Jonah Coleman could help Bucs offense fly.
The Bucs really haven’t had a physical running back since Playoff Lenny was around.
Oh, Rachaad White was sort of physical. He tried. If you needed one or two yards, he wasn’t bad at that. But he was not good after contact. Only one year (2024) did White average over two yards per run after contact.
Jonah Coleman could solve that riddle for the Bucs.
The Washington workhorse was a monster in YAC for the Huskies. In his three years playing for Jedd Fisch, one year at Arizona and two seasons at Washington, Coleman had a career 4.12 YAC per run.
In fact, Coleman ran for 3,053 yards the past three years. Some 2,269 yards (74 percent) came after contact.
So today when Coleman was at a podium at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis, Joe asked him why he was such a YAC monster. He told Joe his mentality is to punish defenders.
“I feel like it is a mentality thing,” Coleman said. “If you have a mentality when somebody touches you, you’re going to fall down [no],– my mentality is I’m going to run through you, over you or around you.”
So where did he develop this philosophy? Coleman said his dad, Jamon, taught him how to properly play football when he was a youngster.
“I feel like getting that extra yard is a mentality that my dad implanted into my head when I was just a kid,” Coleman said. “I was six-years old and the only kid at the park doing drills, doing windsprints, learning the fundamentals of football.
“My dad was like, ‘Always run through somebody.'”
And Coleman said he carried this mentality with him to college and hopefully onto the NFL level.
“This is a physical game,” Coleman said. “And physicality is what I bring.”
The proof, again, is in the stats. In college, Coleman forced 172 missed tackles on 551 carries through three seasons.
Coleman is projected to possibly be a late second-day pick.
Bucs AC/DC-loving general manager Jason Licht said on the “Ira Kaufman Podcast” he is looking for a running back because he said the position is a need for the Bucs. How cool would it be if Licht brought in a bruising back known for making defenders eat dirt?
That could be what the Bucs lack: A running back with a Baker Mayfield mentality.
🎥Film Breakdown🎥
Jonah Coleman, RB-Washington
– 5’9 | 225
– 34 Career rushing TDs
– 3,054 Career rushing Yards
– 5.5 YPC pic.twitter.com/GQzZC80Dv8
— Chris Cooper (@ChrisCooper_NFL) February 17, 2026
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