September 22, 2021

Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Ronald Jones II has been limited to 10 carries over two games in 2021. According to head coach Bruce Arians, Jones' "play isn't as good as it should be" and that he trusts RB Leonard Fournette more in pass protection. "Yeah, it speaks for itself," Arians said. "Ro, that's his guy. He's got to get out of those types of situations. I thought he ran hard and protected the ball, but again, you can't have those mental errors. It's just attention to detail, like missing that blitz. He is a great runner, caught the ball well. I would have liked to see him run for the first down. His mind is fine. It's just his play isn't as good as it should be." Fournette has outsnapped Jones 73 to 32 over the first games of the season. Fantasy managers should continue to stash Jones on their benches for now, but his usage in the Buccaneers' backfield continues to wane. "Fournette is ahead of Jones by any measure, with twice as many snaps (73-32), carries (20-10) and rushing yards (84-41), getting nine catches for 51 yards while Jones has that single 9-yard reception." Giovani Bernard is also in the mix and is the team's third-down back. "Gio is our third-down back and our two-minute back, so if we're in those situations, he's playing," Arians said. "The other two guys are going to take most of the carries and most of the other time. That's something we'll evaluate, but not really. I think RoJo has just got to do his job."--Brad Camara - RotoBaller
Source: Greg Auman