How Many Touches Does Ronald Jones Realistically Receive In 2022?

Braden Holecek

Jun 30

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New to the Kansas City Chiefs offense in 2022, running back Ronald Jones has enjoyed a wide-ranging career so far. Nearly a first-round pick, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected him 38th overall in 2018 out of USC. The former Trojans rusher experienced his fair share of ups and downs while donning the red and pewter. Positively speaking, Jones was always able to create chunk gains for himself, from a yards per carry or yards per catch perspective. Meanwhile, items like ball security, fumbles, inconsistent vision/reads, or occasional passiveness hurt his production.

After a rocky start, Jones found his groove in 2020, the first year that Tom Brady played in Tampa Bay. In 14 games that year, he set new single season career best marks in carries (192), rushing yards (978), rushing touchdowns (seven), longest career rushing attempt (98 yards), yards per carry (5.1) and yards from scrimmage in a season (1,143). All of those marks still stand as his best in those categories entering this season.

What kind of role possibly awaits Ronald Jones after coming over to Kansas City? Will that spot remain consistent or secured for him throughout most of the season? We will attempt to answer those questions, by diving into the possible running back usage of the Chiefs for 2022. What does a realistic amount of touches look like for Jones? Let's kick it off.

Running Back Depth Chart

Ronald Jones told the media recently that he could see the Chiefs having a "one-two-three punch" at the running back position. Here is where the current depth chart is at among Kansas City running backs, according to Ourlads:

Presumed lead running back- Clyde Edwards-Helaire
RB2- Ronald Jones
RB3- Jerick McKinnon
Other depth options that are fighting for roster spots- Derrick Gore, Isiah Pacheco, Jerrion Ealy, Tayon Fleet-Davis

What are the possible roles for each player? Here is what the initial belief likely is for these running backs. First off, Edwards-Helaire will handle some reps on early downs, with a slight upper hand on third downs. Jones could also handle the other half of reps on the early downs. One would have to think that he could enter the year as the leader in rushing opportunities in short yardage situations. McKinnon could move into a role similar to what Darrel Williams held for the past few seasons, getting a set amount of rushes on first down or receiving targets on third down.

Expanding On Jones' Possible Role

With an Andy Reid offense, it is not guaranteed how often the running game will be used week-to-week. Running backs in his offense seem to still garner a fair amount of receiving chances. We know that Reid's design of the screen pass game is second to none. Moreover, he works to find quick yard after catch opportunities for his running backs as pass catchers in space. With that in mind, let's take a look into the average number of touches that each role has received in the Kansas City backfield in recent years.

Lead Running Back

As the lead running back, we mentioned that CEH would handle well over half of the reps on early downs. If you look at his first two seasons, the LSU product achieved 181 rushes in 2020 and 119 rushes in 2021. Edwards-Helaire played in three less games (10) in 2021 than he did in 2020. Therefore, a healthier campaign could have matched that rushing total from his rookie season. He has averaged anywhere from around 12 to 14 carries per game. Finally, Edwards-Helaire's receiving numbers have been all over the place. Yet, he has managed just 2.4 receptions per game across his first two seasons.

The New Darrel Williams?

Williams was someone who gradually climbed up the ladder in the Chiefs backfield. Injuries forced Kansas City to drastically increase his touches last season. That allowed him to pass the mark of at least 1,000 scrimmage yards in a single season for the first time in his career. His carries (144) and receptions (47) were each over triple the amount that he registered in prior seasons. Last season largely skewed his overall production, obviously.

Though, it could be a role that the Chiefs link to the returning McKinnon. We did not know if he would be back this season. But after recently re-signing on a one-year deal, one would have to assume that his opportunities could come. Being able to be equally reliable in each facet of the offense, like Williams was, may be where McKinnon makes his money in 2022. Williams averaged just under five carries per game and just under two receptions per game while with Kansas City for four seasons. Perhaps, McKinnon sees a similar or slightly higher amount of touches per game.

Ronald Jones

This is where it gets somewhat tricky to pinpoint Ronald Jones. Honestly, the Chiefs have not had this kind of bruising style at the position in quite some time. Even though Williams flashed some of that, his speed was more prevalent than that of Jones. Maybe Spencer Ware is an adequate comparable to the style of Jones. At the same time, Kansas City's offense was structured differently when Ware was featured.

Coach Reid has always thrown the football around the yard, no matter who the quarterback was. The emphasis on early down passes has seemed also more inevitable with Patrick Mahomes, compared to when Alex Smith was starting. With someone like Ware, he saw an average of nearly nine carries per game and about 1.5 receptions per game during his hot stretch with the Chiefs.

Essentially, someone like that fell right in between the lead back and the third option, from a touches perspective. It is not far-fetched to imagine the same thing happening for Ronald Jones. What appears to possibly be different for him, is the fact that his rushing style offsets Edwards-Helaire so well. That could lead to him seeing a slight increase over what Ware averaged, per se. The Chiefs have also had specific issues in short yardage situations off and on in recent years. Overall, it should be Jones' job to lose in that department.

Will Kansas City Ride Hot Hand Or Stick With Specific Assignments?

For the most part, we have seen Coach Reid largely stick to keeping his running backs in defined or specific roles. That has begun to shift a little over the last year or so. Even still, it is challenging to determine expectations for running backs within this offense, especially with the pass-happy results. There have been questions of the Chiefs possibly becoming more balanced this season. Even members of the team mentioned that they hoped to run the ball more over the last two years. Nevertheless, you can only take the ball out of your best player's (Mahomes) hands so often. Navigating health and recent trends from each individual running back could also alter the roles.

For Ronald Jones, we have seen him work through similar waters while with Tampa Bay. So, this may not be anything that is drastically new to him. He eventually got hot enough in the midway point of 2020, which gained him more trust amidst the Buccaneers offense. Late that year and into 2021, Leonard Fournette found a similar dominant stretch of his own, taking away from Jones' role or chances. The Chiefs could very well see Jones in a related situation to that of which he endured in Tampa Bay.

Final Projection

Assuming anything is a tricky proposition when discussing these running backs. For now, we view Ronald Jones as the RB2 on the Chiefs depth chart. If he plays all 17 games, the USC product could very well hit around where his career average currently sits for rushing attempts per game (8.9). His career average of receptions per game (1.4) is also a rather admirable estimate of where he could be sitting in that department. For the most part, Jones' average numbers could slightly decrease or increase per game, depending on if Edwards-Helaire shows noticeable improvements.

If he were to play in every game, this is how we view the possible workload for Ronald Jones in 2022: