TAMPA — Running back by committee is the way the Bucs plan to go this season, and there’s nothing wrong with that.The only problem is there can only be one chairman of the board. But coach Bruce Arians and his staff rarely give much thought to that.Ideally, Ronald Jones, Leonard Fournette and LeSean McCoy each will fall into comfortable roles to breathe some life back into a Bucs' rushing attack that has been inept for years.Last Sunday’s 31-17 win over the Panthers provided a perfect template of usage the Bucs would love to follow.“I love the way it’s set right now,” Arians said. “(Jones) had a great run for a touchdown, had a good blitz pick up … to have Leonard come in, fresh legged in the fourth quarter and pound it like that, very few teams have that combination. (McCoy) did a good job on third.”Fournette led the Bucs running backs with 34 total yards at halftime even though he did not touch the ball the first three drives. Needing to salt the game away, he became the Bucs' closer, rushing for 84 yards on the final two drives, including a 46-yard touchdown.In each of the past three seasons, the Bucs have had a single 100-yard rushing game. The last player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season for the Bucs was Doug Martin, who went for 1,402 yards in 2015.By the end of the Carolina game, the snap count tilted in Fournette’s favor. He was involved in 26 plays, compared to 21 for Jones, who started the game. But all three running backs were productive in their own right.Jones had a 7-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and stiff-armed his way into the end zone. McCoy played only 11 snaps, but caught five passes for 26 yards, including a pair of receptions for first downs. McCoy also dropped a would-be scoring pass from Tom Brady in the end zone, while Jones was blamed for a fumble during a bad exchange with Brady.“He took off before Tom was ready to hand it (off) and his elbow,” Arians said. “So it’s all patience. It’s all on Ronald.”Eventually, Fournette’s production may force him into the starting lineup. Jones may be used as an opener, the way the Rays shuffled their starting pitchers.But Jones has a 3.9 career average and this season it has fallen slightly to 3.7. Fournette has twice rushed for 1,000 yards, but in his role as a workhorse back for Jacksonville, he routinely faced nine-man fronts designed to punish him, and he owns a 4.0 career average. This season, he has gained more than 6 yards per attempt, helped by that scoring run against the Panthers.“He’s a big guy, he’s tough to tackle and he’s a great four-minute running back,” offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich said. "Just get him the ball and let him barrel over guys. He has instincts of a little guy. He has little-guy instincts and little-guy vision, so he gets to certain cuts and he makes the right cuts all the time.“We’re happy to have him. We’re trying to get him more and more involved as we go. He’s only been with us two weeks or something like that. He’s picking it up fast. I think we have so much production in that room. … (Fournette) is just working his way in and doing what he can to put his hand in the pile.”Fournette and McCoy signed one-year contracts and will be free agents at the end of the season. The Bucs haven’t given up on Vanderbilt rookie Ke’Shawn Vaughn, who was slowed to the start of training camp by COVID-19.The key is that all three veterans are unselfish.“(Jones) is always starting us out, like I tell you,” Leftwich said. "You guys know how I feel about (him). We were able to add (McCoy) and we were able to add (Fournette) … it’s always good to have that type of experience.''The Bucs have been dealing with the heat and humidity of Tampa here at sea level, but Sunday’s game will be played at Empower Field at Mile High. Players not used to the elevation and thin air sometimes can become short of breath and fatigued more easily.“It’s a factor, especially on long drives,” Arians said. “It’s a factor in two-minute (situations) when you’re out there for a while. There are different ways to train. Sports science is doing some stuff with our guys. Oxygen therapy (and) some other things that you can do to help train yourself better at high altitudes. Most of it is just being in good shape and ready to go.”Leftwich said it won’t affect how he calls the game on offense.“We’re just trying to score,” he said. “We don’t care if it’s three plays, 10 plays, 16 plays — we have to be prepared for whatever it is.”Brady will never run out of shoulder chips. He still has the card from the 2000 NFL draft as player No. 199.That’s why the six-time Super Bowl champion is quick to remind young players who may not be in the starting lineup to always be prepared for their opportunity.“They may think they’re in a backup role, but once the game starts, they’re in a featured role,” Brady said. "Those guys have to take advantage of those opportunities. That’s how I got my start. ...“I was a third-string quarterback (for the Patriots) going into training camp. Two weeks into the year, I’m the starting quarterback. So, you’ve got to take advantage of your opportunity because you don’t know when you’re going to get it and I try to stress that to the young player.s Every day at practice you have a chance to make an impression on a player, a coach, build trust in your teammates so when you get an opportunity, you go, you take advantage of it and then you never look back.”
![Rick Stroud - Bucs Reporter](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 50 50"/%3E "Rick Stroud - Bucs Reporter")