It was announced early on Monday morning that the Jacksonville Jaguars had released running back Leonard Fournette, a former first-round pick.
While Fournette had a couple of very solid years in the NFL, he never quite lived up to the massive expectations that surrounded him coming out of LSU, and the Jaguars have now decided to move on from him with one year left on his rookie contract. So should Washington look at claiming him now that he’s available? There are some valid arguments for why they should, but probably more that says they shouldn’t. Let’s break it down.
Ever since Derrius Guice — another former LSU player — was released in Washington, they have been searching for their clear-cut RB1 on offense, and it’s coming down to either Adrian Peterson or Antonio Gibson. We’ve seen in the past that Fournette can be a formidable runner, and he has some prowess catching the ball out of the backfield as well. However, there has to be a reason that he is getting cut in Jacksonville, and his performance in training camp this past year must not have been too stellar if the team feels like they can better rely on Chris Thompson (yes, that Chris Thompson) going forward.
Bringing in Fournette would also complicate things quite a bit in Washington. Throughout training camp, they’ve already done a lot of work to establish an RB hierarchy, and they have two solid options at the position in the rookie and the vet. Peterson is likely to be the RB1 this season while he continues to stave off Father Time, and confidence is high for Gibson, who will likely take the reigns in future years. Washington also has J.D. McKissic, who has performed well in camp, plus Bryce Love and Peyton Barber, who they’re hoping start to break out at some point.
Washington may bring Fournette in for a workout, but it would be a bit surprising to see them do anything more. There may not be a clear-cut RB1 that the rest of the league would want on their roster, but they’ve got a situation that works for them.
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