When the Buccaneers selected Ronald Jones II in the 2nd round of the 2018 draft there was little Buccaneer fans knew of the speedy back from McKinney, Texas. When you broke the tape down of his days at USC you saw speed that could go to the house with a sliver of daylight. Then the running back got lost in the dumpster fire that was the Dirk Koetter Buccaneers offense. Why is there optimism for #27 in 2020?
The third year back met with the media on Monday and talked about the state of the Buccaneers backfield. He touched on several subjects from new Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady, to catching the football and being more involved in the passing game.
On Tom Brady
“Working with Tom was great”, ” being able to get some chemistry . So he could see my tempo, my speed, my routes and things like that”. Jones went on to say, “So, hitting the field week 1, we will be ready and he’ll know how to go off on me.”.
When Jones II spoke of how he thinks Brady is doing learning the new offense, it was as informative on some of the struggles he himself had in the Tampa Bay offense his first seasons in the league.
On Learning The Buccaneers Offense
“My first year I was in Dirk Koetter’s system and it was a challenge. It was like a foreign language for me coming from college to the pros.” On year 2 in Arians system, “It has been easier and things like that. In terms of Tom, I wouldn’t even know. None of the guys would know either that he was having to learn it because he hasn’t missed a beat.” Finishing the thought with, ” You know his resume, so its good to be out there with a guy like that–a real field general’.
More Involvement In The Passing Game
From the moment the Buccaneers signed Tom Brady in March the most talked about facet of the Buccaneers running backs has been their ability to receive out of the backfield. This fact was not lost on the veteran running back. When asked about being involved more in the passing game and Brady’s ability for better ball placement, Jones responded; “for me its exciting because you get more touches that way. I look forward to challenge being more of a receiver this year and getting the ball in space, too” finishing, “as a running back you can not ask for more”.
Scariest Of Thoughts
Thinking back again to his tape at USC. The elusive, speedy, straight-up running Jones II is dangerous in space. A strategic passing attack could go far in opening those slivers of daylight that could allow Jones II to turn on the burners. The scarier thought for opposing defenses might be a quarterback like the GOAT, putting the ball in places that allow the eunning back to catch with momentum and tear up secondaries.
Thirty-three days until New Orleans. Who is ready for some football?
