Running back Leonard Fournette has a pretty good idea of what he would consider a successful rookie season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"Going to the Super Bowl," he said. "I'm really focused on this organization getting to the top."
The Jaguars have won only 17 games over the past five seasons, so they certainly have a long way to go, but the organization clearly views Fournette as a key piece of its climb, which is why it selected him fourth overall in Thursday night's NFL draft.
The 6-foot, 228-pound Fournette ran for 3,840 yards and 40 touchdowns and averaged 6.2 yards per carry in three seasons at LSU. He averaged 19.3 carries per game, and that's the kind of role the Jaguars envision for him going forward.
"He's special," said Tom Coughlin, the team's executive vice president of football operations. "We need playmakers. We need people to put the ball in the end zone. We need to do something about balance. We need to do something about creating a better situation where the quarterback doesn't have the entire game on his shoulders."
The Jaguars need help in the backfield. Since 2010, their 57 rushing touchdowns are the fewest in the NFL. And in 2016, their 1.4 yards after contact per rush ranked 28th in the league.
Fournette gives the Jaguars a physical pounder who will make play-action fakes significantly more effective.
This is the third time Jacksonville has selected a running back in the first round in team history (1998, Fred Taylor; 1995, James Stewart)
It also marks the second consecutive year in which a running back was drafted in the top five after that happened only twice in the previous eight drafts. The Dallas Cowboys took Ezekiel Elliott with the fourth pick in 2016.
