JF3 displaying strong work ethic, leadership

AUBURN | There’s been no movement in the race for Auburn’s starting quarterback position — at least none that offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee shared with the media Thursday night — but the early returns on junior college transfer John Franklin III remain very positive.

“He’s shown so far he’s got a great work ethic,” Lashlee said. “He’s tried to do everything and take advantage of every opportunity he’s had to learn the playbook, learn more about the system, learn the offense and to just improve. I’ve seen positive development there and there’s no question that’s the kind of initiative and leadership we need.”

Senior wide receiver Tony Stevens got a firsthand look at Franklin’s leadership shortly after he arrived at Auburn in January.

“As soon as he got here he texted all the receivers let’s get it, let’s go throw on his own time and usually the receivers will text the quarterbacks let’s go throw,” Stevens said. “He texted us and wanted to be there, what he wanted to do and how he wanted it. He’s pretty much a leader in my eyes. On the field, you can see he’s having fun out there. He’s already at home.”

Franklin’s athleticism and ability to run the zone read has drawn comparisons to Nick Marshall, who led Auburn to 20 wins as its staring quarterback including the 2013 SEC Championship.

Lashlee is not quite ready to draw those comparisons.

“I think I’ll know more probably after Saturday. There’s definitely some parts of his skill set that would compare favorably,” Lashlee said. “Not quite as big. Got the speed and quickness. Arm is probably very similar in a lot of areas. We’ll just see. The one thing he’s got is that he’s been here in the spring and Nick didn’t get here until July, but I think Nick has probably played a little more quarterback before he showed up maybe than John had. That’s probably just speculation at this point, but there are some things where I could see that comparison being made.”

Lashlee said Franklin is up to about 185 pounds and he expects him to add more weight over the summer. He’s competing with senior Jeremy Johnson and sophomore Sean White for the starting position this spring.

Lashlee said he’s seen improvement from all three quarterbacks since the start of spring drills.

“They have been in orange jerseys the whole time, but I’m pleased with their attitude,” he said. “Everyone is better than when we started. Jeremy is better. You can tell his attention to detail and hunger to try to get better. I think Sean is healthy again, he’s the old Sean that played in the Kentucky and Arkansas game and was playing pretty well.

“John is picking up the offense fairly well for the pace he’s having to go at with the other guys. I’ve been impressed with that, but until we get out and play a game like we are on Saturday it’s all speculation.”

Auburn completed the seventh of 15 spring practices Thursday afternoon and will hold its first scrimmage Saturday morning at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Lashlee said it’s “very possible” the quarterbacks will go live in the scrimmage but a final decision hasn’t been made.