Ronald Jones was born in Fort Stewart, Georgia and attended high school in McKinney North in Texas where he played football and track and field. Jones amassed 4,810 rushing yards and scored 73 touchdowns while in high school. He was a four star recruit and committed to USC in 2015.
As a true freshman Ronald Jones spit carries with Justin Davis but still managed to rush for 987 yards. He widened the gap between him and Davis in 2016 as he rushed for 1,082 and completely took over USC’s backfield his true junior season rushing for 1,550 yards and scoring 20 total touchdowns. After his junior season, Jones declared for the 2018 NFL Draft.
Ronald Jones attended the NFL Combine and ran an extremely disappointing 4.65 40 time. He later would run a 4.48 40 time at USC’ Pro Day. Jones displayed only average athleticism accumulating a 119.1, 52-percentile, Burst Score. Jones was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the sixth pick in the second round. Unfortunately, Jones’ high draft capital did not translate to opportunities his rookie season as he was out touched 254 to 30 by Peyton Barber. Jones’ role in the Buc offense grew in 2019 however he as still in a even timeshare with Peyton Barber. It took the Bucs jettisoning Barber and adding Tom Brady as quarterback for Jones to have his best fantasy season but Jones soon fell out of favor after Leonard Fournette became acclimated with the offense.
Jones went on the hunt for his next contract after being unable to show any elusiveness during his time with the Bucs evading only 23 tackles last season (No. 54) and accumulating only 217 yards created (no. 37). He also failed to display any breakaway run ability which is surprising considering his experience in track and field at USC. Though Jones signed a 1-year prove-it deal with Kansas City during the 2022 offseason, his mistake-prone pass catching and ball handling make it difficult to carve out a meaningful role in the NFL.
