be fair, I believe at 6’1″, Rojo is a full 4 inches superior to DH and those two practice squad players that were traded for DH may provide some depth in the defensive backfield someday.
In the mean time, Henderson is the starting RB for the NFC Champs.
June 26th, 2019 at 12:36 pm
rojo is no david johnson. A breakout year for rojo is just getting on the field. Appears to be another wasted draft pic. Thanks Licht
June 26th, 2019 at 1:09 pm
Cobraboy Says:
“@BucEmUp: Casual fans will ignore your comment if they even understand it.”
—
Any of us could draw a diagram for you, Cobraboy, if you need some help.
June 26th, 2019 at 1:16 pm
@Ghost
I was a big Henderson fan as well, but if we want to talk college production Rojo had 19 rushing TDs his last season averaging 6 YPC in a much better conference than the AAC facing more NFL talent, and also had some of the most yards after contact in the entire country. Basically statistically checking most all the same boxes being used to support Henderson as a god.
In the end college production only means so much and doesn’t really guarantee anything.
In terms of the eye test Henderson looks like a smooth runner with great hands/balance/route running while Rojo hasn’t displayed that same ability as a receiver. Both are dynamic between the tackles runners that can break the home run any play based on college tape, with Rojo being a bit bigger/faster actually, but Henderson just looks smoother and much better catching the ball.
Rojo also had more than 100% of all his yards last year gained after contact. If he had average yards before contact as a % of his runs then he’d have been at like 3.5-4 YPC, similar to Melvin Gordon’s rookie year. Still tho – the sample size was so ridiculously small that it’s dumb to even spend much time looking at the #’s.
GO BUCS!
June 26th, 2019 at 1:24 pm
Yeah, exactly. And with RoJo behind that new O line, anything goes.
Oh wait.
June 26th, 2019 at 2:00 pm
if terrell davis’ prediction comes to fruition, we will have basically 2 rb’s with 1,000 yards each…
2,000 total yards from the 2 backs…all will be good in the running game…
say — pencil them both in for about 750 on the ground and 250 receiving…that would be terrific joe-ski…
to get 250 receiving yards, all they basically need to do is catch an average of 2 balls a game for approx 15 yards…
this is all plausible joe-dog…
but then again everything has to fall into place…in a perfect world
June 26th, 2019 at 2:05 pm
BucsFIRE Says:
Understood.
You don’t understand his post.
No diagrams are necessary as I saw how poorly Koetter operated and coached his running game.
To Koetter, a RB’s #1 function is pass blocking. He has stated such numerous times, and every DC in the league knows it. If that is your weakness, you won’t see the field hardly at all, and when you DO see the field, every knowledgeable fan knows you are going to get the ball and will call the proper defense for the tip-off.
Hence Jones poor 2018.
It would be angst-inducing to hear a LB call to key on you.
Jones, like Doug Martin before him, may have led the NFL of % of first defensive touches further than 1 yd. behind the LoS. Yeah, I chart such things as the Joes know.
Koetter is far more responsible for Jones poor rookie season than Jones is.
I doubt BA will make the same mistake.
June 26th, 2019 at 2:25 pm
Cobraboy – that’s an interesting stat on Martin, where you getting your info since that is the type of stuff I love.
For me, all I need to show anyone on how awful Dirk’s run game was, was the highlights you can find on YouTube of Doug Martin vs Buffalo from 2017. Someone cut every single run, and you watch them all, and Martin looked like a beast with all the broken tackles, making guys miss, he shows great burst, etc – then at the end of the game he has a 2.4 ypc average, and the idiots that just look at box scores say he’s awful.
As for Rojo, the kid had no chance last year. Sure, there was like one play where he missed the hole, he had an opening and didn’t hit it. That’s the only play, by memory, where he did something wrong. Otherwise he’s being hit behind the LOS on nearly play and the few big runs he did have got called back on holds.
I don’t know if Rojo is any good or not, but I know you can’t take anything he did last year as proof positive or negative of anything.
June 26th, 2019 at 3:00 pm
Exactly what @Jeebs the honey bear said!!
June 26th, 2019 at 3:03 pm
Excellent comments JGhoti86 and BucEmUp.
Rojo has a new lease on NFL life with the coaching change.
Lets not forget the young man was not even legally able to buy a beer when he reported for Training Camp last year….
June 26th, 2019 at 3:22 pm
Kobe must be blind.
June 26th, 2019 at 3:39 pm
Thanks Pickgrin!
…also, if Terrell Davis has predicted/projected a 1,000 yard season rushing for RoJo…or even better, 1,200 or 1,500 yards, you’d say that was ludicrous, insane thinking and highly improbable. You would have immediately dismissed that notion/comment and maybe even have chuckled at it. So wherein do you lie? Your happy medium can’t be that small Joe. And if it is, then I understand why you would consume so much pepto bismol and alcohol, and power to ya good sir. And if it doesn’t, then it’s obvious what your agenda is here (at least on this post specifically).
Either way, you’re THAT guy right now, in that you don’t think 750 yards is enough production, but if Terrell Davis had said something like 1,200 yards, you’d dismiss that as rubbish and label it ludicrous.
I’m going to assume this was Lee and not Steve. Just a jokingly slight. Let’s not get our panties in an uproar!
June 26th, 2019 at 4:32 pm
@Rod Munch: When the Joes were hating on Martin a couple of years ago, I went back and charted every carry he had in 2017. I looked for first defensive contact at least 1yd. *behind* the LoS. I posted the results here. I think the number was something like 42%. The NFL average is way less than half that. Charles Simms was not far behind.
I think the number for Jones last season if I recall, is like 62%.
There isn’t an RB in NFL history who will make many bones if he’s hit behind the LoS on half his carries. I mean, a short list.
I am not convinced the Bucs have either a rotten OL or bad RB’s. I am convinced the coaching was terrible, and the running game was paid lip service to “help” the passing game.
The Koetter offense could throw the ball without a doubt, and it has been exciting. But when the coaches’ focus on pass blocking—because that’s what they know—at the expense of the running game, and when the coach’s priority is blocking in an RB, not running, not catches out of the backfield, but blocking, why is it any surprise the Bucs ground game sucked?
I will trust BA’s offensive instincts on this one. If he says Jones is having a great spring, I’m going to believe him until I see something different. I will also bet Joe’s date with Rachael Watson the OL will look much more beastly in 2019 than it has the past two seasons.
I liked Koetter’s passing mojo. But beyond that, his offense was poor. How many times did we see 3rd and short, only to see a run stuffed? Consistently?
I will make a suggestion to non-casual Bucs fans: get the NFL Game Pass for ONE YUGE reason: the coach’s films. If you know how to dissect coach’s film, you can see what I see. NFL Game Pass is worth way more than the $125 the NFL charges. Every game is archived.
And if you don’t know how to dissect coach’s film, there are prolly youtube videos with how-to’s.
June 26th, 2019 at 5:11 pm
Cobraboy – meant as a playful jab. Definitely respect your knowledge
June 26th, 2019 at 5:22 pm
Rojo didn’t show anything promising at anytime last year. I’m a glass half full guy but I think he’s a bust.
June 26th, 2019 at 6:57 pm
650 rushing and 650 receiving is what he should do in the BA scheme
PB gets right at 1000 yds as the true bellcow runner and about 200-300 in receiving yards
With so many teams playing zone behind a 3-5 man front, the RB receiving yards were extremely under-utilized in the DK offense
June 26th, 2019 at 6:58 pm
But 750 yards as a breakout? Man, that’s thin as can be. That’s less than 50 yards a game.
What exactly do you expect from a RB2 Joe?
June 26th, 2019 at 7:41 pm
Cobraboy – Good work on those numbers. Dirk’s problem, in my eyes, is that he was just way too predictable. In the first half of games he’d just run it up the middle on first down and teams knew it was coming and would run blitz up the middle to counter it. He wouldn’t, or would very very rarely, use play action pass until you got deep into the 3rd quarter and if he wanted to pass on first down he almost always went to shotgun. Sitting at home, watching the game, I could say not only run/pass, but what direction and get it right probably 80% of the time – so what are NFL defensive coaches doing? Well, we could watch the game and see, they’d run blitz right to where predictive Dirk was running the ball.
Dirk didn’t do that in 2015, and I’m still convinced the difference came when he moved from the booth to the sideline. He just didn’t see the field as well and got into ruts where he just ran the same plays over and over again in the same situation. The other part is that he obviously didn’t spend the same amount of time on offense as he did when he was the OC, yet he insisted on doing the play calling even though he rarely seemed prepared for the job. I think the fact the Bucs did as well as they did is due to the talent of the players.
June 26th, 2019 at 11:27 pm
Bust