I wrote this blog not too long ago. The Bucs are undergoing the ultimate strategy. If Tampa actually wants to win football games in 2020, the formula has to change. They’re not winning the division by throwing the ball all-time with Tom Brady. Tampa will have to lean on Ronald Jones more with Brady under center. The problem is Jones has been a big disappointment since being drafted in the 2nd round out of USC in 2018. Jason Licht, the Bucs GM, says the team is still really high on Ronald Jones.
“We do think Ronald hasn’t even scratched the surface of what he can be,” Licht said. “He made a huge jump from Year 1 to Year 2. He didn’t have to do much to do that because Year 1 wasn’t very good for him. But Year 2, we felt very good about where he came and we think he still has a tremendous amount of upside.
“It doesn’t stop us from wanting to add to that [running backs] group … but we have a lot of faith in Ronald, and in fact, we have more faith in him now that we ever have. But that’s another position, as you can tell [when] you look across the league, some of the better teams they have one, two or three guys that they can rely on in different roles in their offense.”
Licht could be right. Maybe it’s too early to give up on Jones? After a pathetic rookie season, Jones’ year two campaign was much more respectable. On 172 carries, Jones rushed for 724 yards and 6 touchdowns (4.2 per carry). Jones will head into his age 23 season so he has time to turn things around.
The thing you can’t deny is that Tampa just can’t count on Jones. They need to add one more running back in the draft. As of right now, Dare Ogunbowale, T.J. Logan and Aca’Cedric Ware are the other running backs on the roster. It figures to be a position Tampa takes care of in the draft in addition to their offensive line.
