With The First Pick
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Where will Leonard Fournette Land?

By Jon Dove

Nov 5, 2016; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers running back Leonard Fournette (7) carries the ball against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the second quarter of a game at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 5, 2016; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers running back Leonard Fournette (7) carries the ball against the Alabama Crimson Tide during the second quarter of a game at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports /
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LSU’s Leonard Fournette is a highly touted prospect who could come off the board early in the 2017 NFL Draft.

Finding an ideal landing spot for Leonard Fournette is proving to be very difficult. It’s a situation of balancing the overall talent of the player, importance of the position and draft value. Using an early 1st round pick on a running back has been long debated as a wasted pick.

Last year we saw the Dallas Cowboys use the No. 4 overall pick on Ezekiel Elliott which appears to have been a smart choice. Elliott finished the year as the league’s rushing champion finishing with 1,631 rushing yards.

However, the No. 2 leading rusher was a fellow rookie Jordan Howard of the Chicago Bears. The difference is that Chicago used a 5th round pick, No. 150 overall, to select Howard.

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Elliott finished with 318 more rushing yards on 70 more carries than Howard. This example is one of the stronger arguments for those against using an early 1st round pick on a running back. The 2017 NFL Draft is loaded with running back talent which could result in several teams waiting to address the position.

Fournette is an elite talent capable of carrying the load and being the focal point of an offense. He has been mention as a possible option as high as the No. 4 pick for the Jacksonville Jaguars. The other top-10 teams that make sense are the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers.

I see pick No. 16 to the Baltimore Ravens as the latest he’ll come off the board. The Cleveland Browns (No. 12), Philadelphia Eagles (No. 14) and Indianapolis Colts (No. 15) also make a lot of sense.

Philadelphia needs to add more playmakers around Carson Wentz and a top-end running back would be a major help. The same can be said for the Colts who need to take some pressure off of Andrew Luck.

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