The Jaguars used the fourth overall pick of the draft on running back Leonard Fournette, which suggests high hopes for what he can bring to the team’s offense after starring at LSU.
That suggests he’ll be playing a big role from the start of his career in Jacksonville, although head coach Doug Marrone isn’t veering from the well-worn path he and his peers have taken when it comes to discussing incoming rookies. While the Jaguars might have taken Fournette in a spot that says they believe he’s a difference-maker, Marrone won’t be installing him as a starter in May.
“Obviously when we made the pick we were thinking about [how] he can be someone like that,” Marrone said, via ESPN.com. “Obviously he’s shown that ability, but at the same sense, when you have the team, the one thing about a team is you have to earn that. So he’s going to have to go and show that he has to do that.”
Fournette could conceivably wind up with a smaller role than expected if he doesn’t apply himself during the offseason and preseason, but the Jaguars didn’t draft him because they want to stick with Chris Ivory and T.J. Yeldon as the drivers of their run game. Fournette is in Jacksonville to be a focal point of the offense and anything other than that come September will represent a major wrong turn for the Jaguars.