Auburn Player Says Leonard Fournette Won't Be 'That Difficult of a Challenge'

Less than a week after Jacksonville State gained 438 yards at Auburn, Tigers safety Johnathan "Rudy" Ford insisted things will be different against star LSU running back Leonard Fournette.

Fournette was the No. 1 overall player in the 2014 recruiting class, per 247Sports' composite rankings, and cuts the frame (6'1", 230 lbs) of an NFL linebacker more than a 19-year-old running back. But Ford, who leads Auburn with 24 tackles through two games, remains unmoved.

Here's what he had to say Tuesday, per Tom Green of the Opelika-Auburn News:

In Ford's defense, Auburn did hold Fournette to 42 yards on 10 carries last season. It also beat LSU 41-7. By Ford's logic, which holds Fournette is the same player now that he was October 4, 2014, he shouldn't lose sleep over the thought of having to play him.

But Fournette is not the same player now that he was October 4, 2014. After a tepid start to his true freshman season, he slowly improved with experience, and by the end of the year he made SEC safeties look like Bob Dummies:

Fournette ran for 289 yards and three touchdowns on his final 30 carries as a freshman, carving up Texas A&M and Notre Dame's defenses and also burning the Irish for a kickoff return touchdown.

He made his season debut last weekend and ran for 159 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries against Mississippi State—a team that held him to just 38 yards on seven carries last season.

His running against the Bulldogs inspired poetry on #CFBTwitter:

If Fournette can go from 38 yards in a lopsided home loss against Mississippi State last season to his stiff arm should be a foreign policy in an impressive road win over Mississippi State this season, it's safe to say he's probably gotten better. It's also safe to say Auburn will have a difficult time stopping him.

Ford's comments likely made things harder.

Brian Leigh covers college football for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @BLeigh35