Tampa Bay's coaching staff not pleased with Leonard Fournette's weight issues this offseason
The news of Bucs' running back Leonard Fournette being out of shape is no surprise at this point, as he has mentioned that he is working on slimming down before the regular season begins. However, it seems that when Fournette arrived at mandatory minicamp he was extremely out of shape and that the Buccaneers' coaches were less than pleased that he let himself go.
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Rick Stroud, a longtime Bucs' beat writer for the Tampa Bay Times, had a bit more to say about the situation on his podcast, Sports Day Tampa Bay.
“The last time we saw Leonard Fournette he was about a donut shy of 260,” Stroud said. “He certainly didn’t look like a guy who could play every down.
Fournette is currently listed at 228 pounds via the Buccaneers website. It seems, however, that Fournette is actually about 30 pounds heavier leading up to training camp according to Stroud.
“Coaches were not happy, and that’s an understatement, when he didn’t participate in the OTAs, but then he shows up at the mandatory minicamp weighing damn near 260,” Stroud said. “And that’s not a good sign for a guy that you just spent a three-year contract on.”
I don't believe there would be a coach out there that would be happy with how Fournette has shown up this offseason, especially after working to get to the three-year deal he received. One would think that would make Fournette want to show why he is deserving of that contract.
Hopefully, Lenny can get in shape in a hurry before the regular season begins or some of the other Bucs' running backs may start to creep into his touches. Stroud touched on this by saying he could see rookie Rachaad White start to take away some snaps near the end of the season as we saw Fournette start to wear down at the end of the 2021-22 season.
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The Buccaneers have a plethora of running backs at their disposal who could buy for playing time. The aforementioned Rachaad White, Ke'Shawn Vaughn, Giovani Bernard and Kenjon Barner will all look to better position themselves on the roster to earn more playing time this season.
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