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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be turning to one of their late-offseason additions to start against the New Orleans Saints in the playoffs, with Bucs coach Bruce Arians naming Leonard Fournette his lead running back on Friday. Fournette has mostly played behind Ronald Jones II for much of the season, but a quad injury to Jones has his status in doubt for Sunday’s game.
Fournette, 25, was the fourth overall pick by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2017 NFL draft. He totaled just 6 carries for 5 rushing yards and 7 catches for 55 receiving yards in two games with his hometown Saints during the regular season, with New Orleans effectively shutting down the Buccaneers running game before he could make much of an impact.
Tampa Bay will be counting on him to step up and take pressure off of Tom Brady in this next matchup, but he has his work cut out for him against a stout Saints run defense. Not to mention the loss of starting guard Alex Cappa to a fractured ankle in their Wild-Card Round win over the Washington Football Team.
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