The Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered a defeat at the hands of the New Orleans Saints Sunday night, and they had injury added to the insult of the shutout. Among the casualties, running back Leonard Fournette was quickly ruled out due to a hamstring injury. In his absence, Ronald Jones carried the load. If Fournette should be sidelined for Week 16, Jones has a chance to be an RB1 for fantasy football managers. Here’s how our experts are prioritizing Jones this week.

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Ronald Jones is Week 16 Waiver Wire Priority

99% of your remaining FAB
Sunday night was a disaster for the Buccaneers, but a potential opening for Ronald Jones. Jones carried the ball 8 times for 63 yards after Leonard Fournette left the game with a hamstring injury. Jones can also work in the passing game and despite the tough matchup against the Panthers coming up, the Bucs will certainly be looking to bounce back from their dreadful goose egg performance.
– Joe Pisapia (@JoePisapia17)

75% of your remaining FAB
There’s no word at this time on the severity of Leonard Fournette‘s hamstring injury, but if he has to miss even one week, then Jones is without question the top priority. He gained 63 yards on eight carries in relief against the Saints and added two catches for eight yards. With Gio Bernard injured, if Fournette has to miss Week 16 against the Panthers, Jones would be stepping into a massive workload and take on immediate RB1 status. There are a lot of good receivers available, but unless we know Fournette is good to go, it’s Jones as the top option easily for me.
– Dan Harris (@danharris80)

21% of your remaining FAB
It’s hard to imagine Leonard Fournette will be able to suit up for the Buccaneers in Week 16 after sustaining a hamstring injury Sunday night against the Saints. Giovani Bernard is out for the season, so that leaves Jones and Ke’Shawn Vaughn as the last men standing in the Bucs’ backfield. Vaughn will get some Week 16 snaps, but Jones figures to get a clear majority of RB touches in a decent matchup against the Panthers. RoJo is worth pursuing if you have any sort of lineup hole at running back, and he’s obviously a must-get for Fournette stakeholders.
– Pat Fitzmaurice (@Fitz_FF)

20% of your remaining FAB
Over the past several weeks, I’ve been pounding the table for fantasy managers to go pick up Ronald Jones in their leagues. As a high-level insurance RB, he should’ve been rostered in well over 50% of leagues as the fantasy playoffs commenced. Instead, he’s now the top WW option for the week and managers are going to have to burn significant FAB on him in their leagues. With Leonard Fournette leaving Sunday night’s game and quickly being ruled out with a hamstring injury, it’s likely that Jones is going to be the lead option for the Bucs next week against Carolina. We’ve seen that he can put up fantasy production in the past when he’s been given the full workload due to his talent, which means that he’s the clear No. 1 add for Week 16.
– Kyle Yates (@KyleYNFL)

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