Just 17 games into his college career, LSU running back Leonard Fournette is a Heisman Trophy candidate, the talk of college football, and now drawing comparisons to one of the greatest athletes to ever play the game.
NFL Network analyst and former NFL linebacker LaVar Arrington called Fournette the best player in the college game during an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, and sees something of Bo Jackson in the LSU sophomore.
"He kind of looks like a Bo Jackson, his running style and his build," Arrington said. "I had the opportunity to work with him and get to know him at the Under Armour All-American Game, and his style and ability to cut, his strength, his speed, he's like everybody you'd want. You just put them together. But the first name that jumps into my mind is, he looks like Bo Jackson a little bit."
Fournette's college career, at least statistically, is off to an even better start than that of Jackson. Fournette rushed for 1,034 yards as a freshman last year, 205 more than Jackson did as a freshman in 1982. This year, Fournette is averaging more than 200 yards per game and 8.6 yards per carry.
Syracuse entered last week's game against LSU with the No. 3-rated rush defense in college football, albeit against inferior competition to that point. Fournette dismantled any possible legitimacy for that ranking, however, in rushing for 244 yards on 26 carries. NFL Media analyst Daniel Jeremiah recently compared Fournette to NFL veteran Frank Gore.
Fournette has exceptional power at 6-1, 230 pounds. He can accelerate explosively before he even reaches the hole, allowing him to break tackles even from much bigger defenders, and can outrun defensive backs when he gets past the defensive front.
As a true sophomore, Fournette won't be eligible for the NFL draft until 2017 or 2018.
But he could be joining Jackson as a Heisman Trophy winner much sooner.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
