Buccaneers: 3 moves to right the ship after a shaky start to 2021

The Buccaneers need to trade Ronald Jones

The injuries appear to be piling up this season, especially at the running back position, which means the Bucs should look into maximizing their value for running back Ronald Jones. Jones has proven himself to be a liability in pass protection, and Tampa should lean on Leonard Fournette anyway.

Moving on from Jones may seem scary at first, especially when considering those previously-mentioned injuries, but he is replaceable. Leonard Fournette has obviously been the best complete running back for the Buccaneers when healthy, Giovani Bernard was starting to develop some chemistry with Tom Brady before he went down, and Tampa still has to figure out what they have in Ke’Shawn Vaughn.

All signs point to Jones walking in free agency at the end of the season, so even getting a late pick for RoJo is a small return on the initial investment, but at least the Bucs would get something. This move also allows the Buccaneers to determine where they need to invest their resources at the position next season.

If something were to happen to Fournette, the Bucs can get busy in the free-agent pool. Jones is a good runner, but his inability to catch or block makes him too dangerous for the Buccaneers to count on, even in the event of an injury to their starter.

Tampa should just let it ride with Fournette, Vaughn, and Bernard, recoup some assets for Jones, and then address the position down the road when they need to. The run isn’t the priority for the Bucs. As long as Leftwich can call run plays from time to time to spell Tom Brady, the running backs are doing their jobs.