30 college football players with big shoes to fill in 2017
By Brad Weiss
Derrius Guice
Running Back, LSU
The consensus around college football last season was that Leonard Fournette was the best running back in the country. A rare blend of size and speed, Fournette was supposed to walk to the Heisman Trophy, before leaving college as a legend in the Bayou. Well, Fournette struggled to stay healthy last season, and a new running back emerged as the most productive in the Southeastern Conference.
Still, replacing someone like Fournette is going to be hard to do, but the LSU Tigers certainly have the right player in place to do so. Head coach Ed Orgeron was given a permanent title after taking over for Les Miles during the season, and will be looking to dominate on the ground in his first full season at the helm. Guice is going to get the ball early, and often, and he would like to continue his incredible production from a year ago.
Guice led the SEC in rushing serving as Fournette’s backup, and it was mostly due to him having some of the more explosive performances in college football last season. He rushed for over 150 yards on five occasions, while going over 250 yards twice. His best game set the school record for yards in a single game, as he broke Fournette’s record with a 285-yard effort against Texas A&M.
When it comes time for Heisman talk, Guice should definitely be in the conversation. Fournette struggled living up to the hype at LSU, and the hope is Guice will take all the added pressure and run with it. He will be a junior this season, and his strength is the stuff of legend, as video shows he can actually squat 583 pounds. It is going to be hard for defenders to take him down in 2017.