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Is Dalvin Cook really the best running back in college football, or is Leonard Fournette really the best of the bunch? Rich Cirminiello and Pete Fiutak argue which back is better.
October 22, 2015Is Dalvin Cook really the best running back in college football, or is Leonard Fournette in a class of his own? Rich Cirminiello and Pete Fiutak argue which back is better.
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Heresy, I know. But LSU’s Leonard Fournette is not the best unpaid running back in America.
That’s an honor belonging to Florida State sophomore Dalvin Cook.
No disrespect to Fournette, of course – he’s a man among boys at this level and a sure-fire first-round NFL Draft pick in 2017. Cook, though, is actually a shade better now that he’s cleaned up his fumbling problems from a season ago. Now, as the season goes on, and Florida State gets more and more in the spotlight, it’s Cook’s time to be getting more Heisman love between now and early December.
Fournette’s production and measurables are beyond reproach. Cook, though, is a more complete all-around running back. He can beat defenses in every imaginable way with power, speed and ideal pad level, and he’s effective in the passing game as a receiver and a blocker. And no one, not even Fournette, is better after contact than Cook, whose legs never stop churning for more real estate.
Cook can do it all … because he’s had to so far in 2015. Where would the Seminoles be without No. 4 in the backfield the year after Jameis Winston left for the pros and nearly the entire O-line had to be revamped? FSU is probably not undefeated and it certainly isn’t ranked within the top 10.
As an added bonus, Cook has shown that he’ll not only play through pain, but he’ll flourish as well. Two weeks ago, he heroically torched Miami for 222 yards on 22 carries on a night that a hamstring injury almost kept him out of pads.
Fournette is a runaway locomotive, yet he’s still 1A at the position in college football. Cook is every bit as explosive as Fournette, with a more diverse skill set to boot. And after carrying the Seminole offense on a gimpy leg through the first half of the season, there’s absolutely no reason why he should be looking up at anyone when it comes to the Heisman, the Doak Walker Award or NFL upside potential.
Follow and/or Contact: @PeteFiutak
I’m not going to lie – I’m not going to argue too hard against Dalvin Cook, or Ezekiel Elliott, or Derrick Henry. Cook is a special back, carrying the Florida State offense at times on a few bum wheels, averaging 8.68 yards per carry and taking games over on his own.
Yeah, when Florida State plays Clemson and Florida, Cook will get his chances in the national spotlight to make a huge Heisman statement.
But Leonard Fournette is the best running back in college football.
Considering the incredible hype and the massive expectations and hype as the No. 1 recruit last year, he was expected to step on the field and be Herschel Walker right away. After all, he brought a stunning blend of size with decent speed. As it turned out, he checked in at 6-1, 230 – about 15 pounds bigger than expected – and the speed that was just supposed to be good, turned out to hover in the 4.4 range – and even below according to some observers.
Eight carries for 18 yards against Wisconsin later, and no one was fitting him for a Hall of Fame jacket after the 2014 season opener.
Les Miles brought him along slowly, and then turned him loose when the team needed him the most against Florida – running for 140 yards in the 30-27 win. There were times when he was stuffed and stopped as SEC defense keyed on him, but there were signs of big things to come.
19 carries for 146 yards and a score against Texas A&M in the regular season finale, and 11 carries for 143 yards and two scores in the bowl loss to Notre Dame set the tone for a massive 2015.
Last year he might have been the young superstar running back ready to be the next big thing, but it’s not like he was a sort of running back savior – the program had recently lost Jeremy Hill to the NFL. Throw in Spencer Ware, Alfred Blue, Kenny Hilliard, Stevan Ridley and Michael Ford, and the program was used to having top-shelf recruits around to carry the mail.
But this year he’s been something different.
He’s showing more wiggle, better moves, and more pop than he did throughout most of last year. The second-level, change-of-direction ability is amazing for a smaller guy, much less a back with his bulk and power, and now he’s becoming the type of more mature, dangerous runner who’s setting things up far better than he did throughout most of the season.
The Heisman is his for the taking after starting out the year with 1,202 yards and 14 touchdowns in the first six games – and he’s probably be well over 1,300 yards with a few more scores had the opener against McNeese State not been cancelled.
But now come the real tests. Rolling against Florida for 180 yards and two touchdowns should be enough to lock up the Heisman, but he still has to go against an Alabama run defense with the best front three in the Nick Saban era. The Crimson Tide kept Fournette to 79 yards on 21 carries.
The Tigers also have to deal with Arkansas, who came up with a 17-0 skunking in 2014, holding Fournette to nine yard on five carries.
If Ole Miss can rebound and get its run defense together again, that’ll be a test, and Texas A&M – despite getting destroyed by Henry – will be a wall, too.
As long as LSU keeps winning, and as long as Fournette keeps producing, this is over. There’s a 13-carry, 37-yard day coming somewhere – it’s the SEC – but it’s going to take something extraordinary to slow him down right now.
If this is the year of the running back, No. 7 is about to show over the second half of the year that he’s still the best of the bunch.