Impact of Chubb’s Injury on Fournette’s Future

ByJohn Richardson|

As you’ve likely already heard and seen, Nick Chubb experienced a gruesome injury Saturday in the Bulldog’s loss to the Tennessee Volunteers. It has caused the discussion about whether Mark Richt is on the hot seat to turn up a few extra levels and has seen support swell for Chubb. But there may be an even bigger impact.

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While most will focus on the loss of Chubb in regards to how it impacts the team in Athens, Georgia . . . a team in the bayou could feel the effect as well. There have been numerous arguments made that Leonard Fournette should skip his junior season in anticipation that he will be a top 5 pick in the 2017 draft, regardless of his 2016 performance . . . or lack thereof.

For those that consider themselves college football purists . . . consider how unkind recent history has been to top tier SEC running backs.

Last year Todd Gurley, who showed public support for Chubb via twitter, suffered a season ending injury playing for the Bulldogs. He had less than a 100 carries on the season, having served a 4 game suspension, before his injury occured. What his lack of junior experience really showed, though, was how little his junior season mattered.

Todd Gurley was taken with the 10th overall pick by the St. Louis Rams in the 2015 NFL draft. This was after his gruesome injury that caused him to miss the remainder of his 2014 college season. This was with teams knowing that he likely would not be able to fully participate in fall camps or even begin the season as an active participant.

Todd Gurley’s story is evidence that a player does not need to continue improving his draft stock in his junior season if he has already built himself into one of the top player’s at his position. Leonard Fournette has surely noticed . . . and he has likely noticed some of the stories that have not turned out as nicely.

“I agree. You need to go pro right now. Don’t get that knee healed back up and God forbid get hurt again in another season when you’re not getting paid anything.” -Steve Spurrier

South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore rushed for over 1,100 yards his freshman season . . . and proceeded to suffer two knee injuries the next two seasons. He saw his rushing totals, and draft stock, dip in each of the next two seasons. Having had enough and worried about his NFL prospects, he decided to declare for the NFL draft after his junior season.

Count recently retired Steve Spurrier among his supporters in that decision. Spurrier, according to the columbiatribune.com, was quoted saying, “(a)fter his second big injury, he came to me and said, ‘Coach, I’m going to go pro,’ I said, ‘I agree. You need to go pro right now. Don’t get that knee healed back up and God forbid get hurt again in another season when you’re not getting paid anything.’ ”

That, in a nutshell, should be all the ammunition Leonard Fournette needs to consider skipping his junior season. Marcus Lattimore fell to the 4th round of the 2013 NFL Draft and was retired by 2014.

No one should question Leonard Fournette’s motivations if he were to try to skip his junior season. The question really becomes about how he should do it without hurting his draft stock. Honestly . . . if Leonard Fournette autographed enough memorabilia to pay some bills and get himself suspended for an entire season . . . I would not blame him one bit.

Next: SEC Football: Best and Worst Performances (Week 6)

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