The Buccaneers brought all of their key players back from last season, which should leave little room for competition for roles heading into the fall.
During an appearance on the Pewter Report Podcast, head coach Bruce Arians said that one exception to that will be in the backfield. Leonard Fournette re-signed this offseason, so he joins Ronald Jones at the top of the depth chart and Arians expects the two players to jockey for position over the course of the year.
“Of all the positions, it’s probably the one where those two guys will compete,” Arians said. “But they’re both gonna play. They’re so talented and they both bring so much to the table. Hopefully if they’re both healthy, they are splitting time. I know fantasy doesn’t like that, but those two guys . . . I mean, RoJo is one of the best runners I’ve been around. Lenny had that great run in the playoffs. He showed what they drafted him for in the top 5. So we’re blessed to have this group of backs, with Ke’Shawn [Vaughn] and Gio [Bernard]. It’s a hell of a group.”
Jones was the lead back for most of the regular season and Fournette was a healthy scratch in Week 14 before getting another chance to play due to Jones testing positive for COVID-19 and getting hurt. Fournette turned that chance into a starring role in the postseason that could result in a bigger regular season role this time around.
Bruce Arians: Leonard Fournette, Ronald Jones both bring so much to the table originally appeared on Pro Football Talk