The second coming of Adrian Peterson apparently will be wearing an LSU uniform this fall.
That’s according to the Tigers’ players and coaches, who were raving about freshman tailback Leonard Fournette during SEC Media Days on Wednesday.
Even head coach Les Miles compared this past year’s No. 1 national prospect to the incomparable basketball player, Michael Jordan.
“He expects himself to be something very special,” Miles told reporters in the grand ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Wynfrey Hotel on Wednesday. “I think if you look at Michael Jordan, he could not have been coached to be Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan accepted the role of expecting him to be better than (anybody else). I think he has a quiet confidence that will benefit him, and I think he will have an opportunity to play at that spot.”
Never mind that LSU already has a couple of pretty good players to play the tailback position. Seniors Terrence Magee and Kenny Hillard combined to rush for 936 yards and 15 touchdowns while backing up the departed Jeremy Hill this past season.
But even McGee admits, after seeing the 6-foot-1, 224-pound freshman work out in 7-on-7 drills this summer, that Fournette will have to play this fall.
““Even I get a ‘wow factor’ watching him catch the ball and seeing him run away from guys who’ve been here for a while,” McGee said. “I’m not as powerful as that guy and he has speed and vision, too.”
It’s not a total surprise. Fournette came out of New Orleans’ Saint Augustine High School as the consensus No. 1 college prospect in the country. But Magee said it took him and his other Tiger teammates “about seven seconds” to realize Fournette would be capable of making an immediate impact on this year’s team.
“Who wouldn’t want to play in a backfield with a guy that has been compared to Adrian Peterson?,” Magee said. “To be honest, I think it’s the only guy that’s playing the running back position right now that you can compare (to Fournette).”
Added senior tackle La’El Collins: “To look at him and watch him, it feels like he’s been here four years already.”
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