Ronald Jones II (born August 3, 1997) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

. A heavily recruited high school running back out of the state of Texas, he chose to attend USC. He finished his college career with over 3600 yards rushing over three seasons, and left college football a year early, being selected by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

in the second round of the

2018 NFL Draft The 2018 NFL Draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; it was the first draft ...

. After a rookie 2018 season where he saw limited action as a back-up, Jones took over the Buccaneers' starting running back position part way through the 2019 campaign, finishing the season with 9 starts and leading the team with 724 yards rushing. He started the 2020 season as the team's starter, only relinquishing the job to

Leonard Fournette Leonard Joseph Fournette III (born January 18, 1995) is an American football running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the LSU Tigers, and was drafted by the Jacksonville Ja ...

after a late season

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

diagnosis kept him out of the last few games of the regular season. Returning for the playoffs, he split time with Fournette in the backfield, and won

Super Bowl LV Super Bowl LV was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2020 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the American Football Conferen ...

with the rest of the Buccaneers at season's end. In 2021, he relinquished his primary starting role to Fournette, and while he appeared in 16 regular-season games, his production was limited. A late-season injury kept him from participating in the 2021 playoffs.

Early years

Jones attended McKinney North High School in

McKinney, Texas McKinney is a city in and the county seat of Collin County, Texas. It is Collin County's third-largest city, after Plano and Frisco. A suburb of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, McKinney is about north of Dallas. The U.S. Census Bureau l ...

where he ran track and played football. He played tailback for the Bulldogs

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

team. Jones was rated by

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as a four-star recruit and in 2015 was ranked as the fourth best running back and 40th best player overall. He committed to the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

(USC) to play

College career

Jones played college football at USC under head coaches

Steve Sarkisian Stephen Sarkisian (born March 8, 1974)Stephens, Ken. – "QB GENEALOGY – Steve Sarkisian is latest in long line of talented BYU quarterbacks". – FUN FACT, Sarkisian’s father is actually Texas Tech Head Coach, Joey McGuire. ''Dallas Mo ...

and

Clay Helton Clay Charles Helton (born June 24, 1972) is an American college football coach and former player, who is currently the head coach at Georgia Southern. He was previously the head coach of USC from 2015 to 2021. Helton has also been an assistan ...

. As a freshman in 2015, Jones played 14 games with 987 rushing yards, 39 receiving yards, and 9 total touchdowns. As a sophomore in 2016, Jones played 13 games with 1,082 rushing yards, 79 receiving yards, and 13 total touchdowns. As a junior in 2017, Jones played 13 games with 1,550 rushing yards, 165 receiving yards, and 20 total touchdowns. After his junior year, Jones decided to forgo his senior year and enter the

College statistics

Professional career

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2018

Jones was drafted by the

in the second round with the 38th overall pick in the

. He was the fifth running back to be selected that year. He made his NFL debut in Week 4 against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

. In the 48–10 loss, he had ten carries for 29 rushing yards. During Week 7, against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

, he scored his first NFL rushing touchdown as the Buccaneers won in overtime by a score of 26–23. He finished the 2018 season with 23 carries for 44 yards and one rushing touchdown.

2019

Jones was utilized both in the rushing and passing game for the Buccaneers in 2019. He totaled four games going over 100 scrimmage yards, including one 106-rushing yard performance in Week 17 against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

. In the 2019 season, Jones finished with 172 carries for 724 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns to go along with 31 receptions for 309 receiving yards.

2020

In Week 4 against the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

, Jones finished with 111 rushing yards during the 38–31 win. During ''Thursday Night Football'' against the

in Week 5, Jones finished with 106 rushing yards as the Buccaneers lost by a score of 19–20. In Week 6 against the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

, he had 23 carries for 113 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in the 38–10 victory. In Week 10 against the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

, Jones lost a fumble to begin the game, but later countered with a 98-yard touchdown. The 98-yard run was the longest play in franchise history. Overall, he finished the game with 192 rushing yards on 23 carries as the Bucs won 46–23. In Week 12 against the

, Jones rushed for 66 yards and caught one pass for a 37 yard touchdown during the 27–24 loss. Jones was placed on the reserve/

list by the Buccaneers on December 16, 2020, and activated on December 29, 2020. Overall, Jones finished the 2020 season as the Buccaneers leading rusher with 978 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns to go along with 28 receptions for 165 receiving yards and one receiving touchdown. With the Buccaneers finishing the season 11–5, the team earned a playoff spot. During

against the

, Jones finished with 61 rushing yards as the Buccaneers won 31–9.

2021

In the 2021 season, Jones saw a lessened role with

getting more rushing opportunities. Jones appeared in 16 games and started three. He finished with 101 carries for 428 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.

Kansas City Chiefs

Jones signed with the

on March 27, 2022.

NFL career statistics

References

External links

Kansas City Chiefs bio

USC Trojans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Ronald II 1997 births Living people American football running backs People from McKinney, Texas Players of American football from Texas Sportspeople from the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Kansas City Chiefs players USC Trojans football players