Getty Kansas City Chiefs running back Ronald Jones II (#2).
After an underwhelming 2022 season with the Kansas City Chiefs, free agent running back Ronald Jones is set to visit with the Dallas Cowboys on Monday, March 20, according to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News.
Gehlken also shared that Jones will be one of three players visiting with the Cowboys on Monday. The other two players visiting Dallas are free agent linebacker Luke Gifford and free agent left guard Connor McGovern, per Gelhken.
The Cowboys are looking for a running back to fill the void left by Ezekiel Elliott, who was released by Dallas on March 15 after 7 seasons with the team. Zeke had become strictly a power back that could move the chains in short-yardage and goal-to-go situations in the final years of his tenure with Dallas. So, Jones could potentially fill that role in the Cowboys’ backfield at a much cheaper rate.
Ronald Jones’ Time With Chiefs Didn’t Go as Planned
Ronald Jones, 25, signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal with Kansas City on March 26, 2022. The expectation was that Jones, who had spurts of success during his four years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to start his NFL career, would compete for reps with Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Jerick McKinnon by the time the 2022 regular season was underway.
However, that is far from how it actually played out in Kansas City’s backfield.
Instead, Jones was active for a total of six regular season games last season and had 17 rushes for 70 yards and 1 touchdown along with 1 catch for 22 yards. Jones’ lack of playing time was mainly been due to the emergence of undrafted rookie Isiah Pacheco, who took over as Kansas City’s starting running back during the Chiefs’ Week 7 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Pacheco’s presence on early downs combined with McKinnon’s explosiveness as a pass catcher out of the backfield left very little room for Jones to be involved in most of the game plans throughout the season, even after Clyde Edwards-Helaire landed on injured reserve in November. That also includes the playoffs, when Jones was active for just one game and had 1 carry in that game that netted 0 yards.
During his five-year NFL career, Jones has 505 rushing attempts for 2,244 rushing yards — 4.4 yards per carry — and 19 rushing touchdowns, according to Pro Football Reference.
Twitter Reacts to Ronald Jones Visiting With Cowboys
Twitter users reacted to Ronald Jones visiting with the Cowboys.
“Reading these comments is painful. Jones would be a fine, possibly cheap complimentary back with [Tony] Pollard,” one Twitter user wrote. “It also means you don’t need to draft an RB necessarily. Certainly not early at least. Doesn’t mean they wouldn’t, but it means they don’t have too. Sheesh.”
@GehlkenNFL Reading these comments is painful. Jones would be a fine, possibly cheap complimentary back with Pollard. It also means you don’t need to draft an RB necessarily. Certainly not early at least. Doesn’t mean they wouldn’t, but it means they don’t have too. Sheesh.
“Ronald Jones does nothing for me. I’d love to give Kareem Hunt a shot. Jones has been MEH his whole career,” another user wrote.
@GehlkenNFL Ronald Jones does nothing for me. I’d love to give Kareem Hunt a shot. Jones has been MEH his whole career.
“They don’t know about Rojo speed. Wasn’t the problem with Zeke that he was too slow? All speed here. This would be a good move,” another user wrote.
“We need a running back who can pass block…. No thank you,” another user wrote.
@GehlkenNFL We need a running back who can pass block…. No thank you