Can we chill out with the Leonard Fournette craze already?
A simple Google search of his name pulls up more conspiracy theories about him leaving for the NFL draft and his Heisman Trophy odds than legitimate stories.
LSU fans have known Fournette is the real deal since last year, but apparently the national media, which blows stories out of proportion like nothing else, just caught on this year and is coming out with all kinds of madness. So let’s suppress this nonsense.
No, he is not going to challenge the NFL’s rule that players have to be three years removed from high school to enter the NFL draft.
Nor will he sit out next year to preserve his body in preparation for being the No. 1 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.
LSU Sports Information Director Michael Bonnette quote tweeted an asinine NBC Sports tweet captioned “Why Heisman favorite Leonard Fournette should skip his 2016 season at LSU,” and said, “This is insulting to Leonard the person. Can’t he get credit for also being high-character guy, loves his team [and] LSU.”
I can’t agree more. To even insinuate he would consider either of the two options laid out by pundits is a major undermining of Fournette’s character.
But most national people who aren’t around the program just see him as a football player. In reality, he is one of the most well-spoken and well-mannered players on the team.
Also, has anyone considered what Fournette wants to do? All these theorists are coming up with ways he can spurn the college scene for the pros without Fournette himself saying that’s what he wants to do. And I can assure you that it’s not. I’m not saying he will stay all four years to get his degree, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he did
As far as all the Heisman talk goes, there’s a lot of football to played, so can we not anoint him the Heisman winner just yet?
I absolutely think he has a legitimate chance to win, but the season isn’t even halfway over, and Bovada Sportsbook has Fournette at one to two odds to take home the precious hardware.
If we gave the Heisman to whoever trended five weeks into the season, we would have some out-of-place names in the history books. Just ask Colt McCoy and Kenny Hill.
Granted, neither of those players led the NCAA in rushing yards in one less game than the rest of the field.
I do think those yards are legitimate, but if I’m playing devil’s advocate, LSU’s last game was against the team with the worst rushing defense in the NCAA, and it only played one defense currently among the top 50 rush defenses in the nation.
Furthermore, the Tigers’ upcoming games should prove to be a bit more difficult even for the top back in the nation. Of the seven remaining games, four are against teams that rank in the top 50 in rush defense, three of which are top 20.
If the University of Alabama and University of Florida, which hold opponents to 84 and 97.8, respectively, yards on the ground per game, hold Fournette to 100 yards or less, that gives University of Georgia sophomore running back Nick Chubb, Ohio State University junior running back Ezekiel Elliott and TCU senior quarterback Trevone Boykin enough leverage to catapult themselves back into the race.
Again, I think Fournette is by far the best player in the NCAA and has a good chance to win the Heisman, but at this point in the season, anything is possible. It’s not crazy to say he can come back down to earth during the rest of LSU’s Southeastern Conference games while someone else blows up against a few overmatched teams.
And I think Fournette will have an outstanding NFL career, but can we just enjoy his career as it unfolds instead of trying to expedite the process?
Jacob Hamilton is a 20-year-old political science junior from Slidell, Louisiana. You can reach him on Twitter @jhamilton_TDR