Leonard Fournette Shines When He’s A Full-Time Back
July 24th, 2022
More snaps, better production.
It seems a guy who makes a living running numbers unearthed an interesting fact about Playoff Lenny.
It seems Playoff Lenny plays his best when not sharing most of the load with another running back. That’s the conclusion from handicapper-turned-stathead Warren Sharp. Typing in his Warren Sharp 2022 Football Preview, Sharp says full-time Lenny is better.
Fournette has been extremely productive … when given a true opportunity at any point in his career and it’s almost forgotten that he was a elite prospect, even if over-drafted at fourth overall in the 2017 draft. In 22 career games with the Bucs, in which he played just half of the team snaps, Fournette has averaged 17.6 touches for 89.2 yards per game with 4.7 receptions per game and 19 total touchdowns. Tampa Bay went with a bit of a committee to open last offseason, but dominoes quickly fell in favor of Fournette becoming the lead back. From Week 4 on, Fournette scored 11 touchdowns in those 10 games played. … Only Jonathan Taylor (87) and Austin Ekeler (62) had more red zone opportunities than Fournette (55).
Joe’s only worry about Playoff Lenny is health. As long he stays healthy, the Bucs will have a strong and realiable weapon in the backfield whether it is on the ground or through the air.
Have Playoff Lenny and the Bucs will win. No more complicated than that.
Camp in 2 days love y’all I’m off pic.twitter.com/lTEZgv4ql5
— 7⃣ Leonard Fournette (@_fournette) July 24, 2022
July 24th, 2022 at 10:38 am
I’m excited to see the rookie R. white in training camp ! Coach him up Lombardi Lenny
July 24th, 2022 at 10:39 am
Beast. Love the player, love the guy. Great teammate. People can change. BA helped him see the big picture. One of the success stories of the Bucs.
July 24th, 2022 at 10:47 am
Brown, Payton, Simpson all the great backs needed a lot of carries to just warm up.
July 24th, 2022 at 11:02 am
Joe’s only worry about Playoff Lenny is health
Wouldn’t that be the worry for every starter?……Health for Brady, Evans, Godwin, Gage, Wirfs, Jensen, Mason & yes….even D Smith.
Health o the defensive side hurt us last year.
July 24th, 2022 at 11:05 am
He’s a beast. Most really good running backs get better the more times they’re fed the ball. Problem is, the Bucs are so good in the passing game, the RB rarely gets a lot of carries in a game. We’re not the Colts or the Titans.
July 24th, 2022 at 11:37 am
LFG Lard A$$ Lenny
July 24th, 2022 at 11:44 am
Goat,
BA is a no bullspit coach and to Lenny’s immense credit, he shouldered the criticism and prospered. BA really deserves credit here.
Thought it was stupid when fans rode BA’s ass over Antonio Clown.
July 24th, 2022 at 11:48 am
Lenny, keep up the fine work this season. I’m very grateful that you and that veteran QB know how to get things done.
July 24th, 2022 at 12:32 pm
“Joe’s only worry about Playoff Lenny is health”
Figure out a way to make sure the POS bounty-hunting Saints defenders are playing within the rules (instead of targeting and trying to injure our best offensive players) and I’m sure Lenny will be just fine…..
July 24th, 2022 at 12:37 pm
No question in my mind that no one appreciates what Lenny Fournette means to this offense more than Tom Brady. NextGen stats might be able to prove this, but I’d bet that Lenny wasn’t Brady’s primary target on the vast majority of Tom’s throws to him.
Last year was a perfect example when Lenny was targeted 84 times, 4th most on the team behind Godwin (127), Evans (114) & Gronk (89). Lenny caught 69 of those (82.1%), which is amazing to me because the Average Depth of Target (ADOT) was only 0.8 yards & his Average Yards Before Catch per Reception (YBC/R) was only 0.1 yards. IOW Fournette was real close to Brady when Tom FIRED the ball to him (he never lofts it) & almost always in a position where if Lenny doesn’t catch it, no one else will either. Those a HARD catches to be sure.
When you look deeper at Lenny’s receiving stats, you see that he got 454 receiving yards in his14 games. Of those, ONLY FIVE YARDS were classified as YBC (Yards Before Catch). The remaining 449 yards are YAC (Yards After Catch). The fact that Lenny hung onto 82% of those fastballs is impressive. The fact that 98.9% of Lenny’s receiving yards came AFTER the catch (which was within inches of the LOS) is incredible.
July 24th, 2022 at 12:58 pm
Defense Rules knows more than defense. Excellent analysis. Spot on about Brady’s fastballs.
On the YAC – Lenny can beat most LBs and brutally punishes DBs. And he has a fast top end, and some slick moves for a big man. We should all have the warms for Lenny.
July 24th, 2022 at 1:19 pm
Full time back will lead to limping Lenny
July 24th, 2022 at 1:32 pm
CARLTON DAVIS VERY LOW RATING IN MADDEN 23! you heard it here first
July 24th, 2022 at 2:02 pm
Nice to see a member of the mental defectives league make a comment to reinforce the low end boundary of the scale .
July 24th, 2022 at 3:18 pm
That’s pretty funny post by Fournette.
For the sake of fantasy football I’m going back and rewatching highlights of the top rookie backs… and again, Rachaad White just looks like a pro, reminds me a bit of a young Le’Veon Bell with the way he’ll hesitate for a second to read the defense before taking off – plus he just has great natural hands.
I’m telling you Lenny, if you give this kid an inch, he’s going to take your job. This isn’t Vaughn with a lack of speed and wiggle or Rojo out there flaking out.
BTW, for those that care. Rewatching some of the top guys… James Cook should be a definite add in fantasy, he’s not that expensive in yearly leagues and there’s no way he’s not the best RB in Buffalo already – only issue is Buffalo seems to swap backs regardless of performance, but I think he takes the job. Meanwhile in Seattle, watching the tap of Ken Walker III – not impressed at all, all his tape is running through wide open holes and it’s hard to take much from that, but he doesn’t look all that impressive, based on his cost, which is higher than Cook, that’s a hard pass. As for White, currently, if you do pre-season drafts, he’s available very late, if not undrafted, and is someone I’d roster for now.
July 24th, 2022 at 3:25 pm
nate – Looked it up, he’s only got an 82, that does seem too low. I think it’s the speed, for some reason they only have him with an 88 for speed. Also they only give him an 83 for man coverage, but then also give him an 83 for zone coverage.
He was hurt last year, and with all the injuries in the defensive backfield the Bucs were forced to play more zone than usual, so maybe that’s why, but the 83 in both man and zone is very odd for a guy known for being a 1-on-1 specialist.
Also, like every year, they underrate Donovan Smith giving him a 76, ranking him as the 22nd best LT in football. Is Smith really in the bottom third of starting tackles? Give me a break.
Oh well, that’s why they have an edit button, and the only thing I play is franchise mode.
July 25th, 2022 at 4:16 am
preserve lenny for the playoffs, its going to be a run heavy series and he performs best at that time. play the rookie white more in the regular season.