With the fourth overall selection in the 2017 NFL Draft, the Jacksonville Jaguars grab Leonard Fournette. How does this pick grade out?
Being forced to pick high in the first round of the NFL draft is a habit the Jacksonville Jaguars would like to get rid of – unless it’s by their own doing. Of course, when you lose 11 or more games in six consecutive years, you will be turning in that card early on the first day of the proceedings.
The team comes off a highly-disappointing 3-13 showing. There has been quite a lot of turnover when it comes to personnel. As usual, this club was busy during free agency, adding a number of new faces on both sides of the ball.
But now it’s round one of the draft. And no doubt executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin as well as head coach Doug Marrone have very high hopes for LSU running back Leonard Fournette. The team selected the gifted performer with the fourth overall pick.
It marks just the third time in the franchise’s brief history that the Jaguars would draft a player at that position in the first round. In their debut year in 1995, the team used the second of two first-round selections to take University of Tennessee standout James Stewart. Three years later, Jacksonville took University of Florida star Fred Taylor with the ninth overall choice.
As a team, Jacksonville ran for only 101.9 yards per contest this past season – ranking 22nd in the NFL.
In his three seasons with the Tigers, the 22-year-old runner racked up 616 carries for 3,830 yards and 40 touchdowns on the ground. Limited to only seven games this past year, his big season came in 2015. Fournette rushed for 1,953 yards and 22 scores on 300 carries.
More fansided.com: NFL Draft 2017: 10 Sleepers to Watch
If the Jacksonville Jaguars are to rebound from this dismal stretch, their offense needs to be more balanced. And no one could be happier to see Leonard Fournette than much-maligned quarterback Blake Bortles. This is the right pick at a much-needed time.