Fantasy Football 2018: Expectations for sophomore running backs

Leonard Fournette

There are running backs who are workhorses, and there’s Leonard Fournette. Fournette garnered Adrian Peterson-esque hype following his entrance into the league as perhaps one of the best college running backs since the turn of the millennium. Following his first preseason game, Fournette offered some rather interesting comments to NFL.com:

"“It’s a lot slower than I really thought… A lot of people were like, ‘It’s going to be fast.’ But by me playing in the SEC, that kind of helped me a lot. I think, to me, it was really easy.”"

The only thing easier than Fournette carrying the ball is the decision to feed him. Fournette hit over 20 carries in seven games last season, while averaging a shade under 21 carries per game for the season. Translation? Fournette is not a piece of Jacksonville’s offense, he essentially is the offense.

For good reason too, as Fournette is hard to stop once he gets himself going. While his yards per carry average isn’t quite where the Jaguars would like to see him at (3.9), the heavy workload Fournette sees on a consistent basis warrants round one fantasy consideration on that factor alone. While not the dual-threat back Kamara is, Fournette still is able to gather some traction through the air as well, adding a tad more value to him.

As dominant as Fournette is, he indeed has his downfalls just like everybody else. He missed three games last season, two of those due to an ankle injury. This came back to haunt Fournette in the playoffs, as he missed some time due to his ankle. Nonetheless, Fournette returned shortly after he exited and finished the game.

The only other factor that plays into Fournette’s value is quarterback Blake Bortles and his inconsistent play. Not that Bortles’ decision making doesn’t affect Fournette, but rather when Bortles finds himself in a rhythm, Fournette takes a back seat. A successful Bortles is not necessarily the best thing for Fournette, such as Kareem Hunt’s case with Patrick Mahomes.

The bottom line for Fournette is he will get the work, and that is attractive enough to ignore the small blemishes of an ankle injury and competent quarterback play. With Allen Robinson and Allen Hurns out-of-town, those targets are simply more for Fournette’s taking. With the LSU product reportedly showing up to training camp lighter than last season, all signs are pointing to an equally productive season, give or take on the statistics due to not playing a full 16-game schedule.

2018 ADP: No. 10 overall pick
2018 expectations: 1250 rushing yards, 11 touchdowns, 30 receptions, 1 touchdown