With football just merely a few weeks away, it’s time to rejoice and get ready for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to defend their Lombardi Trophy. We may be closing in on meaningful football, but before we do that, let’s take a look at our backfield momentarily.
When the Bucs claimed Leonard Fournette off waivers last season, it left many fans scratching their heads, wondering what that meant for the third year running back out of USC, Ronald Jones II. After both split the workload during last season’s historic Super Bowl run, the thought just kind of swept itself under the rug.
When the Bucs claimed Leonard Fournette off waivers last season, it left many fans scratching their heads
Fournette, who rushed for 367 yards and 6 touchdowns on 97 attempts last season, remained quiet for the most part, mainly due to him averaging 3.8 yards per carry, while Jones had another career year with 978 yards and seven touchdowns on 192 attempts, including his career-best 98-yard sprint during the team’s Week 9 matchup against the Panthers. Jones ultimately came just 22 yards shy of becoming the first Bucs running back to eclipse 1,000 yards rushing in a season since Doug Martin in 2015. Unfortunately, Jones was stripped of the opportunity when the team instead decided to help receiver Antonio Brown reach a contract incentive.
Fast forward to the upcoming 2021 season
Not only are Jones and Fournette returning to the backfield, but the Bucs have also added another veteran running back, Giovanni Bernard, to an already crowded position room — A room that includes Fournette and Jones, but also second-year player Ke’Shawn Vaughn, veteran C.J. Promise, and fourth-year Troymaine Pope. Even if Jones can lock up the starting role, splitting carries with Fournette, along with possibly Prosise, and Bernard could heavily affect rather than help Jones.
With Jones entering what could be a contract year, it’ll be interesting to see how things unfold as he is not only auditioning for the Bucs to re-sign him but also for 31 other teams who could potentially be in need of his services next season.
Will RoJo be the first player since 2015 to cross the millennium mark on the ground, or will a group of veterans keep him from making that leap to the next level? Will a loaded backfield be the reason RoJo ends up in another uniform? So many questions, very few answers. Time will tell.