Buccaneers: The role of Ronald Jones for week 17 and beyond

If Winston is retained, which seems to be the direction One Buc is heavily leaning, if Licht decides Winston is their man and they don’t draft a quarterback in the first round, then it is clearly time to look to the offensive line in the first round (depending on the available talent). University of Georgia starting Left Tackle Andrew Thomas would be my choice if available. He is a natural, strong player and the best Tackle available and is also considered a very good run blocking player; that is exactly what the Buccaneers and Ronald Jones need.

Secondly, the Bucs must commit whole heartedly to making certain Jones role is expanded from what we witnessed this season; I have been suggesting that Jones receive 25-30 touches a game, run or pass. I’ve been accused of suggesting by saying that, the team should become predominantly a run heavy offense. Let’s take a look at that accusation and see how much truth there is in it.

The Buccaneers have averaged almost 70 plays a game on the season, in the last three games have averaged almost 75 plays per game. I wasn’t a math scholar, but I can subtract 25-30 from 70, and that still leaves the passing play as the predominant play hog. Simplifying that, I would say the breakdown comes out to about 60% pass versus 40% run. That is a good ratio in today’s NFL, which actually threw the ball less overall this season.