While at USC, Ronald Jones was “the Man.” In 2017 alone he ran for 1,550 yards with 19 touchdowns and 5.9 yards per carry, slightly lower than his 6.1 the previous year. He has blazing speed and is agile, good at planting his foot and changing directions to break loose. With all of that talent the Buccaneers took him in the 2018 draft as a second-round pick.
The Bucs had big plans for Jones considering his career at USC and the fact that they did not sign another RB in the off season. But Jason Licht’s hopes were dashed when Jones had a pathetic preseason bordering on incompetence. Peyton Barber ended up beating him out for the starting spot. Since the regular season has been underway, the problems have become even worse. Jones has been struggling at learning to block and catching the ball out of the backfield. It has also been rumored he’s been having trouble digesting an NFL playbook. Another sad statistic is that Jones has also only been active during 5 games so far.
After half a season, should Jones be considered a bust? In my opinion, you can’t label him as a bust just yet. Jones is still extremely young and has a lot left to learn. You can’t define him a bust after just half a season.
