Bruce Arians again praises Tampa Bay Buccaneers running backs

After standing pat with Ronald Jones and Peyton Barber, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ faith in them may be paying off already.

Less than four yards per carry, less than 1,000 yards rushing, and less than then total touchdowns. These were the combined numbers for Tampa Bay Buccaneers running backs Ronald Jones and Peyton Barber one year ago.

Yet here we are, five days into training camp, and the Buccaneers added only a 30 year old veteran and an undrafted rookie in Andre Ellington and Bruce Anderson respectively. All offseason Bruce Arians has talked up Barber and Jones, instilling confidence in them, and now it is obvious it was all genuine.

Barber has entered camp still penciled in on top of the depth chart after leading the Buccaneers in rushing, falling just short of 1,000 yards on the season. He has kept the chip on his shoulder as he has the underdog mentality as he continues to prove he deserves to be the lead dog in Tampa Bay.

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Rising this summer after a terrible rookie season is former 38th overall pick from a year ago, Ronald Jones. While ball security has been an issue this camp, Jones has put on 13 pounds of muscle this offseason and has looked explosive hitting holes and showing his breakaway ability; he is ready to put his rookie season behind him.

With the two backs handling a larger workload in the passing game, both catching and blocking, Barber and Jones look up to the task. They have been playing so well, in fact, that Arians praised them even further after practice yesterday.

"“Oh yeah, it’s going to be a heck of a one-two punch… Whichever one is the one and whichever one is the two, they are both going to play” (Arians via NFL.com)."

The huge question mark remains the offensive line, who were not able to spring the duo for much after contact, or clear them lanes to burst through. If the new blocking scheme improves the play in the trenches as well, then the Buccaneers could be looking at a gigantic leap in production from their ground attack.

While Barber entered camp as the starter, it seems like Jones is slowly and steadily closing the gap. Keep a close eye on both Jones and Barber through training camp and especially as the preseason rolls along.