I see that Bucs GM Jason Licht is talking up Ronald Jones. Tampa Bay selected him early in the second round last year, and the hope is that he can turn the corner and develop into a contributor.
Jones was supposed to be a starter last year, but that never materialized. He was thoroughly outplayed all along by Peyton Barber, formerly an undrafted free agent, and never came close to being a significantly part of Tampa Bay’s offense.
Jones carried 28 times for 22 yards in the preseason. Had the Bucs not drafted him, you have to wonder if he would have even made the team. He wasn’t much better in the regular season, gaining 44 yards on 23 carries. Bundling together that admittedly small sample of work, he’s sitting at 51 carries for 66 yards as a professional football player, with 2 TDs.
That’s not promising, but Licht indicates that Jones looks like a new-and-improved player. That’s not just his opinion, he says; coaches have noticed it as well.
“Right now the guy that we’re all collectively most impressed with is RoJo,. just his attitude, his willingness to do extra. You can just see the confidence rising in him,” Licht says.
I’m skeptical. It’s common for coaches to talk up players in the offseason. Licht might be simply trying to help Jones regain some confidence. The team would very much like to get something out of him, rather than giving up on a second-round pick.
I won’t get too excited about the possibility of Jones being much of anything until I see him successfully running for a few yards in a preseason game.
I was playing around with some numbers. I see 43 other running backs in this century who carried the ball at least 40 times (in the regular season) and averaged under 3 yards per attempt. Only six of those backs were able to then run for over 700 yards the next season.
| UNDER 3 YARDS PER CARRY (the next year) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | Previous | Att | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 2000 | Terrell Fletcher, S.D. | 48-126-2.6 | 116 | 384 | 3.3 | 3 |
| 2000 | Zack Crockett, Oak. | 45-91-2.0 | 43 | 130 | 3.0 | 7 |
| 2000 | Mario Bates, Det. | 72-202-2.8 | 31 | 127 | 4.1 | 2 |
| 2000 | Adrian Murrell, Was. | 193-553-2.8 | 20 | 50 | 2.5 | 0 |
| 2001 | • Stacey Mack, Jac. | 54-145-2.6 | 213 | 877 | 4.1 | 9 |
| 2001 | Dorsey Levens, G.B. | 77-224-2.9 | 44 | 165 | 3.8 | 0 |
| 2001 | Rodney Thomas, N.E. | 61-175-2.8 | 37 | 126 | 3.4 | 0 |
| 2001 | Fred Beasley, S.F. | 50-147-2.9 | 23 | 73 | 3.2 | 1 |
| 2002 | • Eddie George, Tenn. | 315-939-3.0 | 343 | 1,165 | 3.4 | 12 |
| 2002 | • Warrick Dunn, Atl. | 158-447-2.8 | 230 | 927 | 4.0 | 7 |
| 2002 | Nick Goings, Car. | 66-197-3.0 | 50 | 188 | 3.8 | 0 |
| 2002 | Zack Crockett, Oak. | 57-145-2.5 | 40 | 118 | 3.0 | 8 |
| 2002 | Marc Edwards, N.E. | 51-141-2.7 | 31 | 96 | 3.1 | 0 |
| 2002 | Tony Richardson, K.C. | 66-191-2.8 | 22 | 81 | 3.7 | 2 |
| 2003 | Zack Crockett, Oak. | 40-118-3.0 | 48 | 145 | 3.0 | 7 |
| 2003 | Mike Cloud, N.E. | 49-115-2.3 | 27 | 118 | 4.4 | 5 |
| 2003 | Cory Schlesinger, Det. | 49-139-2.8 | 9 | 16 | 1.8 | 0 |
| 2004 | • Emmitt Smith, Ariz. | 90-256-2.8 | 267 | 937 | 3.5 | 9 |
| 2004 | Dorsey Levens, Phil. | 68-197-2.8 | 94 | 410 | 4.4 | 4 |
| 2005 | Greg Jones, Jac. | 62-162-2.6 | 151 | 575 | 3.8 | 4 |
| 2006 | Dominic Rhodes, Ind. | 40-118-3.0 | 187 | 641 | 3.4 | 5 |
| 2006 | Anthony Thomas, Buff. | 43-92-2.1 | 107 | 378 | 3.5 | 2 |
| 2006 | Noah Herron, G.B. | 48-123-2.5 | 37 | 150 | 4.1 | 1 |
| 2006 | Kevin Faulk, N.E. | 51-145-2.8 | 25 | 123 | 4.9 | 1 |
| 2006 | Marcel Shipp, Ariz. | 157-451-2.8 | 17 | 41 | 2.4 | 4 |
| 2006 | Tony Fisher, St.L. | 60-173-2.8 | 6 | 9 | 1.5 | 0 |
| 2008 | Rudi Johnson, Det. | 170-497-2.9 | 76 | 237 | 3.1 | 1 |
| 2008 | Greg Jones, Jac. | 42-119-2.8 | 2 | 13 | 6.5 | 0 |
| 2009 | Tim Hightower, Ariz. | 143-399-2.8 | 143 | 598 | 4.2 | 8 |
| 2011 | Chester Taylor, Ariz. | 112-267-2.4 | 20 | 77 | 3.9 | 1 |
| 2012 | Tashard Choice, Buff. | 57-152-2.7 | 47 | 193 | 4.1 | 1 |
| 2013 | • Rashad Jennings, Oak. | 101-283-2.8 | 163 | 733 | 4.5 | 6 |
| 2014 | Trent Richardson, Ind. | 188-563-3.0 | 159 | 519 | 3.3 | 3 |
| 2014 | Bernard Pierce, Balt. | 152-436-2.8 | 93 | 366 | 3.9 | 2 |
| 2015 | Charles Sims, T.B. | 66-185-2.8 | 107 | 529 | 4.9 | 0 |
| 2015 | Donald Brown, S.D. | 85-223-2.6 | 59 | 229 | 3.9 | 1 |
| 2016 | Arian Foster, Mia. | 63-163-2.5 | 22 | 55 | 2.5 | 0 |
| 2017 | Doug Martin, T.B. | 144-421-2.9 | 138 | 406 | 2.9 | 3 |
| 2017 | Charles Sims, T.B. | 51-149-2.9 | 21 | 95 | 4.5 | 0 |
| 2017 | Dwayne Washington, Det. | 90-265-2.9 | 20 | 44 | 2.2 | 0 |
| 2018 | • Doug Martin, Oak. | 138-406-2.9 | 172 | 723 | 4.2 | 4 |
| 2018 | DeAndre Washington, Oak. | 57-153-2.6 | 30 | 115 | 3.8 | 0 |
| 2018 | Thomas Rawls, Cin. | 58-157-2.7 | 0 | 0 | -- | 0 |
—Ian Allan