By Jordan Long
The injury bug is hitting Tampa Bay. They lost receiver Chris Godwin who suffered a torn ACL. Tampa Bay has now placed starting running back Leonard Fournette on injured reserve with a hamstring injury but he could come back in time for the postseason. They signed Le’Veon Bell for the rest of the year.
The Buccaneers are thin at running back. Before Fournette went down, Giovani Bernard, who Tampa Bay uses in 3rd down situations, was also placed on injured reserve last week with a hip injury. The Buccaneers only had two healthy running backs before adding Bell to the roster, Ronald Jones and Ke’Shawn Vaughn.
Jones is the better back of the two. He is in his 4th NFL season. Jones this year has been the 3rd running back on the depth chart but has seen plenty of action. He has carried the ball 71 times for 337 yards and 3 touchdowns. When it comes to passes, Jones isn’t a threat to catch the football, totaling only 7 receptions for 47 yards. His running game can still open up the passing game for quarterback Tom Brady.
Vaughn has 11 carries for Tampa Bay this year. Those have helped him total 50 yards, not exactly confidence for the Tampa Bay running attack but he added 2 touchdowns on the ground. When the Buccaneers pass the football, they can’t trust Vaughn. He has been thrown to twice and hasn’t caught a pass.
Tampa Bay knew for the final 3 games of the year they needed to add another veteran running back. This was going to help Brady not only pass the ball with blocking but open his passing game with the running attack to keep the defense off balanced. The top running back out there was Bell. He will be the #2 running back on the roster behind Jones for the rest of the regular season and maybe the playoff run depending on the health of Fournette and Bernard.
Bell is an experienced running back who brings in 9 years of NFL experience to Tampa Bay. Bell started this year with the Baltimore Ravens. He appeared in 5 games for them but he wasn’t a fit in the offense. He ran the ball 5 times for 83 yards and scored two touchdowns. He also caught 1 pass but it went for a loss of 3 yards. The Ravens saw how unproductive he was in the offense and cut him on November 16th.
Bell has another shot this year. Tampa Bay is in the thick of the playoff hunt and they are expecting another Super Bowl appearance. Bell should be able to make plays in this offense by running the football or blocking for Brady. He understands he is not going to be the #1 back but the backup. Bell must show he can handle it and has the remaining 3 games to make an impression.
The worst case is Bell isn’t playing well in the offense. The Buccaneers could let him go before the postseason begins. Tampa Bay hopes that Bell is the answer at running back. They would like nothing more than for him to stay on the team to help them not only advance far in the playoffs but win the Super Bowl.
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