Former Jacksonville Jaguars RB Leonard Fournette heads to Super Bowl
The Jacksonville Jaguars released running back Leonard Fournette last offseason after failing to find a trade partner. He then signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and will be playing on Championship Sunday.
In 2020, Fournette dressed up for 13 games and registered 97 carries for 367 yards and six touchdowns. Although he played a complementary role throughout the season, he had a ‘grown man’ touchdown against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game and the ‘Bucs’ will play against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 55.
Quarterback Blaine Gabbert, the Jaguars first-round pick in 2011, is also on Tampa Bay’s roster and will suit up for the Super Bowl. He barely took the field in 2020 though, attempting 16 passes and completing nine of them for 143 passing yards and two touchdowns. Still, not every play can say they played in a game of such magnitude.
Leonard Fournette was supposed to be the Jacksonville Jaguars’ workhorse.
The ‘Jags’ drafted the LSU product in 2017 and even though they passed up the opportunity to draft quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson, the running back had a solid rookie campaign, racking up 1,040 yards and nine touchdowns on 268 carries.
However, things went south the following two years and Fournette amassed just 1,591 rushing yards and eight touchdowns in 23 games. Also, the team suspended him for one game in 2018 after getting into a fight with Buffalo Bills defensive end Shaq Lawson in Week 12.
Jacksonville had enough of 2017’s fourth-overall selection in 2020 and he was one of many players the team either released or traded last offseason after failing to recreate the magic that helped them get to the AFC Championship in 2017.
Things have worked out for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fournette.
Looking back, it’s easy to see Fournette thrive right now and forget how underwhelming he was in Jacksonville. He averaged more than four yards per carry only once in three years and never did he played in a full season, so it’s not as if the ‘Jags’ got rid of an All-Pro player. Moreover, the team has already found his replacement in James Robinson, who had a historic rookie year as an undrafted free agent in 2020.
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In the end, things have worked out just fine for both the Jaguars and Fournette. The latter will be playing in the Super Bowl and this Jacksonville team is going through a rebuilding process that will help it start winning games again. It’s possible to celebrate the running back’s recent success and feel excited about the franchise’s future at the same time. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.