Leonard Joseph Fournette III (born January 18, 1995) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons. He played college football for the LSU Tigers, and was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the fourth overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft.
Fournette had near-unprecedented hype headed into college in 2014 after an outstanding career at St. Augustine High School in New Orleans. He won the 2013 USA Today High School Football Offensive Player of the Year and was named the top-ranked recruit in 2014 senior class according to ESPN, 247Sports.com, and CBS Sports. At LSU, Fournette was a consensus All-America selection following his sophomore season in 2015, after setting school single-season records with 1,953 rushing yards and 22 rushing touchdowns, and leading the country with 162.8 rushing yards per game. Various experts regarded Fournette as the best player in college football. He missed much of his junior season due to recurring ankle injuries.
Upon being drafted by the Jaguars, Fournette had immediate success, including rushing for over 1,000 yards as a rookie. However, he struggled with several injuries and suspensions and his relationship with the franchise soured as a result, eventually leading to his release after just three seasons with the team. Fournette then signed with the Buccaneers, with whom he played a large part in winning Super Bowl LV over the Kansas City Chiefs. Fournette remained the team's primary starter for most of the 2021 and 2022 seasons. After being released by the Buccaneers, he played in two games for the Buffalo Bills in 2023.
Raised in the 7th Ward of New Orleans by his parents, Leonard Jr. and Lory, Fournette grew up in a troubled area that was often affected by violence and gang activity, especially after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005. Fournette credited Katrina as kick-starting his football career after moving to Houston and back within a year because of the hurricane evacuation. Fournette also credits his mother's Catholic faith with getting the family through the recovery process.
After returning to New Orleans, Fournette played football at St. Augustine High School, and competed in track and field. His 200 metres regional mark of 21.57 seconds is fastest in 4A, and his 10.68 in the 100 metres is only .02 off the best time. Fournette also competed in the 4 × 100 metres relay and 4 × 200 metres relay.
On the varsity football team, Fournette was a starter since his freshman year and compiled 7,619 rushing yards and 88 rushing touchdowns for his career. As a freshman, Fournette rushed for more than 2,500 yards and 30 touchdowns and became the first-ever freshman to earn a scholarship offer from Louisiana State. His sophomore year ended with 1,900 yards rushing and 27 touchdowns. As a junior, Fournette registered 2,135 rushing yards and 31 touchdowns and was an LFCA Class 4A First-team All-State honoree. In his senior year, Fournette ran for 1,792 yards and 16 touchdowns and added 45 receptions for 745 yards and six scores. Early in the season, he had a heralded performance with two touchdowns and 262 yards rushing against Malachi Dupre's John Curtis Christian, which was nationally televised by ESPN2. St. Augustine ended the season with a 9–2 record and an appearance in the LHSAA Division I semifinal game, where they were upset 31–28 by Archbishop Rummel High School. Fournette was named Louisiana's 2013 Mr. Football by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association, and also was selected as an All-American by Parade and USA Today, as well as USA Today Offensive Player of the Year, the first from Louisiana since Ryan Perrilloux in 2004. After the season, Fournette participated in the Under Armour All-America Game where he caught a 36-yard touchdown pass and rushed for 43 yards on nine carries.
Unanimously regarded as the best running back prospect of his class, Fournette was one of the most highly recruited players ever to come out of Louisiana. ESPN ranked him as the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2014, as did Scout.com. At the 2014 Under Armour All-America Game, Fournette announced his decision to attend Louisiana State University (LSU).
Fournette attended and played college football for LSU from 2014 to 2016 under head coaches Les Miles and Ed Orgeron.
Fournette's college career was preceded by very high expectations and hype, and he was often called "the next Adrian Peterson". In his collegiate debut against the Wisconsin Badgers on August 30, 2014, Fournette ran for 18 yards on eight carries. After the game, Tigers head coach Les Miles downplayed the Fournette hype. "First games are not to be comparable to his 30th game," said Miles. "Expectations are unrealistic."
In his second game, against the Sam Houston State Bearkats, Fournette rushed for 92 yards on 13 attempts and scored his first collegiate rushing touchdown. In the fifth week of the season, the New Mexico State Aggies traveled to Death Valley to face the #17 LSU Tigers, and Fournette ran for 122 yards on 18 carries and scored two touchdowns. This effort put Fournette at the top of the Tigers' rushing list for the season. On October 11 against SEC rival Florida, Fournette rushed the ball 27 times for 140 yards and two touchdowns to help LSU secure a 30–27 last-second win in The Swamp. Against undefeated and #3 Ole Miss, who led the nation in stopping the run, Fournette shook off an early goal line fumble and rushed 23 times for 113 yards to go along with two receptions for 41 yards. LSU ran the ball 12 times for 92 yards on a 13-play, 95-yard touchdown drive to upset the Rebels by a score of 10–7 in Death Valley. Fournette finished the season against Notre Dame in the 2014 Music City Bowl with 11 carries for 143 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the loss to the Fighting Irish.
Fournette started his sophomore season with a strong performance of 159 rushing yards and three touchdowns against Mississippi State. In the next game, a victory over Auburn, Fournette finished with 228 rushing yards and three touchdowns. He rushed for a career-high 244 yards and two touchdowns against Syracuse in the Carrier Dome, six yards shy of tying Alley Broussard's school record of 250 yards against Ole Miss in 2004. Fournette had an 87-yard touchdown run nullified by an illegal formation call late in the game. The following week against Eastern Michigan, he rushed for 233 yards, becoming the first player in Southeastern Conference (SEC) history to rush for 200 or more yards in three straight games. Against Western Kentucky, Fournette ran for 150 yards, his ninth consecutive 100+ yards rushing game, a streak that dated back to the Texas A&M game in late November 2014. Fournette tied a school record originally established by Charles Alexander in 1978. Fournette's streak ended the next game against rival Alabama, the nation's best rushing defense, at Bryant–Denny Stadium. He was held to 31 yards on 19 attempts, as the Crimson Tide handed LSU its first loss of the season. In the 2015 Texas Bowl, Fournette ran for 212 yards and scored five total touchdowns as the Tigers defeated Texas Tech, 56–27.
As a sophomore, Fournette set school records with 1,953 rushing yards and 22 rushing touchdowns. With an average of 162.8 rushing yards per game, he won the NCAA rushing title, awarded to the player with the highest rushing yards per game average each season. Fournette finished sixth in Heisman Trophy voting, earning 110 points. He earned consensus All-America honors as he was named to the first-team by three official selectors: the Associated Press (AP), the Walter Camp Football Foundation, and the Football Writers Association of America. SEC coaches, the Associated Press, and ESPN.com each named Fournette to their All-SEC first-team.
Entering his junior season, Fournette was expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and was one of the preseason favorites to win the award. During a scrimmage game prior to the 2016 season, Fournette sustained a high ankle sprain, but was well enough to return for the season opener against Wisconsin at Lambeau Field. Late in the game against Wisconsin, he bruised the same ankle and missed the next week's game against Jacksonville State as a result. Fournette re-injured it against SEC West rival Auburn on September 24 in a 101-yard rushing effort, causing him to miss the next two games. On October 22, his first game back, Fournette rushed for 284 yards and three touchdowns against Ole Miss to set a new single-game school record for rushing yards. His school record was surpassed later in the season by Derrius Guice by one yard. With his ankle still not fully healed, Fournette was not expected to play against Florida on November 19, and did not suit up for pregame warm-ups. However, after a pregame scuffle between the teams in which Fournette shoved a Florida assistant coach, LSU head coach Ed Orgeron granted Fournette permission to play. Still visibly bothered by the injury, he managed only 40 yards on 12 carries and did not play in the fourth quarter. Due to the injury, Fournette did not travel with the team to College Station to face Texas A&M in the final game of the regular season. He finished his junior season having carried 129 times for 843 yards and eight touchdowns in seven games.