Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
There was a great deal of talk around Leonard Fournette last season, even before he stepped on the field for the LSU Tigers. Fournette was the top-ranked high school football player in the Class of 2014. He was so heavily hyped that some had wondered if he could become the first true freshman to win the Heisman Trophy.
Obviously, that didn’t happen. Some analysts considered Fournette a flop during his freshman season, although that would be hard to justify. Fournette rushed 187 times for 1,034 yards with 10 touchdowns during his freshman season. He split time in the backfield with Terrence Magee and Kenny Hilliard and played with Anthony Jennings, a quarterback who is not afraid to tuck the ball and run. All of those things prevented Fournette from seeing the ball more often.
Now comes season two in Baton Rouge and there is once again much discussion about Fournette. Magee and Hilliard graduated, leaving Fournette to be the main man in the backfield. And with the quarterback situation still playing out between Jennings and Brandon Harris, the smartest thing for LSU to do will be to hand the ball to Fournette early and often.
If LSU does adopt that game plan, Fournette could actually find himself in the Heisman Trophy race this season. The top three finishers in last year’s balloting have moved on to the NFL, so the race for college football’s top individual honor is wide open.
This year, when the name Leonard Fournette is mentioned in the same sentence with the words Heisman Trophy, it may actually mean something.
Tim Letcher is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimLetcher , on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
