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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- As expected, running back Leonard Fournette drew the bulk of the attention during the Jacksonville Jaguars' rookie minicamp this weekend. The two-day camp gave Jaguars coaches their first live look at several players who could be in the starting lineup for Week 1 of the 2017 season. Fournette, the gifted 235-pound running back who could be the answer to Jacksonville's woeful ground game, was the main attraction.
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The No. 4 overall pick in last month's draft, Fournette is a strong and powerful runner who can run around defenders with his speed or over them with his power. What the Jaguars are going to be looking at now and later on in their offseason drills is the ability of the former LSU standout to catch the ball out of the backfield.
He had just 41 receptions in 32 games in his college career but the Tigers were more known for their running attack, limiting Fournette's chances to catch the ball.
While Fournette is likely to start his rookie season, the Jaguars do have two talented veteran running backs on the roster in T.J. Yeldon and Chris Ivory.
Ivory had a 1,000-year season two years ago in his last year with the Jets before signing a free agency contract with the Jaguars. Ivory was headed for a 1,000-year season as a rookie in 2015 when an injury sidelined him the final four games of the season.
"Oh yeah, most definitely," Fournette said when asked if his expectations were to be a starter in the first game. "But while I'm here I'm not going to automatically say that, I'm still learning from the vets. I know T.J., I know Chris. I've known them since I was high school. I've known T.J. since high school and so has Chris, but just going in under those guys and learning from them as much as I can.
"My role is to do whatever the team needs or the coach asks me to do. I'm not sure what my role is. My role right now is about going out there and competing and getting better right now."
Players also did not engage in any live hitting for the second straight year. It's been that way since the 2015 rookie camp, when first-round draft pick Dante Fowler suffered a torn ACL in his first live practice with Jacksonville.
Second-round selection Cam Robinson is another player who will be under the watchful eye of coaches. The 6-foot-6, 326-pound former Alabama tackle appears to have all the skills needed to be an elite NFL lineman. He'll now have the opportunity to block for Fournette, something that almost came about in college.
Fournette was rated the top high school player in the state of Louisiana as a senior with Robinson ranked No. 2. Fournette signed with LSU but Robinson chose Alabama over LSU to play his college ball.
The biggest question with Robinson concerns where the Jaguars will play him. He started 44 games at left tackle for the Crimson Tide before electing to forego his senior season to enter the NFL Draft. But the Jaguars signed veteran left tackle Branden Albert to replace Kelvin Beachum, last year's starter at that spot.
Albert complicated the issue further when he elected not to report to the Jaguars' voluntary offseason training, in an apparent ploy to have his contract restructured. He has refused to return phone calls to head coach Doug Marrone or other team officials.
Should Albert come aboard with or without a new deal, the Jaguars would then have to consider whether to move Robinson to left guard to fill a void at that spot. Jacksonville started five different players at that position last year, four of whom ended their season on injured reserve. Robinson said he couldn't remember if the Jaguars talked to him during the pre-draft process about the possibility of moving to guard.
"I don't remember. I talked to so many teams," Robinson said. "Teams did talk to me about -- I honestly didn't talk to too many teams about playing guard. It was mostly just left tackle or right tackle."
