Saw a story go by that Jameis Winston is talking up second-year running back Ronald Jones. "He's getting comfortable in this offense," says Winston. Jones was pretty much a disaster as a rookie, both running it and catching it, so there's nowhere to go but up.
I'm not ready to sign off on Jones, because he hasn't shown to be any good at what Bruce Arians' offense will require. In Arizona, the running backs were heavily involved in receivers. In 2016, when things were clicking for Arizona, their running backs (mostly David Johnson) led the NFL in receiving yards by the position. Even next year, when everything fell apart and Arians had one foot out the door, they were 12th.
Then look at 2018. Only one team, Houston, had fewer receiving yards from its running backs than Tampa Bay. (The Arians-less Arizona team was just 21st.)
| RUNNING BACK RECEIVING YARDS/GAME, 2016-2018 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 2016 | Rk | 2017 | Rk | 2018 | Rk |
| LA Chargers | 43.3 | 10 | 51.0 | 7 | 65.6 | 1 |
| New England | 44.9 | 8 | 57.4 | 3 | 62.4 | 2 |
| Chicago | 31.8 | 28 | 45.7 | 13 | 60.3 | 3 |
| Kansas City | 42.6 | 11 | 42.7 | 17 | 57.6 | 4 |
| Carolina | 23.1 | 32 | 47.0 | 9 | 57.4 | 5 |
| New Orleans | 55.3 | 4 | 78.4 | 1 | 56.4 | 6 |
| NY Giants | 38.9 | 16 | 38.0 | 24 | 53.8 | 7 |
| Oakland | 52.7 | 5 | 39.8 | 22 | 52.4 | 8 |
| Jacksonville | 34.7 | 21 | 49.1 | 8 | 49.4 | 9 |
| San Francisco | 35.4 | 20 | 52.8 | 5 | 48.8 | 10 |
| Detroit | 43.7 | 9 | 39.6 | 23 | 47.1 | 11 |
| Pittsburgh | 48.3 | 6 | 41.9 | 19 | 47.0 | 12 |
| Cleveland | 56.5 | 3 | 57.7 | 2 | 44.5 | 13 |
| Denver | 34.1 | 24 | 43.7 | 15 | 43.8 | 14 |
| LA Rams | 29.3 | 30 | 52.6 | 6 | 42.3 | 15 |
| Miami | 33.1 | 26 | 30.7 | 31 | 41.9 | 16 |
| Philadelphia | 40.9 | 14 | 31.0 | 30 | 41.3 | 17 |
| Dallas | 33.6 | 25 | 33.9 | 26 | 40.0 | 18 |
| Indianapolis | 37.0 | 17 | 33.9 | 27 | 38.5 | 19 |
| Washington | 31.4 | 29 | 55.3 | 4 | 38.3 | 20 |
| Arizona | 60.6 | 1 | 46.1 | 12 | 37.7 | 21 |
| Green Bay | 35.7 | 18 | 31.2 | 29 | 37.6 | 22 |
| NY Jets | 42.4 | 12 | 44.3 | 14 | 37.4 | 23 |
| Buffalo | 34.6 | 22 | 41.6 | 20 | 36.8 | 24 |
| Minnesota | 35.6 | 19 | 42.6 | 18 | 35.2 | 25 |
| Cincinnati | 40.9 | 13 | 46.9 | 10 | 34.7 | 26 |
| Seattle | 39.1 | 15 | 46.8 | 11 | 31.8 | 27 |
| Tennessee | 33.0 | 27 | 25.1 | 32 | 31.2 | 28 |
| Atlanta | 59.1 | 2 | 40.6 | 21 | 29.4 | 29 |
| Baltimore | 45.3 | 7 | 43.1 | 16 | 28.4 | 30 |
| Tampa Bay | 34.3 | 23 | 32.6 | 28 | 27.4 | 31 |
| Houston | 23.4 | 31 | 37.8 | 25 | 23.8 | 32 |
Seems safe to say running back receiving in Tampa Bay will go way up this year. Can they count on Jones? Or is it more likely that Peyton Barber and another back, either former Cardinal Andre Ellington (yes he's on the roster; 30 years old now), or undrafted Bruce Anderson, actually picks up that work?
Anderson, out of North Dakota State, is getting drafted in some early best-ball leagues, on the idea that maybe he'll emerge as Tampa Bay's main back. Should be noted, though, that Anderson also didn't show anything as a receiver in college, catching 20 passes in 26 games the last two seasons.
I'm taking a wait-and-see approach on Jones. He's never been shown to be a capable receiver -- 32 catches in 30 games at Southern Cal -- so it's hard to have confidence he'll suddenly turn it on this year. I think Barber is the only running back you can select with any confidence from this team.
--Andy Richardson