Buccaneers: Trying to make sense of the confusing backfield

The future for the Buccaneers

The first thing that the Buccaneers can do to improve their run game is to stop investing any capital in running backs; this means early draft picks, large contracts, and anything else that ties the team to the least essential position in the game.

Tampa Bay can take shots on backs in the later rounds, but there is no amount of talent at the position worth spending a first-round pick on running back. NFL offenses are built around the pass, and the best run games are because of their offensive line.

If Tampa Bay uses the majority of their money and picks to build up the best offensive line possible, rushing success can come with any back. The Buccaneers can just draft running backs every four years and then replace them when they ask for a new contract, and this cycle should repeat forever.

As for the players on the roster, LeSean McCoy is almost assuredly out. His production has been horrific all season, and the Bucs do not need a declining veteran back that can’t catch or run between the tackles. Ke’Shawn Vaughn could see a similar fate, as his youth can’t protect his lack of production.

Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette have the best chances of remaining on the roster, but even then, the chances are slim. While Jones is having the best year of his career, he can’t catch the football to save his life. There is no place for stone-handed running backs in the modern NFL, and Jones may not bring enough to the table as a pure runner to warrant staying in Tampa Bay.

Fournette is easily the most complete back on the roster, but the chances are high that he will ask for a new contract at the end of the season. If Founette does ask for any type of money, the Bucs should let him walk and rebuild their backfield from the ground up for the future.

If Tampa Bay decides to keep this unit intact, which is a real possibility, the play-calling will have to become far less predictable if the Bucs ever want to run the ball consistently.