Fantasy Football impact of Leonard Fournette’s release

Leonard Fournette has been released by the Jacksonville Jaguars, leaving behind some fantasy football impact.

As the Jacksonville Jaguars offloaded veterans, it seemed sure they would go into the season with Leonard Fournette as their No. 1 running back. But on Monday morning, they released the former No. 4 overall pick.

Fournette had the best season of his career in 2019, with 1,152 rushing yards and 76 receptions (on 100 targets) for 522 more yards. His 341 touches were third-most in the league, and his 1,674 total yards were sixth-most. Driven by that volume, and with just three touchdowns, Fournette was RB7 in full PPR fantasy scoring last year.

It will be interesting to see where Fournette lands, and how he’ll fit in the fantasy scope. But let’s look closer at what’s left behind in the Jaguars’ backfield, and those fantasy implications.

Who will take Leonard Fournette’s place in the Jaguars’ backfield?

The proverbial next man up for the Jaguars is Ryquell Armstead. A fifth-round pick in 2019, he had 35 carries for 108 yards with 14 catches for 144 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie. In Week 17 last year, Armstead had 85 total yards and a receiving touchdown on 15 touches (five catches)

Devine Ozigbo, a waiver pickup last year after being a UDFA, has been a standout in training camp. James Robinson, an undrafted free agent this year out of Illinois State, could also enter the mix for carries. Ozigbo also got his most extensive action in Week 17 last year, with 12 touches and 50 total yards (three catches for 23 yards).

With the early down role looking like a low wattage committee, shy of Armstead’s move from the Fournette handcuff to a more substantial role, Chris Thompson becomes a more interesting fantasy back. He signed with Jacksonville as a free agent this offseason, after spending seven seasons with the Washington football team. He overlapped there with Jaguars offensive coordinator Jay Gruden, the former Washington head coach, and had at least 35 receptions in each of the last five seasons despite missing at least three games four times in that span.

Thompson averaged over four yards per carry each season from 2015-2018, with three rushing scores in 2016 and two more in 2017. He was already a serious threat to Fournette’s 100 targets from last year, but a bump up to a handful of carries per game now seems possible.

Armstead was already a deep fantasy sleeper, as Fournette’s role and future in Jacksonville moved toward being diminished and trade possibilities surfaced, and but now he’s more interesting and rosterable in most leagues (with a tilt toward those with at least 12 teams). Thompson’s stock in PPR leagues doesn’t change too much right off the bat (RB4 range). But with the Jaguars likely to be facing plenty of negative game scripts, Thompson might land on the weekly flex radar for all scoring formats in short order.