James Franklin Finally Makes His First Blunder on the Recruiting Trail

In James Franklin's first year as Penn State's head coach, it'd be tough to argue with the job he's done on the recruiting trail.

In the span of just 14 months, he has secured the nation's 24th-ranked recruiting class in 2014 despite dealing with NCAA sanctions, the country's No. 14 class in 2015 while coming off those sanctions and has gotten a head start on what's looking to be another strong class next year.

But while Franklin should be commended for handling the less-than-ideal circumstances he was dealt in Happy Valley, it was inevitable that sooner or later he was going to make a mistake. And finally, that day appears to have come.

Speaking to a gathered group of media during a stop in his caravan tour in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the second-year Nittany Lions head coach shared his thoughts on underclassmen entering the NFL draft. Penn State had three early entrees in last weekend's draft, including defensive end Deion Barnes, who went undrafted.

"To me, were you to come out early, you need to be a first-round draft choice,'' Franklin said, via Bob Flounders of PennLive.com. "If not, you need to go back to school, especially if you haven't gotten your degree yet. That's just my opinion.''

And while Franklin is certainly entitled to his opinion, that doesn't make it one he should have shared for recruiting purposes.

Especially when Urban Meyer is on the verge of producing a potentially historic draft class in 2016 and Jim Harbaugh is selling prospects on his ability to get them to the pros. The fact of the matter is that being able to pitch the possibility of playing in the NFL matters to recruits, and Franklin's comments undermine his ability to deliver that message.

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

Because while Franklin's "first round or bust" mentality may sound good in theory, it's simply unrealistic and not advantageous to Penn State's recruiting practices.

Take for example the case of Donovan Smith, the former Nittany Lions left tackle who declared for this year's draft and was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the second pick of last weekend's second round. Does the fact that Smith went two picks later than Franklin's arbitrary standard make his decision to enter the draft wrong? Or should Penn State be celebrating—and marketing—having the sixth offensive tackle taken in the NFL draft?

The answer—at least from a recruiting standpoint—is of course the latter, but Franklin's comments make it difficult to do so.

In fairness to Franklin, it's more likely his comments were directed toward the Nittany Lions' two other early entrees, as tight end Jesse James wasn't picked until the fifth round and Barnes ultimately wound up signing an undrafted-free-agent contract with the New York Jets. But while one could argue that both players—each of whom were fourth-year juniors last season—would have been better served returning to State College for their senior seasons, the reality is that Penn State now has two more pro players it can boast about.

"At the end of the day, these guys are going to make decisions that they think are in their best interests and in their family's, based on all the information that they have,'' Franklin conceded. "I think Deion, even today, is confident that he made the right choice.''

Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press

Franklin's guarding against players leaving early is understandable, given the amount of talent he's already lost in the past year. The Nittany Lions are also already slated to prematurely lose players to next year's draft as well, with ESPN's Todd McShay projecting quarterback Christian Hackenberg to be 2016's first overall pick.

Franklin declined to discuss Hackenberg's situation specifically but tried to gain ground on the recruiting trail by reiterating that he's OK with projected first-round picks leaving early.

"I'm different than probably a lot of college football coaches,'' he said. "Lot of college football coaches tell all the guys they should come back, and I don't necessarily agree with that."

That might be true, but Franklin's primary rivals on the recruiting trail have accepted that players leaving early—for the first round or not—is a part of today's college game. With the introduction of the rookie wage scale and shorter contracts in the NFL, the reality is that being a first-round pick isn't as important as it used to be and isn't a battle worth fighting at the expense of what's best for recruiting.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten Lead Writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.