John Franklin III comfortable

[aubiefifty 16,713]

theplainsman.com

 

John Franklin III 'comfortable' in fellow ex-QB Kodi Burns' system

By Nathan King | Sports Reporter | 20 hours ago

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Image by Catherine Wofford | Photogrpaher

| The Auburn Plainsman

John Franklin III (5) stands on the field prior to the start of the Allstate Sugar Bowl, Monday, Jan. 2, 2017, in New Orleans, LA.

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As a senior at Northside High School in Fort Smith, Arkansas, quarterback Kodi Burns accounted for 36 touchdowns en route to placement as the No. 8 Dual-Threat QB in the 2007 class. Burns chose to join Tommy Tuberville’s offense at Auburn, despite being heavily recruited by his future coach Gus Malzahn, who served as Arkansas’ offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach at the time.

Burns was the hero of Auburn’s 2007 Chick-fil-a Bowl win over Clemson, scoring the game-winning touchdown run in overtime. He couldn’t quite find the success at the quarterback position in the 2008 season that many expected of him, and transitioned to wide receiver during the season. 

As a sophomore at East Mississippi Community College in Scooba, Mississippi, quarterback John Franklin III accounted for 1,184 total yards and 16 touchdowns. His performance at “Last Chance U” pinned the Fort Lauderdale, Florida native as one of the top JUCO prospects heading into last season. Franklin chose to join Gus Malzahn’s offense at Auburn.

Franklin couldn’t quite find the success at the quarterback position in the 2016 season that many expected of him, therefore Malzahn saw a transition to wide receiver as the most viable option for the mega-athlete.

On March 21^st, Malzahn announced in a press conference that “John Franklin will work primarily at wide receiver for the rest of the team. He has a great attitude and wants to help the team," Malzahn said.

Prior to this announcement, Franklin had been rotating between snaps at wide receiver, quarterback and even roles on special teams. The move pushed the rising senior out of the log-jam under center, where Jarrett Stidham, Malik Willis, Woody Barrett and Sean White still linger.

Burns, who was named Auburn’s wide receivers coach back in February of 2016, now fittingly serves as a teacher to Franklin.

“I think it’s just a really good situation for myself and John to just see eye-to-eye and come into this thing like ‘dude I get it’” Burns said. I can really mentor him and coach him up and understand that he’s a big-time athlete.”

Franklin turned in his most impressive effort of the season in game five against Louisiana-Monroe. The quarterback tossed a 39-yard touchdown to Nate Craig-Myers and galloped 80 yards for a score. The touchdown run was the longest run by an SEC QB last year, in addition to being the second-longest run of all-time by an Auburn signal caller.

Despite his rushing success in RPO packages, Franklin struggled mightily in the passing game, throwing for only 204 yards and a single touchdown. At times, Franklin looked completely inept in the pocket and extremely inaccurate passing the ball downfield.

However, Franklin is handling the transition to wide-out efficiently, as the speedster snared a touchdown grab in the Tigers’ first scrimmage of the spring. Over spring break, Franklin seemed to be enthusiastically embracing his new role in the offense, creating a series of workout videos showcasing his athleticism.

“He’s always asking questions, he’s trying to come to my office constantly and meet with me,” Burns said. “He gets it. He’s hungry. He wants to learn. He wants us to be great. He’s going to help us in a multitude of different things in terms of special teams and receiver. I think he’s going to be one of those guys that is going to do multiple things.”

With rising sophomore Kyle Davis’ future on the Plains up in the air, the depth that Franklin provides will serve as a valuable asset to Burns’ receiving corps. If he is to remain a pass-catcher, Franklin will round out the already talented squad of Nate Craig Myers, Darius Slayton, Eli Stove, Ryan Davis, Jason Smith, redshirt-freshman Marquis McClain and true freshman Noah Igbinoghene.

Burns had the privilege of catching passes from Heisman trophy winner, No. 1 overall pick and NFL MVP Cam Newton during Auburn’s 2010 National Championship run. While the quarterback battle continues to rage on for the Tigers, one thing will be certain for the 2017 starting QB: John Franklin can “flat-out run.”

“We’re just trying to get the ball in his hands,” Malzahn said. “He can flat-out run. The fact that he played quarterback, he understands the splits and the depth and the timing and everything that goes with that. I thought he did some good things. Each practice, you see him getting more and more comfortable.”

 

[WDE_OxPx_2010 5,287]

Kyle Davis future up in the air? REALLY?

[weagl1 1,781]

32 minutes ago, WDE_OxPx_2010 said:

Kyle Davis future up in the air? REALLY?

First we have heard of that.  If so it would be a big loss he looks to be the best of the group.  

[LKEEL75 2,566]

2 hours ago, WDE_OxPx_2010 said:

Kyle Davis future up in the air? REALLY?

I think King was just trying to make a splash.  No way KD's future is "up in the air"

[AUBwins 10,064]

1 hour ago, lkeel75 said:

I think King was just trying to make a splash.  No way KD's future is "up in the air"

I wouldn't put anything past Gus leading us to believe he will be back, then has left the team due to personal reasons.

[Tiger 8,818]

Not saying that it's a major deal, but personal reasons for a 19 year old kid rarely bleed over the span of one month when there is not something serious going on -- whether it's a family issue or his standing with the team. Him being gone this long is absolutely a bad sign. I'll admit to jumping the gun if he comes back but with how long this has dragged out the chances of him returning are decreasing. Just my opinion.

[WFE12 9,191]

Not this again.....Someone on here already said that he will be back in the fall and he knows why he's out. Not that serious...

[G8orH8or 61]

Kodi and JFIII traveled similar paths. I hope it works out for JFII, the dude is a talented athlete for sure

[DAG 33,955]

28 minutes ago, WFE12 said:

Not this again.....Someone on here already said that he will be back in the fall and he knows why he's out. Not that serious...

You believe this person?

 

[passthebiscuits 6,831]

We know that it is in fact very serious. We know that it is "personal." We do not know if he will be back,  but with every day that goes by and he's not practicing with the team, his status for next year is the definition of "up in the air."

[WFE12 9,191]

4 hours ago, DAG said:

You believe this person?

 

TBH...I hate that I forgot who said it but he said it matter-of -factly and it got a good bit of likes. i'm clinging on to it because I want so bad for him to be telling the truth. I don't see why he wouldn't be telling the truth seeing as though soo many on here have been inquiring about his status and he seemed to be the relief for everyone saying he knows and it'll be fine. I doubt someone would do that on a matter like this without concrete information.