Les Miles calls Leonard Fournette fastest player on LSU Tigers roster
Les Miles has not been shy about propping up his highly-touted freshman running back, Leonard Fournette as he compared some of his traits to Michael Jordan at SEC Media Days earlier in July and was at it again Wednesday when he praised last year’s No. 1 overall recruit’s speed.
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“Leonard Fournette is either the fastest or the second fastest guy on our team at 6-foot-1, 230 pounds,” Miles told the Baton Rouge Rotary Club, according to nola.com.
That is a scary thought considering Fournette tips the scales at 230 pounds and will only get faster as he gets stronger and develops physically over the next couple years before heading for the NFL and because LSU is littered with NFL talent in the defensive backfield, typically among the fastest players on the field.
Fournette will have plenty of chances to put that speed on display this season with Jeremy Hill declaring early for the NFL Draft and poised to play a significant role in the backfield of the Cincinnati Bengals this season and a starting spot wide open for the former St. Augustine product.
The hype has preceded Fournette’s arrival at LSU as he elicited comparisons to Adrian Peterson on the recruiting trail as the best running back recruit in a decade and the best recruit to come out of Louisiana since Kevin Faulk more than a decade ago.
Fellow freshman D.J. Clark was the other player mentioned by Miles who could possibly be the fastest player on the team.
We know Fournette is fast, now the real question remains, can he live up to the prodigious hype?
My answer to that is a resounding yes.