We saw a flash or two in the preseason, but other than that nothing stood out for the second-round draft pick, Ronald Jones II.
So, is RO-JO a NO-GO? It certainly seemed that way during the preseason. Ronald Jones II carried the rock 28 times for a grand total of 22 yards. He did score a touchdown on one of his longer runs, during his first outing, however, other than a nice 36-yard catch, he hadn’t done anything worthy of all the praise he’s received prior to preseason.
So what’s his deal?
Coach Koetter stated that Jones II is not having any playbook issues and understands the plays just fine; So what is holding back our second-round draft pick that had been hyped so much at the beginning of the underwear practice? He was even considered to be a #3 rookie RB for fantasy football and actually had really good attributes in Madden 19. I think, as does my colleague James Coleman, that it boils down to the personnel he was playing with. Jones was hit so many times behind the line of scrimmage that it was obvious at that point he was going to have a tough time getting past the line, partially, due to the lack of push from the offensive line. However, it seems that unless he has a hole to run through, RO-JO will be a NO-GO.
After reviewing all of the preseason action Jones was a part of, you can count on him improving to become an integral part of our offense, some time down the road. But for now, he’s fully earned that 3 spot and unless he learns how to push through defensive lineman, or open his own holes to run through, he will never be any better than a 3rd stringer. I will give it more time before I call him a bust, but his preseason performance points towards that direction.
Thank goodness we have Peyton Barber.
