Ronald Jones Suddenly Disappearing From Buccaneers Offense

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offense has struggled to remain healthy in 2020, but those injuries have given other players opportunity to step up. That was the case for Ronald Jones, who ran for 364 yards and 3 touchdowns with Leonard Fournette banged up from Week 4 to 7.

With Fournette healthy again on Monday Night, however, Jones all but disappeared from the offense.

Playing 17 snaps is not just a drop-off from what Jones had been doing recently, but it's the fewest he's played in a game all season. Meanwhile Fournette's 51 snaps were more than Jones has played in any single game this year.

Jones was admittedly inefficient against the Giants, averaging 3.3 yards per carry, but Fournette's 3.5 weren't much better. Jones did also lose a fumble, a notorious no-no in a Tom Brady offense, but it's still a surprise to see him phased out so suddenly.

It remains to be seen whether his opportunity increases if he can hold onto the ball in Week 9, but for now it looks clear that Jones is being asked to take a back seat to Fournette.

The 6-2 Buccaneers are 4.5-point home favorites in the Week 9 odds available on FanDuel Sportsbook for their NFC South matchup against the New Orleans Saints.

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Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.