Jacksonville Jaguars: Will Leonard Fournette win Rookie of the Year?
Leonard Fournette came off the board with the No. 4 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, but will the Jacksonville Jaguars running back be Offensive Rookie of the Year?
One year ago, the Jacksonville Jaguars attempted to address their backfield by forming a running back by committee. To go with the already in-tow T.J. Yeldon, the Jaguars signed veteran Chris Ivory after he’d enjoyed a productive year with the New York Jets. The experiment, however, failed. Thus, the Jags were compelled to look the way of Leonard Fournette early in the 2017 NFL Draft.
Armed with the fourth-overall pick in the draft, Jacksonville did as many thought they should by taking the former LSU running back. Fournette would’ve been a top-10 pick had he come out as a sophomore. Instead, he was forced to stay another year and suffered through injuries and an overall down season.
Even still, it’s impossible to not be enticed by what a healthy Fournette offers. He measured at the Combine at 6-0, 240 pounds (though his playing weight is slightly slimmer, around 225-230). At his size, though, he’s still able to offer impressive straight-line speed to go along with lightning quick feet and superior vision to find holes and creases to break open plays or break off chunks of yardage.
He’s the rare talent at running back with the ability to pull away from you after he just mowed over a teammate. It’s truly remarkable to watch him in action, something most reports from Jaguars OTAs have reiterated.
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However, the question out of Jacksonville now becomes just how good Fournette can be right away. Along those same lines, the curiosity is if the running back can win Offensive Rookie of the Year in the 2017 season.
If you ask NFL Network analyst and former Chargers/Jets running back LaDainian Tomlinson, the Jags rookie very well good. While speaking on NFL Network recently, the soon-to-be Hall-of-Famer said that he could see Fournette posting 12-15 touchdowns on the ground as a rookie. If there’s someone that’d know about finding the end zone, it’d be Tomlinson.
For Fournette to capture Offensive Rookie of the Year, there are two factors in play, and both are somewhat out of his control. First, he must outperform the competition. While someone like Christian McCaffrey might not be a threat in that regard, receivers Mike Williams and Corey Davis are both entering exceptionally enticing situations where they should play big roles in their respective offenses. Potentially, the same could be said for the likes of Dalvin Cook, Zay Jones and even Joe Mixon.
More pressingly, Fournette needs the Jaguars offensive line to drastically improve from what they were one year ago. The good news is that, at the very least, there is the possibility of that happening. They have a young offensive line for the most part that all seem to be on the slight upswing. What’s more, if Branden Albert is healthy and happy at left tackle, he’s a proven veteran that could be great for the line.
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Obviously the other key in this would be Fournette living up to the hype. Perhaps it’s overconfidence, but I don’t see any worry about that happening. He’s that good, that explosive and that dynamic. If he’s given at least adequate blocking in front, the LSU product hands-down has the talent to capture Offensive Rookie of the Year. Things have a bad habit of going awry in Jacksonville, but it’s hard to imagine Fournette’s career being one of them.