The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got a solid performance from their running back duo in Ronald Jones Jr. and Leonard Fournette en route to their Super Bowl LV-winning campaign last season. Jones, the Buccaneers’ primary back, ran the ball 192 times for 978 yards and seven touchdowns. In the postseason, he carried the ball 35 times for 139 yards and no touchdown. Fournette, who was signed by the Buccaneers in the last offseason after he was released by the Jacksonville Jaguars, ran the ball 97 times for 367 yards and six touchdowns in the regular season.
He stepped up his game in the playoffs as he carried the ball 64 times for 300 yards and three scores.
However, the two did not serve as reliable pass-catching targets for quarterback Tom Brady with Fournette receiving just 36 passes for 233 yards and Jones catching 28 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown. In the postseason, Fournette raised his pass-catching game as he caught 18 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown from Brady. This offseason, Fournette will turn free agent and expected to get lucrative offers from other teams that might lure him away from Tampa Bay.
Bruschi bats for White
But former New England Patriots linebacker and current football analyst Tedy Bruschi said James White could be an interesting target for the Buccaneers in case Fournette leaves.
For Bruschi, Brady’s chances of winning back-to-back Super Bowls for the Buccaneers would be boosted with the help of White, who is known for his pass-catching ability during his seven years with the Patriots. “I’ll go with my buddy Tom Brady to give him his best chance to go back-to-back. The one offensive addition I think he would need is James White,” Bruschi said on ESPN’s “Get Up”.
White won three Super Bowl rings with Brady as quarterback with the Patriots.
White could help Brady get drive going
Bruschi said White could provide the thing that Brady desperately misses in Tampa Bay – a reliable pass-catching running back that both Jones and Fournette failed to provide, “James White does something for Tom Brady that he desperately misses,” said Bruschi, referring to the easy five or six yards to keep their drive going.
In his seven years in New England, White recorded 359 catches for 3,184 yards and 25 touchdowns, 24 coming from Brady. He also ran the ball 309 times for 1,240 yards and 10 touchdowns. White had a down year last season partly due to family issues after his father died in a car crash. According to Bernd Buchmasser of Pats Pulpit, Tampa Bay would be an ideal place for White, who was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as he would be closer to his mother. The Buccaneers got solid contributions from former Patriots players last season, including tight end Rob Gronkowski and wide receiver Antonio Brown. The two combined for three touchdowns in their 31-9 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV.
