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2017 NFL Draft: Why the 49ers Won’t Draft LSU RB Leonard Fournette

By Chris Wilson

Nov 14, 2015; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers running back Leonard Fournette (7) walks off the field after the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Tiger Stadium. The Razorbacks won 31-14. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 14, 2015; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers running back Leonard Fournette (7) walks off the field after the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Tiger Stadium. The Razorbacks won 31-14. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /
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Dec 27, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (28) acknowledges the fans following the game against the New York Giants at TCF Bank Stadium. The Vikings defeated the Giants 49-17. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 27, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson (28) acknowledges the fans following the game against the New York Giants at TCF Bank Stadium. The Vikings defeated the Giants 49-17. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports /

Generational Talent

Essentially, Fournette is Adrian Peterson 2.0.

Even Fournette was quick to push back at the comparison.

Of course, we’ve heard this comparison before; a bit last year with Zeke, but even more so when the St. Louis Rams bucked the recent wait-on-RB trend and selected Todd Gurley with the 10th pick of the 2015 draft.

Team Generational Talent didn’t quiet when Gurley amassed 1,106 rushing yards his rookie season thanks to nine runs of 25 yards or more, and many deemed him the best running back in the NFL.

Unfortunately, Gurley regressed to the mean in 2016 (he actually regressed past the mean, with zero runs of 25 yards), and ended his second season as Pro Football Focus’s 33rd best RB, thanks to a 3.2 yards-per-carry average and only 885 total rushing yards.

The jury is still out on whether Gurley is either a generational talent or merely the 33rd best RB in a 32-team league. At some point, the mockers need to ask themselves how many generational talents can we have in a single generation?

In the unlikely scenario that Fournette ends up becoming AP-lite, how well would he even fit into the Kyle Shanahan system? We’ll get into that shortly.