The Atlanta Falcons crowded backfield has turned into one of the more interesting subplots of training camp, and Cash Jones keeps making it harder to leave him off the 53-man roster…
The undrafted free agent out of Georgia has bounced between two positions this offseason. He spent OTAs and minicamp working as a receiver. But once training camp opened, though, Atlanta moved him back to running back so they could take a look at Jones in the backfield rotation.
Cash Jones is part of a three way competition for the RB3 job (behind Bijan Robinson and Brian Robinson Jr.) with Nate Carter and Tyler Goodson--and the second preseason game against the Colts gave him the perfect runway to prove himself as a long-term contributor.
Cash Jones made a strong impression in a crowded Falcons' RB3 race
Carter held the role last season and flashed explosiveness in the preseason to win it. Goodson signed a one year deal after three years backing up Jonathan Taylor in Indianapolis and has turned heads all summer. But Jones was the one who really shined in the 31-6 preseason win on Saturday
On pure running back traits, Jones is behind both of them... or so we thought. During the Falcons' second preseason game, Colts, his dual-threat skillset was on full display. He led the team in both receptions (4) and receiving yards (62), and scored his first NFL touchdown.
The score came on a dish on a flat route from Jack Strand that he took 13 yards to the end-zone. But that's not all. On Atlanta's final he caught 21 and 22-yard passes that proved he can turn a simple check-down into a chunk gain.
He was more of a receiving threat than a between the tackles runner at Georgia, where he actually posted more catches than carries down the stretch of his career… But he still impressed as a runner, as he logged seven carries for 41 yards (5.9 YPC)
The truth is that special teams could end up being the deciding factor in this battle. If the Falcons view Jones as a two way contributor who can play snaps at receiver, carry the ball in a pinch, and cover kicks the way KhaDarel Hodge did, that's a much stronger pitch than any single position battle he might lose outright.
That's the case against writing him off. Nobody is projecting him to win the RB3 job outright, and if this were a straight competition against Carter and Goodson as pure runners, Jones would likely lose it.
But roster spots 46 through 53 rarely go to the best player at one thing. They go to the player who checks the most boxes, and the second preseason game proved Jones is checking more than most.
Two national championship rings, a body of work at two different skill positions, and a coaching staff that's actively testing what he can handle mentally... That's not the profile of a player who quietly disappears.Â
Atlanta has more pressing roster questions elsewhere, at right tackle and at quarterback especially, but the running back room might be settled less by who wins the job and more by who the team simply can't afford to lose.
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