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Leonard Fournette says he was missing something in his first three seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
A quarterback.
In his extensive first press conference since joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Fournette let the soundbites fly as he praised Tom Brady to the detriment of Blake Bortles and Gardner Minshew as well as his elation at not facing opposing defenses that would stack the box.
“For the first time in my life, I really have a quarterback,” Fournette said on Tuesday after practice. “[I’m excited to see opponents] planning for eight guys and not just one.”
"For the first time in my life, I really have a quarterback," Leonard Fournette says of playing with Tom Brady in Tampa.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) September 8, 2020
Fournette said he's excited to have opponents "planning for eight guys and not just one" and will appreciate not having so many defenders in the box on a regular basis.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) September 8, 2020
As ESPN’s Jenna Laine pointed out last week, Fournette isn’t lying when he says he’s looking forward to a more spread out defense to go up against. He faced a loaded box on 47.8 percent of his snaps in 2017, 39.1 percent in 2018 and 34.7 percent in 2019.
The Buccaneers saw a loaded box on just 21.5 percent of snaps last year.