Leonard Fournette Signing Fantasy Football Impact | Should You Add Fournette? | Will James Cook or Latavius Murray See Roles Diminish?

The Buffalo Bills added another offensive playmaker to their roster when they signed running back Leonard Fournette on Monday. Fournette is joining the team’s practice squad.

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Is Fournette worth adding to your fantasy team? How will the veteran back’s signing affect James Cook and Latavius Murray? Let’s discuss.

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Fournette’s Career

Fournette was once viewed as one of the top running backs in the game, but like many players at the position, only was able to sustain that level of play for a couple seasons.

He started his career with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He posted two seasons of 1,000+ rushing yards and tallied 17 scores over three years. Fournette has been a back you can use in the passing game too, helping him finish with 3,640 scrimmage yards and 19 total touchdowns while in Jacksonville.

Fournette was released by Jacksonville in 2020 and signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he played alongside Tom Brady for the past three seasons.

The veteran back never topped 1,000 rushing yards with Tampa Bay, but still produced 1,847 yards and 17 scores on the ground across three seasons. He added 1,210 receiving yards and five scores as a pass catcher, which helped him reach 1,000 or more scrimmage yards in two seasons.

He was released by the Bucs after the season and was not picked back up until Buffalo signed him to its practice squad.

Buffalo’s Current Backs

The Bills have relied on two running backs for most of the season. Cook leads the team and Murray provides a nice No. 2 option.

Cook has been the workhorse on the ground, with 102 carries through eight contests. He’s turned those runs into 486 yards and a touchdown. Cook is also a threat as a pass catcher, with 18 catches, 192 yards and a touchdown on 22 targets this season.

Cook has 13 or more touches in seven of eight weeks, but has only topped 20 touches once. He’s gone for 60 scrimmage yards in all but one contest.

Murray is up to 40 carries, 143 yards and two scores for the season. He’s caught 10 of the 11 passes thrown his direction, but turned those grabs into just 73 additional yards.

Murray has only reached double-digit touches in one game this season. He’s been under 60 scrimmage yards in every contest, and has five games with less than 30 scrimmage yards.

Bills’ Running Back Fantasy Outlook

Taking a look at the Bills’ current options at the position and then what Fournette has done in his career, you can see why the team decided to bring him in.

Buffalo has one of the best offenses in the league, so for the two backs to only have four combined touchdowns in eight games is pretty underwhelming. 

Cook has produced a healthy amount of scrimmage yards - second on the team to only receiver Stefon Diggs - and hasn’t fumbled, so his job seems pretty safe, in my opinion. He’s averaging a healthy amount of yards on his carries, so I’d also think he should retain his lead role.

Murray isn’t supposed to be a huge part of the offense as a No. 2 back, but quarterback Josh Allen has 46 more rushing yards on four fewer attempts. Murray hasn’t been very productive on his red zone carries either, averaging less yards per attempt than Cook.

I don’t think the Bills signed Fournette to become the team’s lead back, although he’s capable of that if Cook and Murray’s production were to drop off. With Fournette being the touchdown machine he is, he seems like the perfect red zone and short-yardage back for the team. I’m not sure he’ll get a ton of other work, especially early on, but he could be a touchdown vulture.

If I had to take a stab at how things would unfold, I think Cook continues to get the majority of the snaps and touches, with Fournette getting activated when he’s game ready to be the short-yardage and goal line back. I think Murray will see a bigger decrease in playing time than Cook, and could fall back to being the No. 3 back if Fournette is able to capitalize on some of his opportunities. 

Should You Add Fournette?

At this point, I would not consider adding Fournette in standard league formats. I’d take a chance on him in deeper leagues, especially if you owned Cook. 

I think there’s still some tread on Fournette’s tires, but I wouldn’t expect the team to drastically alter their offense in the middle of a winning season. Sure, the team hasn’t been as good as expected, but I don’t think Fournette moves the needle enough to command the most snaps and touches in the running back room starting now.

I’d keep starting Cook every week, with the only start/sit questions coming when the Bills are going up against an elite run defense. He still adds fantasy value as a pass catcher, so I’d lean toward starting him until we’re given a reason not to.

Murray is a guy that should only be started in deeper leagues, and I’d lean against starting him if Fournette gets activated and plays in the team’s next game. 

I’d probably wait a week before starting Fournette in deeper leagues just to see how the team utilizes him. The Bills got some tougher opponents coming up, so some tough runs might be needed from Fournette. He’s probably going to be touchdown dependent, so I’d need to see how many snaps and carries he gets in a game before feeling comfortable taking a gamble on him.