JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- At first glance, Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette's stats don't look that impressive: 199 yards, two touchdowns, 3.5 yards per carry.

That's not the kind of production expected out of the fourth overall pick, especially when the league's top two rushers through three weeks are rookies. Kansas City's Kareem Hunt, a third-round pick, leads the NFL with 481 yards and is averaging 8.5 yards per carry. Minnesota's Dalvin Cook, a second-round pick, is second with 288 yards. He's averaging 4.7 yards per carry.

But when you consider how defenses are playing the Jaguars, Fournette's production is actually pretty darn good.

No player has run the ball more against eight or more defenders in the box than Fournette: 18 of his 57 carries have come against those formations. Carolina's Jonathan Stewart is second with 17. Fournette is averaging 3.2 yards per carry against eight-plus men in the box. That ranks fifth of the nine backs who have 10 or more carries.

Not factored into those stats are runs of 10 and 19 yards Fournette had against Baltimore last Sunday that were called back because of penalties.

For comparison, Hunt has seven carries and Cook 12 against eight-plus-man boxes. Carolina's Christian McCaffrey, the eighth overall pick, has four.

It was no secret that the Jaguars' plan in 2017 was to be a run-first, ball-control offense that minimized the workload for quarterback Blake Bortles. That was the focus even before the team drafted the 6-foot, 228-pound Fournette, and it was reinforced once he was added. LSU built its offense around Fournette and he faced defenses stacked against him every week, but the only team able to consistently control him was Alabama.

He's had more success against NFL defenses than he did against the Crimson Tide. He averaged 2.5 yards per carry (145 yards on 57 carries) in three games.

"His bad runs go for 1, go for 2, go for 3 yards," Bortles said. "He rarely ever gets stopped at the line of scrimmage or behind it. I think him kind of showing that power and that ability, I think helps out keeping us ahead of the chains and out of negative plays."

Defenses aren't just lining up to stop Fournette, though. No team has run the ball more against eight-plus men in the box than the Jaguars. A third of the team's carries have come against those formations: 32 of their 99 runs were against eight or nine defenders within a yard or two of the line of scrimmage.

Chris Ivory has nine carries and Corey Grant four against eight-plus-man boxes.