Run Game

Ronald Jones

I fully believe Bruce Arians when he says “RoJo is our guy,” but I also know that this offense is too talented to suffer mistakes from key starters. Jones will begin the season as “the guy” for the Bucs at running back, and to keep that role he’ll need to eliminate drops and missed blocks in pass protection.

Bucs RB Ronald Jones II – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Jones has drawn rave reviews during training camp, both for packing on muscle in the offseason and for how much he has improved as an all-around player, namely in receiving and pass protection. That bodes extremely well for him to have a big 2020 season going over 1,000 all-purpose yards, but I still don’t think Tampa Bay will be a run-heavy team, nor will it rely solely on one back to be a bell-cow each week.

Jones is the guy, but he’s not “the guy” like Christian McCaffrey is in Carolina or Saquon Barkley is in New York. He’ll lead the way, but I would be a little surprised by a 1,000-yard season. That doesn’t mean he isn’t capable, I’m just not convinced Jones wil get that kind of workload.

Attempts: 191
Yards: 874
Avg: 4.6
TDs: 5

Leonard Fournette

Bucs RB Leonard Fournette – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Part of the difficulty in projecting Fournette’s 2020 production, outside of the fact that he just joined the team on Tuesday and may not settle into the offense right away, is that his margin of opportunity likely rests somewhat on the play of Jones, who has been a mixed bag himself through two seasons. There is also the question of how much weight Fournette’s pedigree and raw numbers might hold in the mind of a coach like Arians, who may be more prone to feed Fournette touches because he’s had a reputation as being able to handle a heavy workload.

Those things make projecting Fournette’s total attempts difficult, but his career sample size is pretty clear that he is not a creator and needs clearly defined gaps in order to be successful as a runner. An improved offensive line should help, as will running out of more spread looks if the Bucs are able to do so. I think Fournette sees a slight resurgence due to the talent around him in Tampa Bay, but I think he’ll be second fiddle to RoJo all season.

Attempts: 155
Yards: 681
Avg: 4.4
TDs: 7

LeSean McCoy

Bucs RB LeSean McCoy – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The signing of Fournette puts McCoy in a worse spot than he was last year in Kansas City, where he spent the late regular season and much of the playoffs inactive. McCoy should still dress on game days based on Arians’ comments about him still clearly having a role, but I wouldn’t expect a major impact or more than a handful of snaps a game, if that.

Attempts: 33
Yards: 148
Avg: 4.5
TDs: 1