Ronald Jones and His Perfect Imperfections
Ronald Jones is one of the most underappreciated talents on the Buccaneers roster.
The 3rd year running back had his best season as a professional in 2020. And for the vast majority of the year, his abilities were either doubted by fans or downplayed by his head coach, Bruce Arians.
A big part of the downplaying of Jones was due to the bigger names and options in the RB rotation. Both Leonard Fournette and LeSean McCoy enjoyed marquee attraction success prior to joining the BUCS. Their arrival in Tampa made Jones expendable in the minds of many fans.
Even Bruce Arians resorted to the collegiate tactic of sitting Jones any time he did something imperfectly. With two other RBs on the roster that had previous success and notoriety, it seemed as if Arians had made it a point to show Jones that he could be replaced on the field at any time.
It wasn’t the first time the head coach tried to send the message. In Week 13 of 2019, Arians benched Jones for missing a blitz pick-up against Jacksonville. He was replaced by Peyton Barber, the guy whose starting job he took 4 weeks earlier, and Dare Ogunbo’whats-his-name, a guy that missed just as many pass protections as Ronald Jones but was the designated 3rd down RB for some reason.
The decision was made. “Ronald Jones can’t pass protect. He’s a liability.”
It was a perfect storm for fans and commentators to dismiss the RB they’ve only become familiar with after he was limited to opportunities in his rookie season(23 rushing attempts in 9 games played) and was led to believe he wasn’t capable of catching the ball coming of college. Ronald Jones was “limited”. There’s no way he could be the proverbial “complete back”.
Any time Jones shows signs of any imperfection, it seems to trigger many fans’ initial impression of him and how or why they doubted him, to begin with. Confirmation bias is what some would call it. Very few took the time to see just why the former USC Trojan didn’t enter the NFL with a reputation for being an outlet in the passing game. They missed the fact that USC just didn’t throw to the RBs much.
The complete truth of the matter is he’s the most complete and most dangerous RB the BUCS have had on the roster since Warrick Dunn. Dunn wasn’t known for his blocking either. At 5-9, 180lbs, he couldn’t have been. But he was a serious threat to take it to the house any time he touched the ball.
And the same goes for Jones.
over-analyzed?
Now, Jones isn’t without his imperfections. No player is.
His biggest critics will often point to dropped passes as his biggest flaw. And that would be a valid point. However, it still seems quite exaggerated.
Dropped passes are one of those subjective stats like many of the “advanced stats” found in PFF or Football Outsiders. Almost every outlet has a different way of calculating its stats and formulas as well as what constitutes a dropped pass. Some tend to go by the notion that if the ball touches a player’s hands, he’s supposed to catch it. That would be like saying if an item fits in a bowl, it’s edible.
According to NBC Sports, Washington Post, and Pro Football Reference, Jones dropped 5 passes on 42 targets for the year. That was more than enough for many fellow BUCS fans as well as reporters to question whether or not the other RBs on the roster were better options in the passing game and, overall, better as the starter.
Well, Fournette ended up with 7 drops on his 47 targets as a receiver. McCoy was a relative non-factor with 15 catches on 19 attempts which recorded 2 drops. And 3rd Round Pick, Ke’Shawn Vaughn came away with 5 catches on his 10 opportunities. He was (dis)credited with 3 drops.
Just like before, finding a replacement isn’t the same as finding an upgrade.
You’ll see many clamors for someone the like of New England’s James White. White isn’t nearly as explosive as Jones is as a runner. And the offense he’s in has been heavily predicated on scheming open short passes which led to plenty of opportunities both in-game and in practice.
Here’s a look at the 5 drops Jones had on the season. Some down-right UGLY moments, for sure.
Under-Used?
While talented, none of the aforementioned RBs had the kind of explosiveness Ronald Jones showed all season long. Even with his flaws, Jones proved he’s a legit starter-level talent at running back. If he was a truly featured back, he’d be one of the absolute best.
If any of those 5 drops are enough to dismiss the fact that Ronald Jones was a Top 5 RB for the vast majority of the season gaining 5.1 yards per carry, something is terribly wrong. Dobbins(BAL), Chubb(CLE), Jones(GB), Henry(TEN), and Sanders(PHI) were the only RBs to average more per attempt.
It’s important to note that Jones was also one of the most underutilized weapons in the entire League as well. Having a RB that can gain yards as quickly and consistently as Jone did, you’d expect him to get the ball routinely. That' wasn’t the case.
Jones averaged 13 rushing attempts per game to end the regular season. 17 other RBs averaged more attempts per game. There were 6 games in which he didn’t even get 13 carries.
Most notable was the Week 12 match-up against Kansas where he got just 9 carries. What was so befuddling about it was that he got 66 yards on that limited amount and he still wasn’t used in the 4th quarter. Neither as a runner or a receiving option.
Up until Week 12, Jones was a Top 5 RB(yards) despite having only averaged 14 carries a game at the time. He was ranked 14th among the League’s RBs up to that point. All of the leading rushers from that time finished the 2020 season with 1,000+ yards. All except Ronald Jones, that is. He finished 22 yards shy of that mark.
Also, all of those other rushers had at least 48 more carries than Jones to end the season.
The “Complete Back” Conundrum
The “complete back” talk is very much along the same lines “shutdown corner” and just shy of “franchise quarterback”.
Players have to develop into those roles. They can’t be gifted. They can’t be anointed.
That 3rd Round Pick Ke’Shawn Vaughn was, allegedly, a “complete back”. That’s why he was drafted so high. Right?
He was the guy that could step in and take over for a less-than-perfect Jones. Right??
NOPE.
Didn’t happen. He went missing before the midpoint of the season. And that’s a young fella with talent too. His talent just isn’t at the level of a Ronald Jones.
Jones is as “complete” of a RB that one should be asking for. Imperfections and all.
He can still catch out of the backfield. Yes…even with the drops.
He can still pass block just as well as most starting RBs.
He runs as hard as any RB in the League. Led the League in Yards After Contact per Attempt(3.0).
And it ain’t something new. He’s been running hard since USC.
Missed blocking assignments happen. It happens to guys whose only job is to block.
Dropped passes happen. Hardly inexcusable. But the same goes for WRs and QB interceptions.
But averaging 5 yards per carry and getting damn near 1,000 rushing while being one of the most curiously least used RB in the League? That doesn’t just happen. It’s not easily replaceable.
Until Jones habitually puts the BUCS in a bad situation with drops or routinely endangers the QB, I’ll gladly call him the most complete RB talent the BUCS have seen in 15+ years.
Check Out More Of Ronald Jones In Action HERE
