RADIO
Ronald Jones 2021 Outlook: Can He Flip the Script Again?
4 years agoEntering 2020, there was no question that Ronald Jones was the lead back ahead of Leonard Fournette. He was given every opportunity to excel and managed to post six RB1 caliber weeks over his 14 games played. Unfortunately, he got hurt late in the season and Fournette was given his chance to be the feature back. Fournette took that opportunity and ran with it. He ran all the way to the Super Bowl. It seems extremely unlikely that Bruce Arians would suddenly give the keys back to Jones in 2021. Fournette is going to be the primary back with Jones mixing in to give Fournette a breather. The Bucs also added Giovani Bernard, but I think he will matter just as much as LeSean McCoy did in 2020. Ke'Shawn Vaughn will be out of the NFL at the end of his rookie deal, if not sooner. This is a two man backfield with Fournette and Jones. While Jones won't have any value early in the season, despite Fournette's excellence down the stretch in 2020, the Bucs have no allegiance to Fournette. If Fournette gets hurt or plays poorly, Jones could very easily flip this backfield once again. He's worth a late-round pick as your RB4/5 given the strong RB2 upside should that happen.
