Kansas City Chiefs running back Ronald Jones is hoping to carve out a role as a two-down grinder on a new team after an unspectacular start to his career. What is Jones’ current ADP, and should fantasy football managers select him at that price in fantasy drafts?
Ronald Jones ADP | Is he worth his current price in fantasy drafts?
Jones’ ADP is hard to pin down as he goes in different spots on different platforms. Regardless of platform, though, it’s been tumbling. At the time of writing, Jones’ ADP was about 147th overall as the RB43. He’s since plummeted to the RB53, barely being drafted in standard-sized 12-team leagues.
With a price of basically free, Jones carries very little risk. Worst case, you drop him. You’re probably dropping everyone you select this late in fantasy drafts anyway.
Jones’ upside remains ascending to the Chiefs’ 1A role. He’ll never be a pass catcher, but if he can be the primary rusher and goal-line back on a high-powered offense, there will be fantasy value here.
The downside is he’s a healthy inactive weekly. We heard rumblings of Jones being a cut candidate beginning in early August. Then, when we finally saw some real game action, Jones entered the game after Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Jerick McKinnon, and Isiah Pacheco. He was playing well into the second half with the third-team offense. Not a great sign. It sure looks like he’s fourth on the depth chart, which would not equate to being active every week.
Ronald Jones’ projected fantasy value in 2022
Jones saw very limited playing time as a rookie but earned an increased role as a sophomore in Tampa Bay. He averaged a serviceable 10.4 PPR fantasy points per game in 2019.
In 2020, Jones was poised to take over the RB1 role. Then, the Jaguars cut Leonard Fournette, prompting the Bucs to pick him up. In retrospect, Jones never had a chance. But credit to him for staving off the complete Fournette takeover for most of the season.
Jones actually had good efficiency on the ground, averaging 5.1 yards per carry. He was a legitimate RB2 for most of the season at 13.3 ppg. However, once Lombardi Lenny was born, it was curtains up for Jones’ fantasy value on the Bucs.
On a positive note, Jones proved he can be a fantasy-relevant running back if given the rushing work in 2020. If that happens, Jones will be someone worth rostering in fantasy football.
Impact of the Chiefs’ depth chart on Jones’ fantasy value
In 2021, the Chiefs were all over the place at the running back position. Just as he will this season, Edwards-Helaire entered the season as the team’s clear starting running back. However, he was decisively outplayed by Darrel Williams. Derrick Gore had a couple of moments, and by the playoffs, Jerick McKinnon had taken over as the lead back.
Based upon training camp and preseason usage, the hierarchy appears to be: CEH, Pacheco, McKinnon, Jones.
Edwards-Helaire is merely a replacement-level talent. If he went in the third round as he should’ve, we probably wouldn’t even be talking about him today. In fact, he may not even still have a job. The only reason he’s still being given a chance is because of his first-round draft capital.
Edwards-Helaire did not have a good season in 2021. After averaging 13.5 ppg as a rookie, he reached just 11.8 ppg in his second year. CEH was supposed to be this quality receiving back. Yet, he definitively lost the passing-down role to Williams in 2021. Edwards-Helaire averaged just 2.3 targets per game, down from 4.1 the prior year.
As a runner, CEH is nothing special. He averaged 4.3 yards per carry and was pretty average in evading tackles. In 2020, Jones posted better per-carry numbers and evaded-tackle metrics. Even if Jones ends up being cut, I maintain he is a better pure runner than CEH.
The problem for Jones is he’s just not effective in the passing game. Jones has a 73% career catch rate and saw an 8% target share in 2020. He’s not incompetent, but he’s not exactly a smooth catcher of the football. Don’t expect Jones to do much as a receiver.
The most likely path for Jones is for him to ultimately ascend to the lead runner role. At 5’11”, Jones is better equipped for goal-line work than the 5’7″ CEH. We saw Edwards-Helaire handle just two goal-line carries last season. Meanwhile, Williams saw 14 of them. It’s clear head coach Andy Reid has no commitment to using CEH at the goal line. If Jones can manage 10-12 carries per game and score touchdowns, he has low-RB2 upside in a potent Chiefs offense led by Patrick Mahomes.
We have Jones ranked as our consensus RB78. While Chiefs running backs are highly sought-after in fantasy, it’s hard to justify drafting any back who is fourth on his team’s depth chart. There may come a time this season where injuries or poor play push Jones into a relevant role, but right now, that’s too far away to recommend selecting him in fantasy drafts.