All Twenty-Tuesday: Bucs RB Ronald Jones

In this week’s All-Twenty Tuesday, we’re going to breakdown all 12 of running back Ronald Jones’ carries so far this preseason, starting with the Dolphins game.

Jones’ first carry as a Buccaneer was actually pretty encouraging. It was between the tackles – up the middle, to be exact – and Jones showed good burst right when he was handed the ball.

The man blocking call on the offensive line executed a nice double team, and even when the linebacker tried to jump in, Jones saw it, side-stepped it and was able to rush forward for five yards.

There wasn’t much for Jones to work with on his second carry. It was a stacked box due to how close the Bucs were to the goal line, and the right side of the offensive line couldn’t handle the pressure and let a few guys in after the initial linebacker was picked up. Jones had to side-step, so he couldn’t go full speed or lineup for a leap over the line, so this was just a short gain for him. Nothing out of the ordinary in terms of a negative to point out despite the minimal gain.

Jones’ third carry was his touchdown, and it was a very nice run from a Jones-type player.

The run came from the I-formation (with a fullback) and this was the first time Jones ran behind a true zone blocking scheme play. Fullback Austin Johnson did a great job of picking up the most dangerous linebacker, and Jones saw that immediately. He put his foot in the ground and got right through the running lane for the score.

Zone blocking plays have the potential to give Jones nice rushing lanes outside the box, which have potential to create big runs, so seeing that he was comfortable with that was a good sign.

On Jones’ fourth carry of the game we started to see him become indecisive.

The play was once again a zone blocking play, but this time it wasn’t as effective. Jones didn’t have the same lane he did last time, and therefore tried to continue to veer towards the sideline before cutting up-field. But Jones underestimated the speed of NFL linebackers and was tripped up before he could make it to the outside.

Jones has to know that once that last lane isn’t open, it’s a race for him to get to the edge and get a few yards up the sideline. He has the speed to do so, but he didn’t show it there due to what I believe was just uncertainty and unfamiliarity of NFL game speed.

The rest of Jones’ carries in that game were rough, but it wasn’t all his fault.

The play above was his third straight carry with a zone blocking concept. As mentioned before, getting this down is key for Jones’ skill set to be maximized as a dynamic running because it has the potential to create the most space away from a cluttered box. But the play above was nothing more than the Bucs’ second-string offensive line getting whooped up on. That loss wasn’t on Jones. Nothing he could do with blocking like that.

After that it appeared Jones lost faith in the offensive line. Jones has had some hands problems in practice, both with catching and not fumbling, and I have to think that those mistakes were in the back of his mind when he chose to cover up the ball with two hands the second he touched it in the play above.

Jones has way better burst than what he showed right there. Even though the situation was 3rd-and-25, Jones should have been able to get by that defensive lineman and up the field for a big chunk of yards. He didn’t, and there reason was because he was hesitant.

Jones was shook after that. In the play above, Jones’ seventh carry of the game, he ran right into his offensive lineman, instead of seeing the bigger picture of the hole to his left.

That’s something Jones has to see – and can see. He was in his own head.

When you look at Jones’ first carry of the game to this, his last carry, the mentality and confidence are night and day. Jones no longer had confidence in his offensive line, at the point you see above, and he was already slowing down and protecting the ball before he even hit the line of scrimmage.

If there’s a takeaway form Jones’ first game, it’s that he was confident in the first half, but once the NFL competition reared its head, he got a bit timid. Jones needs to increase his ambition when competition evolves, not shrink.

On Jones’ first carry of the Tennessee game, he was on the back end of an I-formation. I think this was by design due to the fact that Jones seemed to pick up running lanes well in the previous game when he had a fullback to follow.

But the result was not as promising as his touchdown was out of that same formation the week before. It also seemed like the right guard didn’t even know it was a run play at the snap, which didn’t help.

During Ronald Jones’ sophomore season at USC, he looked like a nice running back, but looked like he lacked great burst and top speed. During his junior season, that changed. Jones had some of the best burst in the country, and his top speed was up there with the best, too.

The play above looked like sophomore-year Ronald Jones, not the junior-year Ronald Jones the Bucs wanted to draft. That’s both disappointing and encouraging. It’s disappointing that Jones seems timid right now when it comes to unleashing his speed – he’s thinking too much. But it is somewhat encouraging because I’ve seen this from him before, and once he gets that confidence, runs like the one above should be quicker and up the sidelines for big yardage.

Jones’ next carry was once again from the I-formation, and it was designed to get him a little outside the tackles. However, fullback Austin Johnson didn’t take on his block in the play above as well as he did when Jones scored in Miami, and because of that the play was blown up in the backfield.

Whether Jones was running with full confidence or not, his final carry of the Tennessee game likely wouldn’t have been for many yards, but that’s not the point. The point is that you could tell he was indecisive on that play, and that is now a theme for Jones two games in.

Should you worry about Jones?

No. I think he’ll be fine.

The Buccaneers picked him at the perfect spot in the draft to get the most value for his price tag as a young rookie running back, and Jones had a long-ish learning – or, confidence – curve when he was at USC, too. Right now he’s overthinking things, and that’s curbing his ability. But the only way you get over that is with experience.

Jones’ lackluster first two games aren’t due to a lack of talent. Jones still has plenty of that. He just need experience, and he needs to believe in himself more than he’s showing right now – he’s good enough to.

Give him time, and don’t stop believin‘.