We’re a week away from the full start of the preseason, and Ronald Jones is one of the first guys I’ll want to get eyes on. Supposedly he’s running with a lot more confidence this year.
The Bucs selected Jones early in the second round because they thought he could be their starting tailback, but he was hopelessly ineffective as a rookie. In the preseason, his 28 carries resulted in only 22 yards. He wasn’t much better in the real games (23 carries, 44 yards).
But Jones supposedly is new and improved this year. They were talking him up in the offseason, and Jones popped a couple of big runs when they had their first practice with full pads on Tuesday.
“He’s an explosive player,” Bruce Arians says, as reported in the Tampa Bay Times. “He’s going to be a heck of a player for us. He’s going to make big plays for us. . . . He’s probably best between the tackles, but he took that one around the end and nobody could catch him. He’s got that breakaway speed and the size. His best runs have been tackle to tackle until that one.”
Peyton Barber has led the team in rushing the last two years, but he’s a modest talent – a grinder who’ll run hard but lacks top-end speed and special elusiveness. Arians indicates he thinks Barber and Jones are “going to be a heck of a 1-2 punch.”
On my board, I’m going with Barber as Tampa Bay’s No. 1 running back, but I’m narrowing the gap between him and Jones. In my eyes, Barber should be one of the last starting running backs chosen, while Jones should be one of the first No. 2 backs selected.
Keep in mind with these guys, however, that Arians doesn’t have a great track record with running backs. His offenses tend to be more pass-oriented. One huge exception, of course – David Johnson was the most productive back in the league back in 2016 (using PPR scoring). But Arians has been the offensive coordinator or head coach for 11 teams since 2007, and only six of those teams have had a top-20 running back.
| BRUCE ARIANS: TOP 50 RUNNING BACKS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Player | No | ReYd | RuYd | ToYd | TD | PPR | Rk |
| 2016 | David Johnson, Ariz. | 80 | 879 | 1,239 | 2,118 | 20 | 413.8 | 1 |
| 2010 | Rashard Mendenhall, Pitt. | 23 | 167 | 1,273 | 1,440 | 13 | 245.0 | 11 |
| 2015 | David Johnson, Ariz. | 36 | 457 | 581 | 1,038 | 13 | 217.8 | 7 |
| 2009 | Rashard Mendenhall, Pitt. | 25 | 261 | 1,108 | 1,369 | 8 | 209.9 | 17 |
| 2007 | Willie Parker, Pitt. | 23 | 164 | 1,316 | 1,480 | 2 | 183.0 | 20 |
| 2014 | Andre Ellington, Ariz. | 46 | 395 | 660 | 1,055 | 5 | 181.5 | 19 |
| 2011 | Rashard Mendenhall, Pitt. | 18 | 154 | 928 | 1,082 | 9 | 180.2 | 22 |
| 2008 | Mewelde Moore, Pitt. | 40 | 320 | 588 | 908 | 6 | 166.8 | 29 |
| 2013 | Andre Ellington, Ariz. | 39 | 371 | 652 | 1,023 | 4 | 165.3 | 26 |
| 2013 | Rashard Mendenhall, Ariz. | 18 | 134 | 687 | 821 | 8 | 150.1 | 29 |
| 2012 | Vick Ballard, Ind. | 17 | 152 | 814 | 966 | 3 | 131.6 | 33 |
| 2007 | Najeh Davenport, Pitt. | 18 | 184 | 499 | 683 | 7 | 128.3 | 38 |
| 2008 | Willie Parker, Pitt. | 3 | 13 | 791 | 804 | 5 | 113.4 | 46 |
| 2015 | Chris Johnson, Ariz. | 6 | 58 | 814 | 872 | 3 | 111.2 | 48 |
| 2011 | Isaac Redman, Pitt. | 18 | 78 | 479 | 557 | 3 | 91.7 | 48 |
| 2015 | Andre Ellington, Ariz. | 15 | 148 | 289 | 437 | 3 | 76.7 | 68 |
| 2012 | Donald Brown, Ind. | 9 | 93 | 417 | 510 | 1 | 68.0 | 60 |
| 2017 | Kerwynn Williams, Ariz. | 10 | 93 | 426 | 519 | 1 | 67.9 | 71 |
| 2014 | Stepfan Taylor, Ariz. | 11 | 79 | 208 | 287 | 4 | 65.7 | 71 |
| 2009 | Mewelde Moore, Pitt. | 21 | 153 | 118 | 271 | 2 | 64.4 | 68 |
| 2010 | Mewelde Moore, Pitt. | 26 | 205 | 99 | 304 | 0 | 60.4 | 66 |
| 2009 | Willie Parker, Pitt. | 6 | 64 | 389 | 453 | 1 | 57.3 | 73 |
| 2010 | Isaac Redman, Pitt. | 9 | 72 | 247 | 319 | 2 | 52.9 | 71 |
| 2011 | Mewelde Moore, Pitt. | 11 | 104 | 157 | 261 | 1 | 43.1 | 83 |
| 2012 | Delone Carter, Ind. | 1 | 13 | 122 | 135 | 3 | 32.5 | 92 |
| 2017 | D.J. Foster, Ariz. | 17 | 133 | 19 | 152 | 0 | 32.2 | 89 |
| 2017 | Elijhaa Penny, Ariz. | 4 | 38 | 124 | 162 | 2 | 32.2 | 90 |
| 2016 | Andre Ellington, Ariz. | 12 | 85 | 96 | 181 | 0 | 30.1 | 92 |
| 2016 | Kerwynn Williams, Ariz. | 1 | 6 | 157 | 163 | 2 | 29.3 | 94 |
| 2013 | Alfonso Smith, Ariz. | 10 | 68 | 54 | 122 | 1 | 28.2 | 95 |
| 2014 | Kerwynn Williams, Ariz. | 2 | 11 | 246 | 257 | 0 | 27.7 | 96 |
| 2013 | Stepfan Taylor, Ariz. | 8 | 71 | 115 | 186 | 0 | 26.6 | 99 |
| 2008 | Gary Russell, Pitt. | 1 | -2 | 77 | 75 | 3 | 26.5 | 90 |
| 2015 | Kerwynn Williams, Ariz. | 2 | 16 | 142 | 158 | 1 | 23.8 | 107 |
| 2007 | Carey Davis, Pitt. | 12 | 49 | 68 | 117 | 0 | 23.7 | 96 |
| 2014 | Robert Hughes, Ariz. | 8 | 140 | 11 | 151 | 0 | 23.1 | 102 |
| 2012 | Mewelde Moore, Ind. | 6 | 77 | 20 | 97 | 1 | 21.7 | 113 |
| 2017 | Chris Johnson, Ariz. | 5 | 43 | 114 | 157 | 0 | 20.7 | 99 |
| 2014 | Marion Grice, Ariz. | 7 | 29 | 41 | 70 | 1 | 20.0 | 109 |
| 2016 | Chris Johnson, Ariz. | 0 | 0 | 95 | 95 | 1 | 15.5 | 113 |
| 2017 | David Johnson, Ariz. | 6 | 67 | 23 | 90 | 0 | 15.0 | 110 |
| 2014 | Jonathan Dwyer, Ariz. | 2 | 8 | 51 | 59 | 1 | 13.9 | 121 |
| 2011 | Jonathan Dwyer, Pitt. | 1 | 6 | 123 | 129 | 0 | 13.9 | 117 |
| 2008 | Carey Davis, Pitt. | 5 | 27 | 35 | 62 | 0 | 11.2 | 124 |
| 2011 | John Clay, Pitt. | 0 | 0 | 41 | 41 | 1 | 10.1 | 127 |
| 2008 | Rashard Mendenhall, Pitt. | 2 | 17 | 58 | 75 | 0 | 9.5 | 128 |
| 2015 | Stepfan Taylor, Ariz. | 1 | 4 | 58 | 62 | 0 | 7.2 | 136 |
| 2010 | Jonathan Dwyer, Pitt. | 0 | 0 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 2.8 | 140 |
| 2007 | Dan Kreider, Pitt. | 1 | 15 | 2 | 17 | 0 | 2.7 | 144 |
| 2007 | Verron Haynes, Pitt. | 1 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 2.2 | 146 |
—Ian Allan