Jaguars' pick of Leonard Fournette officially puts Blake Bortles on watch
PHILADELPHIA — The Jacksonville Jaguars just put Blake Bortles on watch with their first pick in the 2017 NFL draft.
No, it was not a quarterback, as had been rumored. It was LSU’s Leonard Fournette, one of the best power backs we’ve seen maybe since Adrian Peterson. If Fournette can’t make Bortles better, maybe no one will.
It’s no secret that the new brass — perhaps especially Tom Coughlin, who is clearly calling a lot of the big shots there now — is not enamored with Bortles. The team spent big (again) on defensive additions in free agency, and its first pick on Thursday night is an insanely talented runner with a size-speed quotient you just don’t see much.
Remember what last year’s No. 4 overall pick, Ezekiel Elliott, did for the Dallas Cowboys. Let’s be clear: Fournette is a different animal. But that doesn’t mean he’s not a beast. He should run roughshod over the still incomplete defenses of the AFC South, and the Jaguars follow the Tennessee Titans’ roadmap a bit with its own featured power-run game.
But this pick is as much about Bortles as anything else. If he can’t improve with Fournette chewing up yards and creating favorite down and distances, then the Jaguars will move on quickly. Heck, they have the whole rest of this draft to find a QB to help push him a bit.
A fascinating choice by the Jaguars.
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
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