Are the Jaguars making the right call keeping Leonard Fournette?
By John Buhler
Despite being declined a fifth-year option, the Jacksonville Jaguars are planning to keep Leonard Fournette going forward. Is this the right move for them?
It turns out, Leonard Fournette will remain a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell said so himself on the PFT PM podcast with NBC Sports’ Mike Florio on Monday. “There were just some minor discussions with that but nothing substantial throughout the draft or prior to the draft,” said Caldwell. “I think the mindset is that we’re going to go forward with Leonard on the team.”
Jacksonville had previously declined the former No. 4 overall pick out of LSU’s fifth-year option. Fournette was a dominant runner in the SEC, but hasn’t been as electrifying in the NFL. However, he is a two-time 1,000-yard rusher and did become a more reliable pass catcher out of the backfield last year for rookie starting quarterback Gardner Minshew.
“I had a good talk with him on Friday,” added Caldwell. “I know Coach [Doug] Marrone has had some discussion with him. He seems to be in great shape and mental frame of mind, and we feel that he’ll have a great season this year.”
And he better be, because the Jaguars seem to be all-in on Fournette as their bell-cow back at least for the 2020 NFL season. They didn’t draft a single running back with their dozen draft picks in the 2020 NFL Draft. Jacksonville could have had guys like J.K. Dobbins, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, D’Andre Swift or Jonathan Taylor but opted to stay pat with their former first-rounder.
Did the Jaguars make the right call by keeping Fournette instead of trading him?
“I’m sure they’ll be on the same page they’re both professional guys, and I’m sure a lot of it was taken out of context from my understanding,” Caldwell said. “Gardner’s a tremendous leader and I think Leonard will do his best and put his best foot forward I don’t, to my knowledge, I don’t know what’s taken place but I’m sure it won’t be an issue.”
I think the idea here is Caldwell and head coach Doug Marrone like the rapport that was being formed with Fournette and Minshew in the backfield. Having a running back he knows and trusts will only help Minshew get a quicker grasp of new offensive coordinator Jay Gruden‘s scheme. Not committing to Fournette long-term seems to be the wise approach for the Jaguars organization.
Though one would think the fifth-year option would have been the right thing to do since he’s a two-time 1,000 yard rusher, the best running back the franchise has had since Maurice Jones-Drew and the Jaguars drafted Fournette ahead of players like Christian McCaffrey (No. 8), Patrick Mahomes (No. 10) and Deshaun Watson (No. 12), apparently they have other ideas.
If Jacksonville were to bottom out like many people expect will happen this fall, the Jaguars won’t have a highly compensated running back playing on the fifth-year option for when a new coaching staff rolls into Duval County. Should Fournette hit, they could franchise tag him. If not, then Jacksonville is in great position to draft someone like Travis Etienne out of Clemson in 2021.
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Ultimately, it is smart for the Jaguars to keep Fournette around for the 2020 campaign. It’s one less thing the Jaguars need to worry about. Of course, Caldwell and the Khan Family still need to sort out what they’re going to do about disgruntled defensive end Yannick Ngakoue who wants out, but has been slapped with the franchise tag. Keeping Fournette puts all focus on fixing this.