2011 Dallas Cowboys' Potential Draft Pick: Orlando Franklin, OG/OT, Miami
With the needs at right tackle, free safety and defensive end receiving plenty of publicity, some seem to be overlooking the potential hole the Cowboys will have at guard. ย Kyle Kosier is actually a free agent, and there are rumors Dallas plans to cut Leonard Davis. ย
Over the last decade, the โBoys have done a horrible job of addressing positionsย beforeย they become a problem, leaving them in their current mess. ย Now they must fix the glaring needs before they can worry about a position like guard.
There is a potential solution to this problem, however. ย Acquiring players with positional versatility allows a team to patch up multiple positions at once. ย In a sense, it is a way to buy time before securing a long-term player. ย It isnโt simply a short-term solution in the same way signing a veteran might be, though.
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Drafting a player such asย Villanova guard/tackle Ben Ijalanaย allows the Cowboys to have a legitimate option at both positions until they can properly assess Ijalanaโs future and address the other position at a later time. ย Thus, if they draft and start Ijalana at right tackle, he possesses the versatility to move into guard (being replaced by Sam Young, presumably) if need be. ย
Then Dallas could draft its true guard of the future in 2012 while using its right tackle of the future as a temporary stopgap. ย If you donโt follow, letโs just both agree he is better than Marc Colombo.
As I see it, there are three legitimate tackle/guard combo players in this draft: Ijalana,ย Lehighโs Will Rackleyย and todayโs feature, Miamiโs Orlando Franklin (you could argue for TCUโs Marcus Cannon, but I really see him as just a guard). ย This is the primary reason I have been so high on Ijalana and Rackley. ย Read below to see why I do not think Franklin belongs in their company.
Scouting Report
At 6โ5โ, 318 pounds, Franklin has superb size. ย Despite that size, he plays fairly quickly, displaying good lateral movement in the run game, particularly when pulling. ย He fires off of the ball quite well, but he does so whether the play is a run or a pass. ย
On passes, this leads him to sometimes overextend and miss the defender. ย Thus, he may struggle against 4-3 defensive tackles who possess the quickness to take advantage of Franklinโs over extension. ย I think he will be fine with larger nose tackles.
For a man of his size, Franklin is not particularly dominant as a blocker. ย He rarely continues to move his feet after contact, resulting in him neutralizing a defender instead of driving him back. ย
Having said that, Franklinโs positioning on blocks, particularly in the running game, is outstanding. ย He sometimes looks as if he is beat, but in reality, he has simply put himself in a position between the defender and the ball-carrier. ย Thus, he trades in the knockout blocks for proper positioning.
When he does get beat (usually in pass protection), Franklin does a nice job of using the defenders momentum against him. ย Franklin is quick enough to recover and get just enough body on the defender to knock him off course.
The one thing I love about Franklinย more than anything is his toughness. ย He played the entire 2010 season with a torn meniscus. ย He then had surgery on his ACL just before the Combine, but chose to participate anyway. ย This could be part of the reason he ran just a 5.20 40-yard dash.
I think the Cowboys are going to like Franklin (specifically Jason Garrett). ย He is a big, mauling guard with versatility to play right tackle. ย In the past, I have compared Georgia guard Clint Boling to Kyle Kosier. Franklin reminds me a lot of Leonard Davis.ย Neither player excels in pass protection, but they are effective run blockers with the versatility to move outside to tackle in a pinch.
Projection
NFL Networkโs Mike Mayock recently stated Franklin will not make it out of the second round. ย Thatโs one of the reasons I listed him as aย possibility for Dallas at No. 40. ย
In my opinion, though, that is far too high. ย I would much rather select Georgiaโs Boling, Florida Stateโs Rodney Hudson, or Lehighโs William Rackley, and at least one of those players should be available in the third round. ย All of those guards possess superior pass protection ability, and Rackley has even more versatility than Franklin.
Other Potential Dallas Cowboys Draft Picks in 2011
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