Peyton Barber vs. Ronald Jones
Very much like the Eagles, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers haven’t had above-average running back play since the days of Charles Sims and Doug Martin in 2015. In the three years since then, Tampa’s running backs have combined for the 28th-ranked rushing grade and the league’s 27th-best yards after contact per carry average (2.48).
Barber handled the workload last year, rushing for 871 yards on 234 carries with 627 of those yards coming after contact, but his ability to fight through contact and rack up big gains has left a lot to be desired over recent years. Among the 45 backs with at least 200 attempts since 2017, Barber’s 2.67 yards after contact per attempt ranks 27th and his 30 runs of 10 yards or more are tied for the 33rd-most in that span.
While Jones was almost an absolute non-factor as a rookie in 2018, there’s still hope that a coach like Arians can get him back to 2017 college form, where he earned an FBS-high 93.8 overall grade off the back of forced 58 missed tackles, 25 runs of 15-yards and an average 3.50 yards after contact per carry.
Verdict: Jones’ talent is undeniable, and if Arians can get him even close to his college form, this one won’t be close
