Opinions are all over the place on what role Leonard Fournette could play for the Bucs this season, but almost everyone agrees that one place the team should absolutely utilize the fourth-year back is in the red zone.

At 6-0, 228 pounds, Fournette has the size and physique that teams crave inside the 5-yard line, and his 14 touchdowns over the first 21 games of his career gave him a reputation as a difference-maker down near the goal line.

That reputation wasn’t something Fournette upheld with his 2019 performance however, as the big back ranked 60th out of 60 running backs in the red zone per Sharp’s Football Stats. Fournette scored just three times on 46 attempts, while averaging 1.4 yards per carry in the red zone. While all the of the blame for those poor numbers shouldn’t fall solely on Fournette, his lack of burst, vision and decisiveness in short yardage situations was another dismal part of his 2020 campaign.

Bucs DT Vita Vea, DT Ndamukong Suh, LB Lavonte David and RB Leonard Fournette – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

In Tampa Bay, Fournette will be in a far better situation, with a multitude of weapons in the passing game that were built for red zone work. He’ll also probably receive less than 46 carries in the red zone, so I wouldn’t expect 6-10 touchdowns from him either. The point is that Fournette must be more efficient with his touches anywhere on the field this season, but especially inside the 10-yard line.

We may not know everything about how the Bucs will use Fournette in 2020, but it would be shocking if he isn’t in the game once Tampa Bay gets inside the 5-10 yard line. If Fournette can’t make his carries count there, where his downhill running style needs to be impactful, the Bucs will need to move on quickly to other alternatives in that area of the field. The offense is simply too talented and has too many other options to get bogged down trying to feed an underachieving running back touches in an area of the field just because he looks like he should dominate there.

The good news is that according to Sharp Football Stats, Fournette was above average in red zone carries in 2018 with 22 attempts and five touchdowns, although he still hit just 1.8 yards per carry. That low average is partially due to the team’s occasional proximity to the goal line when Fournette gets the ball, but it’s still considerably lower than the top players in the red zone at his position.

As a rookie, Fournette ranked 12th in successful run rate out of all running backs with 10 or more attempts inside the red zone, averaging 2.7 yards per carry. Individual red zone performance is typically pretty fluid year-to-year, so the hope is that Fournette can re-gain his rookie season form when he was aggressive in short yardage situations near the goal line, helping his team convert with regularity in the red zone. An improved offensive line in Tampa Bay and perhaps the best red zone area quarterback in NFL history in Tom Brady should help the former LSU star turn things around.