2017 Season Review: Recapping Ronald Jones II Heisman-like Campaign

I wouldn’t be the first to say that this season was a disappointment for the USC Trojans and their fans alike. There were some bright spots: two wins against the Stanford Cardinal - one being in the PAC-12 Championship —and beating UCLA in the annual rivalry game are always good things.

One bright spot we can attribute to most of USC’s successes this season can also be traced back to the work Ronald Jones II did coming out of the backfield throughout the year. The star running back finished 2017 with 1,550 rushing yards and 20 total touchdowns which gave the junior back-to-back 1,000 yard rushing seasons. These are gaudy numbers to say the least

If there was one player USC could count on game-in and game-out, it was Jones. His best statistical game came on the road against Arizona State: there we saw Jones run the ball 18 times while amassing 216 yards (12.0 yards/carry) and 2 touchdowns. It just seemed like every week the Trojans were able to count on the running game to pull through, which was huge given the fact that there was surprisingly-shaky results from star quarterback Sam Darnold.

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

As it currently stands, Jones is in (or near) the top five in most major statistical categories - as such, returning for his senior would see him threatening the top spot for career rushing yards and touchdowns; currently he has 3,619 rushing yards (5) and 31 rushing touchdowns (6).

That’d be pretty special to see and, honestly, I selfishly want this to happen. At the end of the day, though, he should be doing what’s best for him and his career. I firmly believe he’d make an excellent choice for a team in the late first or early second round as his impact on the running game would be felt immediately.

All year long Jones has been the quiet, dependable workhorse through which the offense has often worked through. If he does end up declaring for the NFL Draft(which my money is on), he will be sorely missed. Watching him and Stephen Carr run all over defenses week in and week out brought me great joy.

Fight on!