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Leonard Fournette isn't sitting out in 2016, so let's stop talking about it

Graham Watson

A strange debate started brewing this week about LSU running back Leonard Fournette and whether he should sit out the 2016 season.

Yes, you read that right.

The theory being that if Fournette’s 2015 season continues at the pace it’s been on — he has 631 yards and eight touchdowns in three games — that he shouldn’t risk injury by playing in 2016 and instead use the time to prepare for the 2017 NFL Draft.

Here are some pearls of “wisdom” from Mike Florio of College Football Talk:

Fournette is ready to play in the NFL, but he can’t play in the NFL until 2017. Unless the rule changes before April (it won’t), Fournette can’t get in to the NFL before 2017. So if he’s ready to play in the NFL and if he has maxed out his draft value, why should he continue to assume the risk of injury while playing for compensation that doesn’t come close to matching Fournette’s value?

There’s no doubt Fournette is a rare and special talent, but he’s also a guy who values playing for LSU.

There’s always a risk of getting injured. It’s happened to some great running backs in the SEC in recent years. But coach Nick Saban, who weighed in on the Fournette debate, doesn’t think skipping a year is a way to keep a player preserved for the draft. He cited former Alabama receiver Julio Jones, who played three years with the Crimson Tide and is now the most productive receiver in the NFL.

“It certainly is my opinion [that players should stay for a third year]. I think players develop while they’re here,” Saban said. “I think you only get better by playing. And the notion that, “I guess you shouldn’t play because you might get injured” — I don’t look at football as a dangerous game. You can get injured playing any game, so that means you can never play. You can actually get injured when you go on to the NFL. So, I think guys that are worried about their own things rather than focusing on being a teammate for their team, playing the best that they can play… I think those things always create more value for every individual player.”

Great Georgia running back Herschel Walker shared similar thoughts with TMZ when he acknowledged, “[Fournette] was better than I was.” But then noted, “It's a bad idea to talk about leaving early, just wait and your time will come."

This obviously isn’t the first time talk about a player missing a season to stay healthy for a draft that’s two years away has surfaced. Some thought Ohio State’s Ezekiel Elliott should have sat out this season after his dynamic second half and playoff run a year ago. His numbers have not been as good as they were last season, but he also has a chance to win another national title.

So far, no player has intentionally missed a season to preserve their body and I agree with Saban that doing something like that would speak ill of a player’s character and the type of teammate he might be in an NFL franchise.

Not every player who plays college football is in it for the (future) money. Sometimes guys just like the camaraderie that comes with being a teammate, especially if the team is successful. To oversimplify that and say every talented player should be out for a money grab is shorting who the player is as a person.

For more LSU news, visit TigerBait.com.

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!

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