Auburn Football: John Franklin III transfers to Florida Atlantic

The Last Chance U star will now be at his 4th school in 4 years, leaving Auburn for Florida Atlantic. Franklin received his degree from Auburn and will be eligible this season as a graduate transfer.

Before John Franklin III joined the Auburn football program, he began his career at Florida State, sitting behind Jameis Winston. Unhappy with a lack of playing time, Franklin transferred to East Mississippi Community College, where he was a star on the Netflix original series Last Chance U.

At EMCC, Franklin did more of the same, watching quarterback Wyatt Roberts from the sidelines. Roberts transferred to Mississippi State as a student, but was then brought on as a preferred walk-on.

Auburn found the athleticism of Franklin enticing, blinded by the fact that he was not a polished passer. It seemed coaches believed he could run the offense similar to Nick Marshall in 2013-2014. However, Franklin was unable to win the starting job, and again watched from the sidelines.

His lack of accuracy and consistency from the pocket is what has plagued Franklin at quarterback his entire career. His athleticism cannot be questioned, so it made sense that he was moved to wide receiver in the spring, especially with the arrival of Jarrett Stidham. And then on Tuesday, two and a half weeks before the season, Franklin III announced he was transferring once again.

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So now Franklin takes his talents to (almost) South Beach, and joins former coach Clint Trickett, and twitter connoisseur Joey Freshwater, a.k.a. Lane Kiffin. It is unlikely that Franklin will get an opportunity under center at FAU, since they picked up another ex-FSU and EMCC quarterback in De’Andre Johnson. Johnson started at EMCC after getting kicked-off FSU’s team, and performed well. He threw for 2,646 yards, 26 touchdowns, and completed 60 percent of his passes. This likely means Franklin’s fate is still at receiver.

So what does the transfer mean for Auburn? Well, it likely displays the depth at receiver and the amount of young talent. The receiving corps is loaded with true sophomores, led by Nate Craig-Myers, Eli Stove, and Kyle Davis. All three of these guys saw playing time in 2016, and all showed flashes of brilliance. Including this catch by Davis.

It was going to be tough for Franklin to see legitimate playing time against not only those three but also Ryan Davis and Darius Slayton. Franklin’s transfer gives an insight into the way the young receivers are performing, and that Franklin most likely would not have seen the field much.

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As for Florida Atlantic, or as Kiffin likes to call it, #thefaU, they have put together quite the squad. Not only does he have Johnson and Franklin, he also plucked ex-Louisville and EMCC defensive end Tim Bonner. FAU might very well be the most exciting group of 5 team to watch this year, no matter how many games they win.

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