It appears that Leonard Fournette has played his last game at Tiger Stadium.
A little more than an hour before kickoff, the Baton Rouge Advocate is reporting that Fournette will not play in LSU’s game against Florida Saturday afternoon because of a lingering and ongoing ankle issue. The New Orleans Times-Picayune subsequently confirmed the report.
The news comes a day after a report surfaced that the injury is a chronic problem and “one that will need constant maintenance or perhaps surgery in the future.”
The All-American initially injured the ankle during a mid-August summer camp practice; then aggravated it against Wisconsin in the opener; sat out the Week 2 game against an FCS foe; and then aggravated it again in Week 4 against Auburn before sitting for Missouri the following Saturday. This would mark the fourth game he’s missed this year.
Fournette had played the last three games, though, including a 284-yard effort on 16 carries against Ole Miss -- and a 17-carry, 35-yard effort vs. top-ranked Alabama, too. The junior, though, aggravated the ankle injury again in the Week 11 win over Arkansas.
While he still has a year of eligibility remaining, and he’s proclaimed he’s (winkwink nudgenudge) not ready, Fournette is widely expected to make himself available for the 2017 NFL draft.
The good news for the Tigers is they still have Derrius Guice. The sophomore leads the team in rushing with 881 yards, and his 8.7 yards per carry is third nationally.
