Leonard Fournette gave far from the ‘cliche’ or ‘cookie-cutter’ answer when asked about the leap from college to the pros. In fact, he claims it was pretty simple for him.
“It’s a lot slower than I really thought, that’s how I’ve been since I first got into the NFL.” Fournette told NFL.com reporter James Palmer.
The Jacksonville Jaguars know they got somebody who oozes talent when they made former LSU running back Leonard Fournette the fourth-overall pick in last spring’s draft. They apparently also got a young man who oozes confidence as well.
“A lot of people were like, ‘It’s going to be fast.’ But by me playing in the SEC, that kind of helped me a lot. I think, to me, it was really easy.”
Not only is the speed at the pro level allegedly not an issue for Fournette, the first year runner also believes he will win the NFL rushing title as a rookie.
“Yeah. I think so, I’m built for it. No matter what the circumstances, I’ve never let the game get bigger than me and I’ve always stayed humble. That’s No. 1.”
A rookie leading the league in rushing is rare, but not unheard of. Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott did so just last season.
Rookie runners like Earl Campbell, Edgerrin James, Adrian Peterson, and Barry Sanders are among the few elite runners who led the league in rushing statistics in their first year. If Fournette can put his money where his mouth is, he will be joining an elite list filled with hall-of-fame talent.
