Tampa Bay Buccaneers mentor Bruce Arians thought he’d made a revelation in the end a long time of the 2019 NFL season after he utilized John Franklin III to imitate Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson.
A previous Auburn quarterback, Franklin’s time in the NFL had been spent at cornerback. However, subsequent to watching Franklin work with the football, Arians moved him back to offense.
In any case, Arians and Franklin didn’t will see the aftereffect of the trial in 2020. Franklin supported a left knee injury at training on Aug. 23. He had a medical procedure multi week later and missed the whole season.
The Buccaneers proceeded to win Super Bowl LV on Feb. 7.
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to play in it,” Franklin told host Travis Cochran during an appearance on “The Gamer Hour.” “But still being a part of it was super cool. But kind of just for me personally, setting my sights for next year that I can be a part of it.”
The season-finishing injury implied Franklin had been in the NFL for a very long time and played in one ordinary season game. However, he stays unflinching in expecting to get through to customary NFL obligation.
“Once I went to college, I felt like as long as I didn’t give up, I’d always have an opportunity because I knew what my value was and my work,” Franklin said.
Franklin’s school profession included four stops – Florida State, East Mississippi, Auburn and Florida Atlantic – and at three of them, he played quarterback.
Franklin finished 14-of-26 passes for 204 yards with one score and ran for 430 yards and two TDs for Auburn in 2016. In any case, he changed from quarterback to wide beneficiary during spring practice in 2017 and got four passes in the A-Day Game.
Franklin didn’t play for Auburn in 2017, however. In the wake of moving to Florida Atlantic, Franklin got seven passes for 95 yards and one score and ran 16 times for 229 yards and two TDs.
Franklin rose up out of the Chicago Bears’ freshman minicamp with a NFL contract on May 14, 2018, in the wake of giving a shot as a cornerback. Franklin didn’t make Chicago’s dynamic list in 2018, yet he went through the last five weeks of the standard season and the seven day stretch of the Bears’ season finisher game in the group’s training crew.
Franklin working during the offseason, instructional course and preseason with the Bears in 2019. He was delivered when Chicago diminished its 90-player preseason list to the ordinary season cutoff of 53 on Aug. 31.
Franklin joined Tampa Bay’s training crew on Nov. 13, 2019, and before the close to-last round of the period, he was utilized to set up the Buccaneers’ guard as a substitute for Watson in the scout group.
The following week, Tampa Bay raised Franklin to the dynamic program, and he made his NFL debut as a wildcat quarterback in its season-finishing 28-22 misfortune to the Atlanta Falcons. Franklin took the initial two snaps of the subsequent half and recorded 11 yards on his first NFL rushing attempt.
The Bucs changed Franklin from cornerback to wide beneficiary on their list for 2020, and Arians wanted to utilize him as an opening shot returner, as well.
“I feel like I’ve been blessed with a natural ability to be athletic,” Franklin said, “but I’ve also been somebody that’s worked super hard for years of my life to be able to be in the position that I am. …
“Now that I’m kind of like rebuilding myself because of injury, it allows me to go over it once more and really perfect it.”
Prior to getting injured a year ago, Franklin had the chance to work with quarterback Tom Brady. After 20 seasons and six Super Bowl triumphs with the New England Patriots, Brady joined Tampa Bay in free organization and drove the Buccaneers to their second NFL title.
Franklin wasn’t amazed by Brady’s effect on Tampa Bay’s presentation.
“You really can’t put it into words,” Franklin said, “because it automatically makes you want to up your game just by knowing that you have a guy of his caliber that’s going to be throwing you the ball. But just on your team in general, I feel like everybody’s level of play just upped on their own. It makes you want to work that much harder because you know what he represents. That’s what everybody’s goal is – to be the best. Everybody wants to be the GOAT in their own way, so when you see that every day, see how he’s coming to work and that confidence that he puts in you, it makes you reach your fullest potential.”
In the event that Franklin can stay with the Buccaneers in 2021, he might have a shot at playing in the Super Bowl this season. Tampa Bay focused on its players with terminating gets this offseason and has every one of its starters from the title returning this season.
