It doesn’t matter what the reason is anymore, it’s time to acknowledge Leonard Fournette just sucks. When I say sucks, I’m not sure Fournette even belongs on a 53 man roster anymore. The book has been written on this one. There’s nothing more to see.
Fournette was the number one prospect in the country during the 2014 recruiting class. We now know a lot of his success came because he just matured before everyone else did. Fournette was NFL ready as a Senior in high school. The problem was there was just no more room to grow.
Call it the Greg Oden effect. Remember when Oden looked 100 as a Freshman at Ohio State? Fournette looked OLD as a true Freshman at LSU. We got the same guy back then that we do now. All that super human talent just came before everyone else.
I still believe effort is the biggest reason why Fournette has underachieved as a former top 5 pick. We should have made a bigger deal out of the fact he showed up to the combine at 240 without a care in the world. You can stare into his eye and never see an ounce of killer instinct. It’s hard to start an engine that doesn’t want to start.
Regardless of the reason, Fournette is done. I don’t have anything more to see. Ronald Jones has emerged as the better running back in Tampa. On the season, Fournette has 83 carries for 320 yards, and five touchdowns. His 3.9 yard per carry average falls right in line with the career total which is the exact same number.
Fournette was supposed to get a boost from leaving Jacksonville. The Tampa Bay offensive line was supposed to be an upgrade. Having Tom Brady as the quarterback was supposed to take less attention off the run game. None of those things have transpired.
The advanced stats indicate Fournette has done his offensive line a disservice. The former LSU product is averaging a paltry 3.5 true yard per carry average ranking 64th in the league. He’s also evaded just 16 tackles all season. Most of the time, Fournette goes down on first contact which shouldn’t happen for someone his size.
Jacksonville doesn’t miss him at all. Undrafted James Robinson has more than stepped right in. Robinson has emerged as one of the best running backs in the league on a tanking team.
The jury is out. We don’t need to see anymore of Leonard Fournette running into the line of scrimmage and falling over. I’m done with it. Leonard Fournette just flat out sucks.
