Leonard Fournette won many people fantasy championships, including our very own Mike Hartry in our home league also known as The League of Snakes. Lenny, as some Jags fans call him, has been the workhorse back since coming into the league three short years ago. The dysfunctional Jacksonville organization has fumbled the opportunity to build a team around a solid running game year after year. Now they put the icing on the cake with Fournette as they decided to waive him just 10 days before the start of the season. They were looking to trade him but nobody wanted to give up even a bag of chips and some pocket lint, let alone a draft pick.
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You may be asking yourself, why would the Jaguars let him go? They have spent the last three years force feeding Fournette the ball and this is how it went. Lenny has missed 12 out of 48 possible games. He also has been highly inefficient, only averaging a lifetime of 4.0 yards per carry, as well as low TD marks considering how many times he gets the ball. In 2019, Fournette had 58 attempts in the red zone, he only had THREE TDs on the season. Inside the 5 yard line? It gets worse. On eight carries, he had a total of -2 yards. For those who aren’t big on the whole numbers thing, that's worse than not even touching the ball. I already had Fournette in my bust article last week so I think we covered why he's getting released. If I had to guess, Fournette will be picked up off of waivers to either the Washington Football Team (still a ridiculous name), the Chicago Bears, or the New England Patriots. But that's not why we are here.
Fournette is out, but now the immediate question lingers. Who will be the next running back for the Jaguars? Will we see another workhorse running back? Will we see a 50/50 split? Maybe a RBBC? Let’s dive into the options and maybe by the end of this we can come to a conclusion as to why the Jaguars thought this was the best move for their future.
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Chris Thompson
I believe he is the most equipped to take over the role right out of the gate, especially since he already has a rapport with new Offensive Coordinator, Jay Gruden. He was already climbing up my draft board before the news of Fournette being cut. He has been a great PPR option since coming into the league. Similar to Fournette, Thompson has had a serious problem staying healthy, only completing one full season back in 2016. I believe he will be used as the undisputed 3rd down back, but he doesn’t come without concerns. He doesn’t score many touchdowns, only 10 in his career. Thompson is not much of an every down back, although when he does get the call to carry the rock, he does it efficiently with an average of 4.8 yards per carry. If he can stay healthy I wouldn’t mind taking a late round pick on him and keeping him on your bench.
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Ryquell Armstead
Armstead is the only running back on the team that has had any real work with the first team prior to this year. It would be safe to assume that he will be the number one option for first and second down work in 2020 eventually, unless they sign someone, which I find very unlikely. He was just activated off of the COVID/Reserve List this morning right after the roster moves that left Fournette without a job. I do think he will start as the backup since he has now missed 18 straight practices. Without all of that extra work he could be out of shape, and not ready for a workhorse back role that we are looking for.
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Devine Ozigbo
Which brings me to who I suspect will be the Week One starter for the Jaguars, Devine Ozigbo. He has been getting all of the looks with Armstead sidelined up until this point which could boost him to the top of the depth chart. Not many of you know a damn thing about him, so let me break down what kind of back he is. Ozigbo is someone that can move the pile forward down by the goal line, he is also light on his feet for being a bigger back and has the ability to make a quick move. It is a problem if a defender will try to arm tackle him, and they usually end up paying the price. Has decent hands for a big back, and is actually an above average pass blocker which will come in handy since the Jaguars will be down more often than not. Obviously there is a small sample size for Ozigbo but he could be the only true RB ready to go by Week One. I’d keep my eye on him if you are weak at RB going into Week One as a potential waiver wire pick up.
So what did we find out about the future of this backfield? Will we see another workhorse RB? Probably not. I believe it will be more of a RBBC at least in the early part of the season, until someone can rise above the rest in the depth chart. I see it as Ozigbo and Armstead splitting carries, while Thompson gets the passing down work. Unfortunately at this point in time, it is nothing more than a guessing game with what this incompetent team will do in the backfield.
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