Bucs Will Miss Ronald Jones’ Inside Running
March 10th, 2022
A guy just about forgotten about this offseason is Bucs running back Ronald Jones.
RoJo, a Bucs second-round pick in 2018, is one of many Bucs free agents. And with Tampa Bay struggling to find nickels and dimes to keep Playoff Lenny, Joe doesn’t think the Bucs have prioritized re-signing RoJo.
Probably best for both parties is RoJo finding greener grass. Just based on his social media posts right after the season, it seems RoJo is frustrated with the Bucs. Joe has the sense the Bucs feel RoJo has hit his production ceiling.
Considering where his career was after a dreadful rookie season, it says something about RoJo that he became an effective runner and for most of a Super Bowl-winning season, he was the Bucs’ No. 1 back until injuries and The Sickness sidelined him and opened the door for Playoff Lenny.
Joe remembers last year referencing RoJo as a fullback because he had much of his success up the middle. Joe got roasted for that but numbers don’t lie. Per NextGen Stats, only the human freight train in Nashville, Derrick Henry, had more success running between the tackles than RoJo.
So yeah, when the fireworks burst in the sky to signal a new NFL league year, which also sounds the free agency dinner bell ringing on Wednesday, Joe is confident that RoJo’s days with the Bucs will be done.
Joe suspects the Bucs will miss his power running. You know, like a fullback.
Bucs running back Ronald Jones has been among the most efficient rushers in the NFL this season on runs between the tackles.@rojo gained +239 rushing yards over expected on inside runs during the regular season, 2nd-most in the NFL (behind Derrick Henry, +296).#SBLV | #GoBucs pic.twitter.com/PoAxFpxEQD
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) February 4, 2021
March 10th, 2022 at 3:53 am
I’m sorry for what Koetter did to the guy, but as has been said numerous times here… It’s just time to move on
March 10th, 2022 at 3:56 am
I didn’t forget him, part of the reason we lost last year was the coaching staffs failure of imagination and strategy with quality players riding the pine too often. Team had no balance. Healthy Scotty Miller AWOL during a receiver room crisis? What a joke…
March 10th, 2022 at 4:41 am
I won’t miss RoJo stepping gingerly out of bounds shy of the first down marker to avoid contact, or using his cinder block hands to try to catch swing passes.
March 10th, 2022 at 5:25 am
if letting lenny go, i see absolutely no reason to let rojo go as well…
dumping two potential 1,000 yard runners off your squad seems like sheer stupidity to me…
if tom is returning you go with lenny – of course…
with no tom, you go with rojo as your workhorse back…he could do 1,500 yards if we have a garbage qb…you need a running back to lean on if your qbs are a joke…
i.e. james wilder
March 10th, 2022 at 5:31 am
His issue is still bad pass blocking and stone hands – he can tote the rock though
He needs to find a more run oriented scheme to play in, maybe Pittsburg would be a good place for him as a second back, or TN/IN
March 10th, 2022 at 5:56 am
“Failure of coaching”?! Right. Because that’s what happened.
NOT Lenny outplayed him.
NOT he played tentative.
NOT he couldn’t block.
NOT he couldn’t catch.
NOT he had no football IQ.
NOT that he never improved.
Right. “Coaching.”
Jones had ample opportunity and at a position that requires you to stick your face in the fan, he dipped his pinky-toe.
Give me a “less talented” back that will run through a wall for you on every play.
No thanks, best wishes Rojo!
March 10th, 2022 at 6:31 am
The coaching staff don’t like the kid. He will go elsewhere and bow up the league. As good as BA is he has issues as well. He can be hard headed.
March 10th, 2022 at 6:32 am
Yeah we’d miss RJ but nowhere near as much as we would miss Fournette. I would support going after Philip Rivers too if they got a spend money on another quarterback and not go with what they have already
March 10th, 2022 at 6:34 am
I thought Vaughn looked like the obvious better runner than rojo last season when he came on..It took a while but I liked what I saw.Draft a fifth or 6th rounder dime a dozen.
Get DeSean watson!!!!!!!!!!
March 10th, 2022 at 6:40 am
Amazing back, but not in the modern NFL. Rojo would’ve been a HOF back 10-30 years ago when pass blocking and catching didn’t matter.
Once we got Tom Brady, his fate was sealed.
I wish we would’ve used him more last year, but Lenny played really well that it was hard to justify breaking his momentum and versatility for fresh legs.
I like Vaughn a lot, and I think we can find a couple other backs relatively cheaply through free agency and the draft.
Priorities need to be fixing the offensive and defensive lines. Lots of departures there, and just too much aging. We got kind of lucky Suh didn’t crap out on us last year just like how JPP did.
If Tryon can take a big step forward, our pass rush will likely be improved. I really liked what Anthony Nelson showed also. The interior defensive line needs to get younger/a little more speed though. We have plenty ofpower in Vita Vea, but really lack sudden burst/explosiveness like how the Rams have.
We probably have too many holes to fill with not enough cap space, so I would prioritize the trenches before filling other holes like RB or CB.
March 10th, 2022 at 6:45 am
Bucsfanman, Cleanhouse is a Jameis Winston troll with numerous usernames. He rarely, if ever, makes sense.
March 10th, 2022 at 7:09 am
Clearhouse makes a lot of sense. It’s definitely coaching and knowing how to motivate your players. #7 and Jones should have had a tandem like Zek and Pollard then no one gets hurt too soon. We saw what Jones was capable of when utilized. Stats don’t lie. We won play offs and the super bowl running the ball- with a balance offense. Then when we moved away from it no super bowl. In some of those same games #7 dropped the ball and missed blocks too.
Think Jones is in the wrong offense with a pass happy TB. He’ll do much well in a new system.
March 10th, 2022 at 7:15 am
He also bypassed contact when he could have secured 1st downs….which is why Brady sent him to the bench.
March 10th, 2022 at 7:19 am
Break down stats upon stats all you want, the eye in the sky doesn’t lie. The eye in the sky tells me he’s an average running back and the Bucs aren’t in a position to overpay for average.
March 10th, 2022 at 7:49 am
no loss, poor hands and fumbles….invest in a mid round rookie: the BYU back is a sleeper..
March 10th, 2022 at 7:51 am
Raise your standards Bucs fans! Seriously. Rojo’s “production” can easily be replaced.
March 10th, 2022 at 7:52 am
You may be delusional when it comes to QBs Joe, but not with RBs. RoJo needs to expand his repertoire to be a 3-down back. He hasn’t done that in 4 years with the Bucs. No reason to believe that he’d all of a sudden blow up here in another year. Elsewhere? MAYBE. Time for both to move on.
March 10th, 2022 at 7:54 am
guess i’m removed from commenting, can’t understand what i would have said? selective comments in here….
March 10th, 2022 at 8:02 am
One thingi noticed about his between-the-tackles runs… The guy hits full speed quick as a burp.
March 10th, 2022 at 8:10 am
Suffering since 76- yes I was a Jameis fan, is he Tom Brady no- clearly not close- his brain doesn’t seem to work very well. Does he have some upside- yeah…. Have I ever had another screen name- No..
Would I rather have Jameis and RoJo next season than Gabbert and Vaughn by himself….Yes….I didn’t like bailing on Jameis but I can admit it was obviously worth it, winning a Super Bowl… But I consistently made the argument that we’d be in the needy position we’re in now in two years….If Ariana wasn’t such a head case, he would have kept Winston as Tom Brady’s backup at a lower price….Just like he watched Brees…but even better. I like JW as a player, we had a lot of offense with him.
March 10th, 2022 at 8:14 am
Bobby M is right, Rojo would duck out of bounds a yard or 2 shy of the first down marker rather than pick up a key first down, he also had stone hands to boot. Like many who leave Tampa, he will likely do well wherever he goes, I just hope he does not have a subpar year and then face the Bucs and puts up some big numbers like Desean Jackson did when he went to the Rams (he did nothing for them except for the Tampa game where he ripped off a 75 yard TD his only TD with them)… That happens way too much when ex-Bucs play Tampa, they have career days….
March 10th, 2022 at 8:23 am
Cleanhouse, I’m an FSU guy as well but those pick 6’s Jameis threw for the Bucs in that 30 INT year are hard to forget. Granted Matt Gay cost the guy a couple of Ws but he was what he was; the starting qb on a 7-9 team. Is he better than Gabbert? Yeah that is likely but no way Jameis comes back to Tampa, that ship has sailed, no way he plays for BA. JW is going to hope that he can stay healthy in New Orleans but lets see how well he does with a new head coach and a roster that is about to be gutted by the cap and the status of Alvin Kamara is uncertain due to his felony assult case in Vegas but he will likely get it plead down.
March 10th, 2022 at 8:44 am
We don’t run the ball at all so it was a waste keeping him
March 10th, 2022 at 8:46 am
Anytime this guy got past the line of scrimmage it was unexpected… idk why these stat needs numbers matter now
March 10th, 2022 at 8:53 am
They didn’t seem to miss him this past season
March 10th, 2022 at 8:56 am
They will miss Marpet, not Rojo.
March 10th, 2022 at 8:56 am
I appreciate the numerous plays where Jones broke a nice run, especially the long one against the Kitties.
He is an excellent runner, but in Arians offense, you need to be a better blocker & receiver than a runner.
He’s the kind of guy that goes in late, fresh, and wears an already tired defense out.
I will miss Jones and wish him well.
March 10th, 2022 at 9:43 am
I won’t miss clueless Bucs fans trying to criticize a guy that has been, but far, our best RB since Doug Martin’s last good year. There are the same fools that ran Donald Penn out of town and thought Paris Warren was destined for the Hall of Fame. Probably also the same guys that still worship Cadillac Williams, who may have had the worst hands of any player I’ve ever seen during his first couple of seasons.
March 10th, 2022 at 9:46 am
He will fade away like Doug William’s. I wont miss him.
March 10th, 2022 at 9:54 am
Good riddance. He’s an okay runner, but he’s not versatile and will get a QB hurt one day. He’s certainly not worth paying as a FA. Very few RBs are. Love Lenny, but he can walk too. We have more dire needs at CB and OL. Plus, sneak looked the part in limited action last year. Bring in a youngster out of the draft to compete and let sneak give it a go.
March 10th, 2022 at 11:01 am
Trusting mainstream stats with no context is soo dumb. When was the last time RoJo got a 4th and 1? Am I the only one that remembers him getting stuffed on the 1 in the Super Bowl? RoJo = Trash
March 10th, 2022 at 11:02 am
The fullback role was defined as a lead blocker in 2 back sets. Safe to say, Rojo would never have fit that mold.
March 10th, 2022 at 11:47 am
Great runner, poor pass blocker.
@Leighroy – RoJo was actually deadly on those swing passes…. What game are you watching?
March 10th, 2022 at 1:04 pm
Under utilized. Bruce arians and his staff cannot coach. We already had a great passing offense before his staff got here. Thanks to evans godwin brate miller and even jameis winston. Arians said what he had to say to entice brady. We owe brady and his on field coaching/leadership for our super bowl.
March 10th, 2022 at 4:51 pm
The best thing that I can think of to say about Rojo, is that he played better for us than Gary Anderson. I was pumped when we traded for that guy and he was lousy as all get out. I was excited about Rojo in the same way after watching his college highlights, but the kid just don’t got it.
March 11th, 2022 at 8:38 am
RoJo has a future in the NFL, just not with The Bucs.
March 11th, 2022 at 5:33 pm
Rojo rode the pine a lot because of fumbles. For that reason he never gained the confidence of his coaches, nor had the confidence in himself needed to reach an effective level. He also dropped too many passes and couldn’t really pass block well. Loads of talent….just never came together while a Buccaneer. I loved that huge run against the Panthers, but other than that he didn’t really help the team like he could have. The team can replace him pretty easily.