How does Leonard Fournette’s rookie year stack up against Jaguars greats?

When the Jacksonville Jaguars selected running back Leonard Fournette with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft Youth Leonard Fournette Jersey , Tom Coughlin grabbed the war room telephone from Doug Marrone and delivered one simple message to the collegiate dynamo.Overwhelmed by the euphoria of draft day, Fournette likely didn’t immediately digest that he would be the next stallion in a pedigree stable of franchise running backs in Duval. While the Jacksonville Jaguars have had their crests and troughs in the win-loss department since their inaugural 1995 season, the ability to run the football has always been their blueprint for building their offensive identity throughout the decades.From Fred Taylor currently standing 17th in all-time rushing (11,695 yards) to Maurice Jones-Drew winning the rushing crown in 2011 (1,606 yards), running backs have long been the fulcrum of Jaguars football. So how did Fournette’s rookie year compare to the franchise greats?Fournette had a busy rookie year toting the rock, but pails in comparison to previous Jaguars greats.As you can see, Fournette was behind both Freddy T and MoJo in every category besides rushing yards, although an argument can be made that Jones-Drew likely would have passed him if not for splitting carries with Taylor as a rookie. Many Jaguars fans and even team media, including Jeff Lageman, have earmarked Fournette as potentially the most transcendent talent of the trio, but when comparing the numbers, it’s apparent that Fournette is slightly behind the curve at this point. The good news for Fournette is he has an outstanding opportunity to make up some ground in his sophomore campaign. In their second years as pros, both Taylor and Jones-Drew regressed statistically in all categories listed above, mostly owing to missing games due to injury. If this “Lenny Light” version of Fournette can sustain 16 regular season games in 2018 and stay healthy, he would have an enormous advantage in career benchmark as a Jaguars running back through two seasons.4.6That’s the magic number Fournette needs to hit in 2018. That’s the yards-per-carry mark that both Taylor and Jones-Drew registered in their second seasons as Jaguars despite missing seven combined games. With the addition of All-Pro offensive guard Andrew Norwell and another year of development for left tackle Cam Robinson, this should be a very attainable goal for Fournette.Will Fournette go down as the greatest running back in Jaguars history? Who knows. But what I do know is that Fournette became “the man” at both St. Augustine High School and LSU. If there is any player designed to step into the shadow of these Jaguars legends and claw tooth and nail to emerge as the best of the bunch, it’s Leonard Fournette.Jacksonville Jaguars vs. New York Giants series history: all-time head-to-head record Football is back! The Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants kick off the 2018 regular season against each other on Sunday at 1 p.m. inside of MetLife Stadium. The Jaguars have some familiarity with the Giants, as executive vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin, offensive line coach Pat Flaherty and defensive backs coach Perry Fewell all have ties to New York as former coaches there, and were all on staff during Eli Manning’s tenure at quarterback. With that in mind, the Giants are a brand new team in 2018 with a new general manager in Dave Gettleman and a new head coach in Pat Shurmur. The Giants also have new offensive and defensive coordinator, among other coaching changes. It’s also a brand new football season, so as we did last season, let’s review the history between these two franchises prior to Sunday’s showdown. While I’ve mentioned Jacksonville’s current regime has some ties to New York, this is only the seventh head-to-head matchup all-time between the Jaguars and the Giants.Series historyAll-time regular season series record: Tied 3-3Last Jaguars win: Nov. 30, 2014 (25-24)Last Giants win: Nov. 28, 2010 (24-20)Current Streak: Jaguars with a one-game winning streakBiggest Jaguars win: 40-13 (Sept. 7, 1997)Biggest Giants win: 24-17 (Nov. 3, 2002)Interesting takeaway: The home team has won every matchup. Quick thoughts: These two opponents are not very familiar with each other from a historical standpoint, playing only six times previously. Two of the three Jacksonville wins were in blowout fashion, with the most recent one coming by only one point. New York’s three wins were by a combined 14 points, and its biggest win was only by seven points. The Jaguars obliterated the Giants 40-13 in the first ever meeting, but the Giants then went on to win the next two games and three of the next four overall. Last MatchupWinner: JaguarsScore: 25-24Date: Nov. 30, 2014Location: EverBank Field Cheap Leonard Fournette Jersey , Jacksonville Team Stats: Jaguars — 194 passing yards, 118 rushing yards, 18 first downsGiants — 247 passing yards, 116 rushing yards, 22 first downsQuick recap: Despite being out-gained 363 yards to 312 yards, the Jaguars pulled off the narrow victory. Blake Bortles had an efficient day as a rookie, completing 60 percent of his passes for 191 yards, one touchdown and zero turnovers. He also had 68 yards on the ground, but was sacked seven times. Eli Manning coughed the ball up twice, while tight end Larry Donnell lost another fumble. Down by two points with 3:30 left in the game, Bortles led the offense down the field and set Josh Scobee up with what proved to be a game-winning 43-yard field goal. Prior MatchupWinner: GiantsScore: 24-20Date: Nov. 28, 2010 Location: New Meadowlands Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Team Stats: Jaguars — 162 passing yards, 207 rushing yards, 26 first downsGiants — 226 passing yards, 135 rushing yards, 17 first downsQuick recap: This game was a little bit of the opposite, where Jacksonville slightly out-gained New York, but turnovers costed the Jaguars. David Garrard threw an interception and fumbled three times, losing one of them on the Jags’ last drive of the game. Maurice Jones-Drew had 113 yards, while Eli Manning and Brandon Jacobs had solid performances for the G-Men. Manning hit Kevin Boss for a 32-yard touchdown strike with 3:24 left. Garrard was stripped sacked by Terrell Thomas on the ensuing drive, which sealed the victory for the Giants. Through the Decades1990s: Jaguars 1-0 (1997)2000-2010: Giants 3-12011-Present: Jaguars 1-0 (2014)Quick thoughts: This one is pretty easy to read due to the limited sample size. The Jaguars owned the only meeting of the 1990s, while the first decade of the 2000s was dominated by the G-Men. Jacksonville was victorious in the only matchup since 2011, and the all-time head-to-head series is deadlocked at three games a piece until Sunday. The Jaguars may be in trouble if history has taught us anything, as the home team has won every matchup in the series. Also, if the two prior games are any indication, it seems that being able to score with around three minutes and 30 seconds left in the game is a good indicator that whichever team can do that will earn a victory. All of this said, the Giants appear to be a much better team in 2018 than 2017, but still the Jaguars seem to be the superior team in terms of talent. I am expecting a Jacksonville win, but I think it will be a lower-scoring affair than others are predicting, with a close final score. It’s Week 1 prediction time, y’all. Who do you have winning?