The New No. 1?

November 3rd, 2020

Leonard Fournette was a happy man on Twitter following the Bucs squeaking past the Giants on Monday Night Football.

Joe’s got a Twitter video from Fournette below that showcases his sweet November feet for a hulking running back.

For the second consecutive game, Ronald Jones got the start at running back and Fournette finished with significantly more carries than his backfield mate. Fournette had 15 carries for 52 yards; Jones was at 7 carries for 23 yards.

Jones lost his first fumble of the season on a catch and run deep in Bucs territory that set up the Giants’ first score. It appeared he got a temporary seat on the bench for that first-quarter gaffe. The usually sure-handed Fournette wasn’t as sharp as he usually is in the passing game, so it wasn’t the greatest night for the men coming out of the backfield.

Joe recognizes the value of having two good running backs, but ultimately, Joe believes Bucco Bruce Arians wants to have a top dog and a back with very reliable hands. And preferably that’s the same dude.

With Antonio Brown arriving this week and inevitable change coming to the offense, Joe wonders whether this is the week Fournette gets his first start.

https://twitter.com/_fournette/status/1323495278733905920

38 Responses to “The New No. 1?”

  1. SB Says:

    Rojo is no good in the passing game.
    ‘Simple as that’

  2. Dano407 Says:

    Run game sucked tonight.

  3. REDZONE BA Says:

    Expected….no surprise here.

  4. #1bucfan Says:

    My question is did the refs get the call right on the rojo fumble ??

  5. Dano407 Says:

    They actually got it right.

  6. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    We really struggled with the run game tonight…..got stuffed, especially on 1st down….
    I don’t think our Oline played that well……..but I do think the 2 sacks were coverage sacks…..
    Not sure they had a penalty…..

  7. REDZONE BA Says:

    BL was setting up the NO game. Brady will throw long on first down plays.

  8. Coburn Says:

    Only good thing about saints game is Brees prob does t have the arm to burn us deep on double move go routes and slant and gos. However if they play off the receivers hell dink and dunk them to death… And oh god…trying to cover Kanara out of the backfield…

  9. SlyPirate Says:

    Rojo enters game, Brady throws pass, Rojo drops pass, Rojo game over.

    Learn to catch if you want to play.

  10. Rod Munch Says:

    Ronnie got benched because he fumbled the ball – that’s part of being a hard nosed coach from the Ray Perkins tree. He should be back in his spot next week. In any case on 3rd and short he should always be in the game, Fournette dances to much at the LOS for him to do short yardage – that’s why he got cut by Jacksonville.

  11. PuertoRicanBucFan Says:

    Fournette is grabage

  12. webster Says:

    Rojo and fournette deserve to play period. Neither one has seperated himself from the other. The passing game is a different story. Fournette is better in the passing game.

    Its funny that when brady gets sacked, its called coverage sacks. Winston gets sacked, its called holding on to the ball too long. This just in…the oline had a bad game tonight in both the run game and passing game. Its nothing new because we have seen it for years. It happens. Hopefully the oline plays better on sunday because the saints dline is very good.

  13. Anonymous Says:

    We won …that’s the name of the game, play winning football….we did that, not pretty but I’ll take it rather than a lost….we didn’t play our best but we got to rest Godwin and we got to see our depth at reciever! Next week, bring it on!!

  14. Youngbucs Says:

    Fournette tiptoe to much

  15. Youngbucs Says:

    Webster what’s the sack #s on the year? Yea like I thought check your sheet better luck next time.

  16. Boston Boy Says:

    Jeez
    …I’m just happy they squeaked out a win. The Giants were throwing every trick play in the book at them

  17. Bird Says:

    Rojo got benched cause of the stone hands / fumble

    Rojo is the better runner and seeks contact
    fournette is better receiving back and needs a whole to succeed When running

    I mean fournette is anti- physical. He avoids contact and can be tackleD by one hand

    The whole crew trying to justify this team has a running game compared to Last year and that is reason for our success now is wrong again

  18. DavidBigBucsFan99 Says:

    Part of the offenses problem was that Brady was off on several very open players, which made a difference in how it operated. I guess it was so cold he needed the balls deflated some so he could grip it better. He has become a warm weather player. All this talk about how good this oline is needs to stop. They’re weak compared to others when they go against a strong dline constantly getting blown off the ball and not sustaining blocks. Last night was Chicago all over again. Their guys were living in our backfield. Anybody who doesn’t think we don’t need AB now needs to see a shrink. The only one who was getting open regularly was Mickens. At least it proved our depth guys can get it done. Arians needs to put RoJo and Fournette out there together that would open the run game up more than the extra blocking TE. Tom Terrific proved to be Mr Clutch onced again, this proves why we needed him. Even when we struggled he put the offense on his back and won. ARIANS DON’T YOU EVER, EVER TAKE THE BALL OUT OF HIS HANDS ON 4TH&1 AT THE 30 YARDLINE OR YOU NEED TO BE BENCHED LIKE YOU DO ROJO!!!!!!!!!!!

  19. rrsrq Says:

    I do not think Fournette has done enough to take ROjO #1 status. Ariana need to get out of his freakin emotions and let this thing ride unless he is tired. When he was the solo RB and you had to depend on him, he showed that he could. How is our running game with the split carries.

  20. gracelivin Says:

    the rojo fumble was on a batted ball that he went to his knees to make a difficult catch and was hit from behind as he was trying to extend a bad play…but Fournette does not run hard, he shuffles his feet way to much…if there is a big hole he gains some yardage but then again what back doesn’t. Rojo is a much better runner and Fournette is decent out of the backfield. We need to keep handing the ball to Rojo, bring in Fournette on third downs only.

  21. Roster Says:

    RoJo bailed out TB12 on 2 of hit catches. The fumble was one of them. Hard to secure the ball when you are trying to get up off your knees. If just stayed down there would be no convo hear… trying to make a play.

  22. JA Says:

    Fournette is not the guy. Why wasn’t he benched when he dropped a pass right in his hands? Rojo runs harder, trying for the extra yard when Fournette is often tackled with barely a hit. I don’t understand the love affair with Fournette and the hatred toward Rojo.

  23. Buc50 Says:

    Not mad at RoJo about that fumble. The Giants were selling out on the run so we had to pass. Chris Godwin being out definitely hurt last night.

  24. ncbucsfan Says:

    People act like the Giants front lone doesn’t have talent and aren’t bigger than the Bucs. Dexter Lawrence is as big and athletic as Vita Vea and was a 1st rd pick coming out of Clemson, Dalvin Tomlinson (Alabama) is a run-stuffing monster and Leonard Williams was a top-10 pick out of USC and was a Pro-Bowl talent with the Jets (ask Todd Bowles about him). I’d take them over Gholston, Nacho, and older Suh everyday of the week and so would Bowles just on talent. They just had the NFL darling Bucs w/Tom Brady come to town so they had extra motivation. The Bucs run game will be fine, as will Rojo. He’s still the more explosive runner.

  25. Brandon Says:

    Anyone with eyeballs and no agenda knows that Rojo is a much better runner.

    Fournette is big, fast, and runs hard and comically easy to tackle. Every game that he’s put up half decent numbers have come courtesy of one explosive run while all other runs were clear examples of him being an easy tackle. Rojo gets yards when there are none. He moves the pile. He breaks tackles. Benching him after he made a mistake was a cure worse than the disease. Punishing him hurt the team of our best running threat. People that want Fournette apparently are incapable of watching the game to make their decision and instead check the stat sheet or draft status. Fournette is extremely overrated. Rojo is still underrated and clearly our best RB.

  26. Brandon Says:

    Look at the comments, Joe. It’s almost unanimous. Fournette is not who you think he is. Take away his 13 yard run and he had 14 runs for 39 yards. Just like every game. One long run skews his very pedestrian stats. This dude is routinely tackled in the open field by CBs. When Rojo rarely gets tackled solo by any player. Open your eyes.

  27. Brandon Says:

    SlyPirate Says:
    November 3rd, 2020 at 1:18 am
    Rojo enters game, Brady throws pass, Rojo drops pass, Rojo game over.

    Learn to catch if you want to pla

    Wrong. Rojo dropped no balls. You’re mixing him up with Toddler Fournette. He dropped a pass. The dude runs like a 3 year old getting tripped up and falling over everything. Most overrated player on the roster.

  28. Hodad Says:

    Joe is always trying to pimp for Fournette, who WAS NOT very impressive last night. The Rojo fumble was a bang, bang play. Not like he was careless with the football. Tom missed some wide open receivers, do you bench him? Fournette did not run hard last night, to much dancing, to little hitting the hole full speed.

  29. Bradinator Says:

    Fournette ran like a wimp. He has “Doug Martin Syndrome” IE dance around until the hole closes then fall over. RoJo runs hard every play. He is hard to bring down. Fournette runs about as hard as Don Knotts.

  30. Bird Says:

    Brandon

    I agree
    A baby’s one arm tackle can take down fournette
    He needs a hole to produce

    (I mean dont we all 😂)

  31. Georger Says:

    That was a tough play, that was ROJo’s first fumble of the year. Not bad. Zeek had 2 fumbles in this Sundays game alone

  32. 813bucboi Says:

    a win is a win

    GO BUCS!!!!

  33. Dreambig Says:

    I agree with the group, I like Fournette but he hasn’t earned the top spot. Rojo runs with more intensity and I can’t believe I am saying it, but at this point, Rojo is better.

  34. Show Me the TDs Says:

    Bucs 1st down runs are way too predictable. Almost every time. Last night I turned to my wife and said, “I’ll bet you $100 this is a run, probably up the middle”. Sure enough. Surely the Giants knew it too. It’s become a pattern. Maybe BL is playing the long game and will open up the play-action pass in future games.

  35. Buccystyle Says:

    Anybody think it may be our o line again as to why our runnners kind of sucked last night? I mean D smith was back to his loafing again and seems tristan got worked too.

  36. David Says:

    Fournette looked bad. I understand the blocking wasn’t fantastic last night for the run game but he did a lot of dancing. He looked like Rojo last year.
    Not sure why Rojo was benched

    Either way, The run game needs to be more consistent. This o line is blocking better for the past in the other run now, which is surprising.

  37. Nate1111 Says:

    Yall are crazy.. fournette is way better.. rojo runs out of control like his job IS ON THE LINE.. they shoukd stick with the 1 to 2 punch though it will wear down defenses keep our rbs fresh but when fornette breaks one he has the ability to take it to the house thats the main difference

  38. All lives matter Says:

    To be fair the ball RoJo fumbled was a tipped ball that was flipping through the air end over end making it hard to handle. He’d been better off if he’d just let it hit the ground first.