According to the Tampa Bay Times, Ronald Jones has struggled in pass protection while "his hands need to become softer."

Am I shocked by this development? I'm not. When highlighting which running back prospects performed like studs while in college, Jones' name popped up as someone with big pass-catching concerns.

Ronald Jones has had some of the best success on the ground in this class, and he'll more than likely be an early-ish round pick in this year's draft. But he only caught 14 passes this past year, tallying just 32 in his three seasons at Southern California. His 4.21% reception share in 2017 is one of the lowest in this class, and while that's no death sentence, it should be noted that none of the backs in the NFL sample had that poor of a mark during their final collegiate seasons.

No successful running back in recent history had as poor of a reception share as Ronald Jones did in 2017. That was a red flag that's evidently hurting his potential here in Year 1.

That's not all. For a while now, the thought was that the Buccaneers would split their backfield up between Jones and teammate Peyton Barber. Barber actually drew the start in the team's first preseason game. So that's already a knock on the volume potential for Jones as a rookie.

I'm also not in love with the back's early-season schedule. Having your fantasy assets get off to a good start is huge, as it can help with your start-sit confidence and create value for your team right away. When the opposite happens, your preseason fourth- or fifth-rounder can immediately become as valuable as a typical eighth- or ninth-round pick.

And for Jones and Tampa Bay, they'll start the year off against the Saints, Eagles, and Steelers. Those are three top-five teams according to numberFire's power rankings, which means the Bucs could face consistent negative game scripts at the beginning of the season. And given Jones' pass protection and pass-catching struggles, that also tells us that he may not be on the field all that much.

Jones fits the mold of a player who could emerge later in the season, but that's not even a given. That's not the type of player you should typically be targeting in fantasy drafts.