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Leonard Fournette faced criticism after being 240 pounds at NFL Combine
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Leonard Fournette tipped the scales at 240 pounds Wednesday at the NFL Combine, and media members took notice.
RB Leonard Fournette weighs in at 240 lbs.. heaviest among all RBs
— trey wingo (@wingoz) March 1, 2017
Leonard Fournette weighed in at 240 lbs. It supposedly was a lot of water weight. How he tests will be huge for him.
— Jordan Reid (@Jordan_Reid) March 2, 2017
On the Tigers website, Fournette’s bio lists him as 6-foot-1, 235 pounds. The expectation was reported that Fournette would maintain that weight or potentially shed a few pounds for the combine. He also measured a half inch shorter.
Combine has RB Leonard Fournette at 240 lbs.- 5 to 10 lbs heavier than expected. That's roughly Johnathan Stewart or Jeremy Hill territory.
— DAVID DOREY (@DMDorey) March 1, 2017
As far as if the weight gain is a big deal, there are varying opinions.
“I think it has to be a little bit of a concern,” said NFL.com analyst Lance Zierlein. “He’s a big man, but the bigger he gets, the less quickness he is likely to have and quickness matters in the NFL. There have been plenty of running backs who have come into the league and decided to slim down once they experience the speed of NFL defenses. My guess is that he will be told he is too heavy by some NFL teams and he will come in lighter at his pro day.”
Others aren’t so worried:
One GM said he carried it well. https://t.co/X1GUmN2CHd
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 1, 2017
My first year in scouting, I was responsible for weighing in players at camp. Jamal Lewis was 245 every day. He ran for 2k yards that year. https://t.co/lbKSGOfVR3
— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) March 1, 2017
The 240-pound measurement has created some extra buzz around Fournette’s 40-yard dash on Friday. According to Saturday Down South senior writer John Crist, the buzz in Indianapolis at the combine is that if Fournette’s 40 time is around 4.4 seconds, his weight won’t be seen as an issue. If he runs closer to 4.6 seconds, the weight gain will be called into question and his draft stock will likely suffer.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
