SEC Football Q&A: Can You Judge Auburn's John Franklin III off 'Last Chance U?'
If you haven't seen the Netflix original documentary Last Chance U yet, then you're doing a disservice to yourself and your offseason football fix.
It'll give you more than a football fix; it'll make you want to head to the stadium right now and rope off your spot for your team's Week 1 battle.
One of the primary storylines of the series is the quarterback position at East Mississippi Community College last fall, where sophomore Wyatt Roberts held the primary starting job while John Franklin III—who went to EMCC after transferring from Florida State—served primarily as his backup and a changeup option.
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If you read my April feature on Franklin—which features quotes from many of the stars of the show—you already know how this story ends. After lighting up Mississippi Delta with Auburn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee in attendance, Franklin signed with Auburn, Roberts planned to give up football (but did tell Bleacher Report this month that he's walking on at Mississippi State) and head coach Buddy Stephens was left to pick up the pieces after a season-ending brawl.
What should you glean from Last Chance U about Franklin and his quest to be Auburn's quarterback? That question and more are answered in this edition of SEC Q&A.
"@BarrettSallee do you honestly still feel this way after all 6 Last Chance U episodes? Could happen but I'm no betting on it.
— TheOtherMrRogers (@52onayz) August 15, 2016"
Yes, I feel like Franklin could take the SEC by storm, and I am not going to alter my perception of who he is as a player or a person based on a heavily-edited documentary that was shot nine months ago.
Don't get me wrong—it's a great documentary, and if you haven't seen it yet, finish this article, go directly to Netflix and invest six hours in it.
With that said, though, it portrays Franklin as a backup who, after a few early shots, doesn't get much action until the final game of the season. That's not how it went down. He played in every game, attempted 110 passes, had 43 carries and was inserted in specific series and packages throughout the season.
What's more, Stephens told Bleacher Report Radio on Saturday morning that, from the mid-point of the season on, the work Franklin did with EMCC quarterbacks coach Clint Trickett was a big reason he improved his footwork enough to earn the offer from Auburn. His improvement as a passer impressed Auburn enough for Lashlee to spend one night in October watching him to see if he was the real deal.
Plus, it's dated video.
If you're going to judge who he is as a passer based on selectively-edited film at a different school that runs a different system than Auburn and discount the fact that he's been at Auburn for eight months working with their coaches, then you need to toss some cool water on that hot take.
If Franklin can prove to the coaching staff over the next week or two that he can do two or three things through the air, that ought to be enough for the staff to pull the trigger and name him as the Tigers' starter.
There's no doubt that he has the wheels to be a danger in the running game, which is something that head coach Gus Malzahn says is a big factor in this year's decision.
"Our quarterback has to be more of a runner this year, we've talked about that, I don't care who it is," Malzahn said on Tuesday, according to Charles Goldberg of Auburn's official site.
If Malzahn and Lashlee can build on the work Trickett did with Franklin late last season at EMCC and what was accomplished this spring, then that'll be more than enough.
It's not like Auburn's quarterback has to be Peyton Manning for the offense to be successful.
"@BarrettSallee Hurd or Fournette for yards after contact?
— Austin Womble (@ThickMamba) August 15, 2016"
Without question, the right answer here is LSU Tigers running back Leonard Fournette.
Nothing against Tennessee's Jalen Hurd. He's a monster, and I wouldn't get in the way of either of the talented junior running backs. But Fournette is on a different level.
According to Pro Football Focus, Fournette finished fourth last year in yards after contact behind Kentucky's Stanley "Boom" Williams, Tennessee's Alvin Kamara and Georgia's Nick Chubb. He was the toughest running back to bring down in the country after forcing a missed tackle every 3.5 carries.
According to PFF's advanced stats (subscription required), Fournette tied for third in the nation with Oregon's Royce Freeman in elusive rating—which rates a running back's success beyond the point of being helped by blockers—at 108.6. Hurd was 20th at 68.1. A lot of that success included Fournette shedding tacklers in the open field on a consistent basis.
Hurd is awesome, and he can certainly lower the boom on opposing defenders.
But the combination of Fournette's power, speed, balance and vision makes him the most dominant running back in college football in space and in traffic.
It certainly seems like redshirt junior Brice Ramsey is more of a factor in Georgia's three-man race that includes senior Greyson Lambert and true freshman early enrollee Jacob Eason than many, including myself, anticipated at the start of fall camp.
During Georgia's open practice, Ramsey looked like the most consistent of the three. While that isn't exactly a huge compliment considering he threw a couple of passes that could have gone the other way for pick sixes, he completed several passes on deep out routes across the field, stretched the field consistently and had more poise in the pocket than the others.
Despite that, head coach Kirby Smart isn't too bullish on his quarterback position at this point in fall camp.
"Each guy did something good, and each guy did something boneheaded," Smart said after Saturday's scrimmage according to Georgia's official site. "All the quarterbacks rolled in with different groups and took reps with the first unit."
Ramsey would provide a bit of a middle ground for Smart and offensive coordinator Jim Chaney.
As a junior, he has some significant game experience—including coming in for an injured Hutson Mason late for the final half of the 2014 Belk Bowl win over Louisville. He also has the arm strength to stretch the field, which is one of the primary traits that has elevated Eason to "quarterback of the future" status in Athens.
With the high-octane North Carolina offense looming, and the threat of shootout lingering over fall camp, maybe Ramsey is the right choice in the short term.
Of course, that might depend on how comfortable Eason gets between now and the end of fall camp.
If he can cut down on those "boneheaded" plays that Smart referred to, it'll be hard to ignore his upside.
I'll still go with Eason as the Game 1 starter, but I'm starting to think that Ramsey is rapidly becoming the primary contender.
The biggest thing for Ole Miss is the offensive line, which has to come together in fall camp and ready to hit the ground running in the opener vs. Florida State.
Everybody's going to focus on the absence of Laremy Tunsil, but head coach Hugh Freeze was without his former star for seven games last season due to suspension—including the road win against the talented Alabama defense.
Injuries and suspensions have forced Freeze to piece together the offensive line for about two seasons, which has allowed players like Robert Conyers, Javon Patterson and Jordan Sims to gain important experience in a variety of roles.
Those roles better be set in stone, because the Rebels will play two of the most talented and athletic defenses in the country during the first three weeks of the season when they play Florida State on Labor Day night and Alabama in Week 3.
The other roster holes, while significant, are manageable. The defensive line is loaded with talented players like Breeland Speaks, Issac Gross and Marquis Haynes. The wide receiving corps has studs like Damore'ea Stringfellow, Quincy Adeboyejo, Markell Pack, Damarkus Lodge and Van Jefferson to pick up the slack left by Laquon Treadwell.
If Ole Miss can go 1-1 vs. the Seminoles and Alabama, then they'll be in playoff contention. Of course, if you're picking a loss, dropping a game to Florida State is preferable since it wouldn't impact the SEC race.
Either way, though, the Rebels are going to have to solidify the offensive line right now if going 1-1 against those two is a legitimate option.
Quotes obtained firsthand, unless otherwise noted. Statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com, unless otherwise noted. All recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports.
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and national college football video analyst for Bleacher Report as well as a host on Bleacher Report Radio on SiriusXM 83. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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