Don’t Expect Too Much From Ronald Jones if He Plays Sunday

Even if he's active, Jones may not receive enough opportunities to contribute in a major way.

The Ronald Jones era with the Kansas City Chiefs has taken some interesting turns over the past several months. 

Back in March when the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers standout signed with Kansas City, he was coming off a semi-productive tenure covering the span of his rookie contract. The 25-year-old inked a one-year deal worth $1.5 million that has the potential to grow significantly higher via incentives. At the time, it appeared quite possible that the Chiefs brought in some true competition for incumbent starter Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Jones was viewed by many as the second half of a potential one-two punch in the backfield.

In this year's NFL Draft, general manager Brett Veach added Isiah Pacheco into the fold. During the summer, he re-signed Jerick McKinnon to a one-year deal. Once training camp got going and the skill sets of the running back room became evident, Jones was suddenly the odd man out. Thus far in the 2022 campaign, he's been a healthy scratch on a weekly basis and even hinted at presumably wanting to part ways with the Chiefs back in late October. In a matter of months, he went from someone who could be a part of the solution to someone who was a mere afterthought.

With Edwards-Helaire now on the injured reserve list with a high-ankle sprain, though, the Chiefs need a third running back. Their Week 12 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams is quickly approaching, and Jones makes sense to elevate to the game-day roster for the outing. When asked about those chances this week, head coach Andy Reid was optimistic. 

“Yeah, just it’s an opportunity to get in and work, literally. And there’s a chance, he has a chance to play — a legitimate chance. But within that, he’s got to make sure he has all the protections down and the timing of the runs. Those are things we’ll look at, but he’s been working at it and I don’t think he should have a problem with that.”

If "a legitimate chance" turns into an active designation by Sunday afternoon, Jones could be in line to receive his first snaps of the season. With that said, given the current state of affairs above him on the depth chart, expecting Jones to do too much could prove to be an erroneous decision. Here's how the Chiefs have implemented the running back with the third-most snaps in each game this season: 

• Week 1: Pacheco (16 snaps, 12 carries, 0 targets)
• Week 2: Pacheco (5 snaps, 2 carries, 0 targets)
• Week 3: Pacheco (5 snaps, 3 carries, 0 targets)
• Week 4: Pacheco (17 snaps, 11 carries, 0 targets)
• Week 5: Pacheco (2 snaps, 1 carry, 0 targets)
• Week 6: Pacheco (10 snaps, 2 carries, 2 targets)
• Week 7: Edwards-Helaire (17 snaps, 6 carries, 1 target)
• Week 9: Edwards-Helaire (17 snaps, 4 carries, 2 targets)
• Week 10: Edwards-Helaire (4 snaps, 0 carries, 2 targets)
• Week 11: Edwards-Helaire (5 snaps, 2 carries, 0 targets before getting injured)

Every week is different, but that's an average of about 10 snaps, four carries and less than one target per game. Outside of a Week 1 blowout that saw Pacheco get highlighted in the fourth quarter and another anomaly or two elsewhere, the Chiefs simply don't go to the third man at running back very often. The recent dynamic of Pacheco and McKinnon must also be taken into account here. 

Pacheco is the clear starter and had his first career 100-yard rushing performance last week, so Reid and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy likely won't shy away from giving him either the same or more opportunities in Week 12. On early downs, he's the man for the job. McKinnon is the club's preferred choice on third downs, as his pass-blocking and pass-catching abilities are the best on the team. Jones struggles in both of those areas, so heavy third-down snaps are a no-go for him.

Is it possible that Kansas City gives Jones some first- or second-down reps in order to keep Pacheco fresh? Absolutely, but he probably won't get a heavy workload pending a blowout or injury. The fifth-year running back is far from a bad player, despite what certain parts of Twitter will argue, but he is a limited one whose shortcomings led to him getting surpassed on the depth chart earlier this year. Even if he receives an opportunity to showcase his talents this week or over the next few weeks, he'll be a complementary piece rather than a driving force. The Chiefs won't interrupt a good thing in their backfield. 

Read More: Chiefs Injury Updates on Clyde Edwards-Helaire, JuJu Smith-Schuster