NFL Draft Film Analysis & Breakdown: Leonard Fournette

[RumHam]

16 minutes ago, Saca312 said:

If I write up on Cook, you'll see a lot more critical talk on him and how he has a pretty low ceiling.

He's not a powerback, he's very lightweight. He's not the type of back to move the chains on short yardage situations. Do not want.

Have you watched him play? Have you watched him drag people for yards? Better than Fournette's finess bullshit.

[saints4lifeagain]

46 minutes ago, Saca312 said:

I'm being overly critical here in my analysis; I still consider Fournette BPA after Garrett honestly.

I'm just saying he won't be a EW guy. Look at his highlights. He doesn't have the change of direction you see from Freeman or such, and that's not a bad thing. He's just a pure great power downhill runner with exceptional athleticism. He won't be an EW guy, but he'll be one of the best downhill runners in a long time.

It wasn't even that bad of a game from him, so it was rather great to see an exaggerated Fournette from all aspects of his game.

I would certainly agree that he's a downhill runner. At his best once his shoulders are square and he's able to get up field. I was just pointing out that his lateral movement this year was much worse than it was last year. He has the ability to stop and jump cut very well. You just didn't see a lot of it this year.

[saints4lifeagain]

30 minutes ago, RumHam said:

Have you watched him play? Have you watched him drag people for yards? Better than Fournette's finess bullshit.

Founette? Finess? 

I'm not going to flat out call out your bias, but lol.

[RumHam]

1 hour ago, saints4lifeagain said:

Founette? Finess? 

I'm not going to flat out call out your bias, but lol.

I'd start CAP over drafting this bust.

[TheSpecialJuan]

[Hoenheim]

13 hours ago, RumHam said:

I'd start CAP over drafting this bust.

If Fournette rushes for over 1000 yrds this season you have to buy Pizza for us lol

And did you just call Fournette "Finess?" hahaha

[Saca312]

Revisiting this.

If Cam can truly thrive as a pocket passer, then Fournette could be a fit here. What I said about him being bad in shotgun formations remains true, and it still holds water.

If the Panthers are to draft him, they'd have to evolve Cam. Cam would need to learn to play under center if him and Fournette are to be a threat.

If that happens, you'll hear no complaints from me.

[Shocker]

On 2/12/2017 at 11:34 AM, Saca312 said:

I'll probably do some analysis on Barnett later, but right now I think he has the lowest ceiling against guys like Charlton and Thomas. 

I'll give he is the most NFL ready of the DEs and peaked early, but he doesn't have the appealing size to take his game to the next level. 

 

Well on this I agree, Barnett is somewhat of a finished product.  

[uscgamecocks]

On 3/22/2017 at 7:23 PM, Saca312 said:

Revisiting this.

If Cam can truly thrive as a pocket passer, then Fournette could be a fit here. What I said about him being bad in shotgun formations remains true, and it still holds water.

If the Panthers are to draft him, they'd have to evolve Cam. Cam would need to learn to play under center if him and Fournette are to be a threat.

If that happens, you'll hear no complaints from me.

This quote was and remains the most important in your original writeup:

"The question is whether the Panthers can maximize his talents and Cam's at the same time."

If Fournette is the guy, they need to be 100% certain that Cam can smoothly transition to an offense based around him being under center.  Because like you - I'm convinced that LF would be wasted in the offense we've run the past two years.

Cam's footwork and read discipline will need to become much more consistent in an offense based on traditional formations. 

Frankly, I'm not sure you mess with your MVP QB to draft a RB.  But it's possible that our shotgun-based offense won't work once the QB run is off the table, so maybe the transition has to happen anyway.  If that's their approach, LF could certainly ease that transition.

Then again, can you transition the offense if Cam's shoulder isn't ready for the start of training camp?

[Lasus83.]

IIRC, it wasn't that the shotgun was bad for Fournette... it was that he thrived with a lead blocker. That is, he is a cannon that must be aimed. Not that aware..

Sent using the amazing CarolinaHuddle mobile app

[Nails]

1 hour ago, Shocker said:

Well on this I agree, Barnett is somewhat of a finished product.  

Dak Prescott slipped to round 4 because of "limited upside" and he was a "finished product".  Some guys just have "it" and Barnett is one of those guys.

[saints4lifeagain]

10 minutes ago, Lasus83. said:

IIRC, it wasn't that the shotgun was bad for Fournette... it was that he thrived with a lead blocker. That is, he is a cannon that must be aimed. Not that aware..

Sent using the amazing CarolinaHuddle mobile app
 

Don't agree. 

Frankly, don't agree that he won't work in shotgun. He just never had that many opportunities at LSU. It's one of my biggest complaints with the offense. He had no opportunity to run out of a spread offense. We never gave the defense the idea that it may be a pass. LSU wants to line up and shove it down your throat. It works, most of the time.

Anyway, I think the talk of him not having the ability to run anything but I-form is entirely untrue.

[tiger7_88]

6 hours ago, saints4lifeagain said:

Don't agree. 

Frankly, don't agree that he won't work in shotgun. He just never had that many opportunities at LSU. It's one of my biggest complaints with the offense. He had no opportunity to run out of a spread offense. We never gave the defense the idea that it may be a pass. LSU wants to line up and shove it down your throat. It works, most of the time.

Anyway, I think the talk of him not having the ability to run anything but I-form is entirely untrue.

And this is my problem. 

Its not that he can or can't run from the shotgun. The problem is that he never has and you just don't know.

Will he have the patience to wait beside the QB with the ball in his belly?

And during that time the line is blocking and shifting in front of him. There is no definite "hole" to run to. After the QB finally leaves the ball to him, does he have the read-option vision to find that little crease in the line, plant his foot, and cut through it? Jonathan Stewart does, but Stew played in a spread, shotgun offense in college, so he already knew what he was doing.

Can Fournette do that well? The answer at this point, since he's never been asked to, is "maybe".

Do you spend the #8 overall pick rolling the dice on "maybe"? At a position that in general is the most short-lived in the NFL?

Maybe DG and Rivera do exactly that.  If so, I can understand their gamble and would hope for the best. Fournette is a great talent.

[Saca312]

12 hours ago, saints4lifeagain said:

Don't agree. 

Frankly, don't agree that he won't work in shotgun. He just never had that many opportunities at LSU. It's one of my biggest complaints with the offense. He had no opportunity to run out of a spread offense. We never gave the defense the idea that it may be a pass. LSU wants to line up and shove it down your throat. It works, most of the time.

Anyway, I think the talk of him not having the ability to run anything but I-form is entirely untrue.

I don't doubt Fournette can be a great back. I just question his fit on the Panthers, and his ability to play from shotgun with his inability to make super sharp cuts at the LoS.

 

Look at last season. Nearly every play, Stewart is making cuts and angles in the backfield and at the LoS, something I question if Fournette can do.