The hype that preceded Leonard Fournette was unlike anything most freshman could ever expect. His coach compared his talent to the greatest basketball player of all time. Teammates predicted he’d have the greatest freshman year ever. One well-known LSU alum predicted he’d not just go to New York as Heisman finalist, but that he’d win the award. As a true freshman.

Fournette didn’t quite live up to those expectations. That doesn’t mean he didn’t just have a phenomenal freshman year, though.

As it turns out, Leonard Fournette did not come to college as a fully-formed wrecking ball, ready to swing through all defenses in his way. He did not win the Heisman in his freshman season, not even close, as former Tiger Tyrann Mathieu predicted. He didn’t duplicate Adrian Peterson’s freshman year at Oklahoma, like Terrence Magee seemed to think he might. Whether his talent is equal to Michael Jordan’s, as Les Miles suggested, is still up for debate.

What’s not debatable is that Fournette just capped off a strong regular season that should have LSU fans excited and SEC defenses terrified for the future.

Fournette finished the season as LSU’s leading rushing by a huge margin, is tops on the team with eight touchdowns and he carried the ball 71 more times than anyone on the roster. With a good bowl game, Fournette has a chance to go over 1,000 yards on the season. Even though he wasn’t the full-time starter, Fournette clearly surpassed seniors Terrence Magee and Kenny Hilliard by midway through the season.

The progression he’s shown over the course of the season has been the most encouraging part of Fournette’s campaign. If you go back and watch LSU’s opener against Wisconsin, Fournette’s relatively disappointing debut, you’ll see a running back that looked lost. Fournette was the biggest, baddest man on the field throughout his high school career, and he tried the same tactics that worked against teenagers. Instead of waiting for his blocks to develop, Fournette put his head down and tried to plow people over. It didn’t work.

Jump forward to some of Fournette’s big games later in the season, against Florida and Ole Miss and Thursday night against Texas A&M. While he still ran over and through plenty of helpless defenders, Fournette was patient, waiting for LSU’s veteran line to open up lanes for him to sprint through.

Fournette’s not alone in his success, as that offensive line has much to do with it. After a shaky start to the season, the front five played like one of the best groups in the country for the last two months of the season, Arkansas game aside. There’s a reason LSU was able to have so many dominant ground performances despite the utter disregard for passing offense, just like there’s a reason LSU running backs coach Frank Wilson is being considered for a head coaching position.

The best part of all this is that Fournette still has a ways to go. Even against Texas A&M, when he rushed for a season-best 146 yards, it felt like there were a few left on the table when Fournette made some slow decisions on downfield cuts. When you can decimate a defender like he did to Aggies safety Howard Matthews, some of that indecision can be rendered moot.

Fournette wasn’t the superhero he was made out to be back in August. While his freshman year didn’t live up to ridiculously high expectations, it was far from a disappointment. Expecting a 19-year-old to make history is a fool’s errand, anyway.

The way Fournette developed, and the way he finished his season — not to mention the way he finishes runs — has the rest of the SEC on notice.