Fantasy Upside
After a brief period of uncertainty, it was decided Leonard Fournette would remain a Jaguar this season. Team officials met with the running back early this offseason to "clear the air and move forward together for 2019," NFL Network reported in January. In case you missed it, executive vice president Tom Coughlin directly called out Fournette in a statement after the team's Week 17 loss to the Texans. Adding to the tension, the team also voided the guarantees in Fournette's contract for leaving the bench to join a fight during a game against the Bills in Week 12. With the guarantees gone, the Jaguars could have cut Fournette with no financial repercussions. But they didn’t bring in anyone to threaten Fournette’s starting spot and new offensive coordinator John DeFilippo recently told reporters his plan involves a lot of the 2018 first-round pick. “We’re really looking forward to Leonard having a big year,” DeFilippo said. “I’m going to call it what it is: He’s going to be a major reason where our offense goes. I’m not going to sugarcoat that. Fournette needs to be a big part of this offense. The harder he works -- which he is right now -- that’s going to be not only good for our offense, but good for our team.”
Fantasy Downside
After crossing the 1,000-yard mark as a rookie, injuries and a suspension limited him to eight games and he only averaged 3.3 yards per carry when he was on the field. He finished with 624 yards and scored six total touchdowns on 155 touches.
2019 Bottom Line
His injury history (including the hamstring-related absences last season), a poor offensive line (which should improve this year) and questions at quarterback (which Nick Foles could answer), combine to make Fournette's draft value more appealing this summer than it was last year. Indeed, if Foles makes good on recent comments suggesting he'll be targeting Fournette as a receiver, it could add value to a player with just 58 career receptions to date.
