LOUISVILLE’S LAMAR JACKSON (AND LSU’S LEONARD FOURNETTE): THE HEISMAN FLAME SUMMARILY SNUFFED OUT???

For the most part, Lamar Jackson was known only to college football insiders and the genre’s punditry as the 2016 campaign opened.

Not exactly a household name.

My, “what a difference a day [season] makes…” (Esther Phillips, 1974 release).

The now-sophomore QB had a somewhat pedestrian year as a Louisville true-freshman in 2015, making eight starts in twelve contests. He threw for 1,840 yards with 12 TDs and eight picks and he ran for 960 yards and 11 TDs.

In the 2015 Music City Bowl against Texas A&M however, he offered a revealing glimpse of what was to come, passing for 227 yards and 2 TDs and rushing for a bowl-record 226 yards and 2 TDs in the Cardinals’ 27–21 victory.

He was named the game’s MVP.

Leonard Fournette had a breakout season as a 6’1” 235 lb. sophomore running back at Louisiana State University in the Fall of 2015.

After getting his feet wet as an incoming true-freshman to the tune of 1,034 yards rushing while starting 6 of 13 games, he averaged 5.5 yds. per carry with a long run of 89 yds. from scrimmage and scored 10 TDs.

The near-consensus №1 overall recruit in 2014’s HS senior class absolutely exploded in ’15:

1,953 rushing yards; 6.4 avg.; long run of 87 yds. from scrimmage; 22 TDs; 209 receiving yards on 18 catches & 1 TD.

He finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting with 110 points.

In the 2015 Texas Bowl against Texas Tech, he ran for 212 yards and had five scores to his credit in a 56–27 Tiger romp.

This season as a junior, in spite of setting a new single-game school rushing record on 10/22 with 284 yards and 3 touchdowns against Ole Miss, the freight train who once invited favorable comparisons to Herschel Walker among others has sputtered and slowed to a crawl.

An ankle injury suffered in preseason camp all but decimated the year he was to rule the college football landscape.

At this writing Jackson (even after then-9–1-Louisville’s consecutive losses to the University of Houston on the road — 36–10; and to Kentucky, of all foes at home — 41–38) remains the 2016 Heisman favorite, conference championship game results notwithstanding.

His competition?

QB’s Baker Mayfield from Oklahoma, Washington’s Jake Browning, and Deshaun Watson from Clemson along with last season’s runner-up, Stanford’s RB Christian McCaffrey.

Perhaps Jalen Hurts (Alabama), Adoree’ Jackson (USC), Dalvin Cook (Florida State), J.T. Barrett (Oklahoma) and D’Onta Foreman (Texas) can shake up the final tallies a little bit.

What about Fournette?

What about Fournette?

With the bar set so high, 2016 can be characterized as nothing short of a bust, both for him and for his team.

With a record of 7–4 amid the ignominy and tumult of longtime (’05-’16) Head Coach Les Miles’ September dismissal, LSU’s Fournette has been a spare part no-show, racking up paltry numbers by the gold standard he’d established: 129 rushing attempts, the fewest in a single season of his collegiate career; 843 yards gained on the ground; and 8 rushing touchdowns.

He has missed 5 of the 11 games played and against Alabama and Florida he rushed for 35 and 40 yards respectively.

In the team’s 54–39 Thanksgiving night victory over Texas A&M, sophomore Derrius Guice rushed for a new school record 285 yards — eclipsing Fournette’s October mark by 1 yard — and 4 TDs while Leonard sat yet again.

Injuries are part of the game, any game.

Did he come back too soon?

If so, why?

Was it his competitive spirit? His toughness and ability to play in and through pain? Or was he motivated by something or someone else?

He was not slated to play against Florida — a makeup game originally scheduled for mid-October until Hurricane Matthew weighed in — but a minor pre-game shoving match which reportedly included Fournette and a Gators assistant coach (DBs?) helped him change his mind.

A poor choice perhaps as he was ineffective in the loss but an indication that his heart is still thumping.

Also an indication that he’d like to solidify and enhance his draft position.

SEC Country’s Will Carroll has described Fournette’s ankle injury as chronic and one that “will need constant maintenance or perhaps surgery in the future…The issue of a potential surgery will be more a factor at February’s NFL Combine than it is now.”

Fournette insists that he is undecided as to whether or not he will enter the 2017 NFL Draft.

“At the end of the day, nobody wants to leave college,” he imparts. “Nobody’s ready for the real world. I know I’m not, to be honest.”

A year ago at this time the name “Leonard Fournette” and the words “#1 Overall Pick” were easily bandied about in the same sentence.

After this disappointing campaign both that and the Heisman are out of reach.

If he chooses to forego his senior season he will certainly be a first round selection and could be among the top ten players drafted.

And his ankle will get better.

A retired NFL RBs coach likens him to the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson with comparable size, speed and strength.

As for Lamar Jackson the Heisman is his to lose.

The loss to Kentucky did him no favors as his four turnovers — two of which led to 10 Wildcat points including the game-winning field goal with seconds remaining — somewhat obscured his 281 yards passing for a pair of TDs along with his 171 rushing yards and two scores.

Somewhat.

Maybe.

In spite of his glittering numbers and tremendous body of work this season and with his team’s three losses in mind, he wins perhaps because the field challenging him is relatively weak and could not rise on command to exploit his less-than-stellar recent moments.

He wins because he’s the best candidate period.

[Editor’s Note: This piece was written by Mr. Kaplan in December 2016.]

ADDENDA:

As a 19-year-old true sophomore, Lamar Jackson became the youngest player ever to win the Heisman Trophy in 2016, finishing more than 600 points ahead of runner-up Deshaun Watson.

In 2019 as quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens, Jackson was the NFL MVP, the second player to receive a unanimous selection for the award (see Tom Brady) and the fourth African-American QB to win the award (see Steve McNair; Cam Newton; & Patrick Mahomes).

Leonard Fournette was the fourth overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars.

In 36 career games he has rushed 666 times for 2,631 yards — 4 yds/carry — and 17 TDs. He has 134 receptions good for 1,009 yards and 2 TDs.