James Franklin
Born: (1991-07-23) July 23, 1991
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.
Career information
CFL statusAmerican
Position(s)QB
Height6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight235 lb (107 kg)
CollegeMissouri
High schoolCorinth (TX) Lake Dallas
HandRight
Career history
As player
2014Detroit Lions*
2015–2017Edmonton Eskimos
2018–2019Toronto Argonauts
2020–2021Saskatchewan Roughriders*
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career stats

James Franklin (born July 23, 1991) is an American former professional Canadian football quarterback. He played college football at Missouri. He was the Tigers' starting quarterback from 2011 to 2013. He was also a member of the Detroit Lions, Edmonton Eskimos, Toronto Argonauts, and Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Early years

Franklin attended Lake Dallas High School in Corinth, Texas.[1]

He was rated the #4 Dual-Threat Quarterback in the country by Rivals.com.[2]

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight 40‡ Commit date
James Franklin
QB		 Corinth, TX Lake Dallas 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 218 lb (99 kg) 4.6 Mar 14, 2009 
Recruiting star ratings: Scout:4/5 stars   Rivals:4/5 stars   247Sports: N/A    ESPN grade: 76

College career

As a freshman in 2010, Franklin was the backup to Blaine Gabbert. He played in 10 games, completing 11 of 14 passes for 106 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He also ran for 116 yards on 23 carries with two touchdowns. He became the starter in 2011 after Gabbert entered the 2011 NFL Draft.[3]

As a sophomore in 2011, Franklin started all 13 games for Missouri, leading them to an 8–5 record. He completed 63.3% of his passes for 2865 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. He also rushed 217 times for 981 yards and 15 touchdowns.[4] Franklin led Missouri to a number of comeback victories, erasing a 14-point deficit against the Texas A&M Aggies[5] and the Texas Tech Red Raiders,[6] and a 10-point deficit against the Kansas Jayhawks.[7] Franklin also led Missouri to its first win over the Texas Longhorns since 1997.[8]

Franklin was named MVP of the 2011 Independence Bowl after leading Missouri to a 41–24 victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels, accounting for 274 total yards of offense and 3 touchdowns.[9]

On March 19, 2012, it was announced that Franklin would have surgery on his throwing shoulder but he was expected to recover in time for the start of the regular season.[10] He returned for the start of the season, but battled injuries throughout the season, appearing in only nine games. He finished the season with 1,562 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

As a senior in 2013, Franklin appeared in 10 games, missing four due to injury. He finished the season with 2,429 passing yards, 19 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. In his final college game, he helped lead the Tigers to a victory in the 2014 Cotton Bowl.[11]

Professional career

Detroit Lions

Franklin went undrafted in the 2014 NFL Draft. However, on May 10, 2014, the Detroit Lions signed Franklin to a rookie free-agent deal. On August 25, 2014, he was released.[12]

Edmonton Eskimos

According to his Twitter account, Franklin signed in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the Edmonton Eskimos on April 10, 2015. Franklin began the 2015 CFL season as the number 3 quarterback on the depth chart; behind Mike Reilly and Matt Nichols. In two preseason games, Franklin completed 26 of 40 pass attempts for 316 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. In his next two seasons in Edmonton, Franklin would only sparingly see action as he continued to back-up Mike Reilly. In three seasons with the club, Franklin attempted 176 passes, completing 116 of them for 1,449 yards with 12 touchdowns and only one interception.

Toronto Argonauts

On December 12, 2017, Franklin was traded by the Eskimos (along with a 2018 third round pick) to the Toronto Argonauts in exchange for national offensive lineman Mason Woods.[13] Franklin was a pending free agent and needed to be re-signed by the Argos prior to February 13, 2018; which the Argos accomplished on January 5, 2018 when they signed him to a two-year deal.[14] Franklin was brought in by the Argos to be an understudy to veteran quarterback Ricky Ray for his final season, before taking the reins in 2019: However, Ray suffered a spinal injury in Week 2, ending his season (and possibly his career), accelerating the Argos timeline with Franklin making him the starting quarterback in Week 3.[15] Nevertheless, after a poor performance in Week 7 Franklin was demoted to backup quarterback behind McLeod Bethel-Thompson.[16] Bethel-Thompson won his first two starts, but was ultimately unable to lead the Argos to the playoffs, and with the team eliminated Franklin returned to the starting role in Week 18.[17] Both quarterbacks finished with the same starting record of 2-6 as the Argos limped to a 4-14 last place finish. As a short yardage quarterback, Franklin tied a CFL record held by Doug Flutie of most rushing touchdowns in a season, with 14.

Franklin began the 2019 season as the Argos' starting quarterback, but suffered a hamstring injury in the team's Week 3 loss to the Roughriders and was subsequently placed on the six-game injured reserve list.[18] He was announced as the team' starting quarterback again after Week 15 as the club fell to a record of 2-10.[19] Franklin started the next two games for the Argos, but was unable to lead them to victory in either outing and was demoted to back-up quarterback behind McLeod Bethel-Thompson.[20] The Argos re-signed McLeod Bethel-Thompson on February 4, 2020 and signed veteran quarterback Matt Nichols on February 7, 2020, and subsequently released Franklin later that same day.[21]

Saskatchewan Roughriders

Franklin signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders on February 11, 2020. He signed a one-year contract extension with the team on January 12, 2021.[22] The team announced his retirement on April 9, 2021.[23]

Career statistics

  Passing   Rushing
Year Team GP GS Comp Att Pct Yards TD Int Rating Att Yards Avg Long TD
2015 EDM 17 2 84 133 63.2 973 6 1 97.1 16 140 8.8 33 1
2016 EDM 18 1 19 24 79.2 334 4 0 158.3 1 1 1.0 1 0
2017 EDM 18 0 13 19 68.4 142 2 0 125.3 1 4 4.0 4 0
2018 TOR 18 8 187 286 65.4 2,034 8 9 82.4 78 365 4.7 44 14
2019 TOR 9 4 75 111 67.6 822 3 6 75.7 18 83 4.6 12 2
CFL totals 79 15 378 573 65.9 4,305 23 16 90.1 114 593 5.2 44 17

References

  1. ↑ "James Franklin Profile". mutigers.com. Archived from the original on December 28, 2014. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  2. ↑ "James Franklin". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  3. ↑ "QB James Franklin makes debut as Missouri starter". The Sporting News. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  4. ↑ "James Franklin Stats". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Missouri Tigers v. Texas A&M Aggies". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  6. ↑ "Texas Tech Raiders vs. Missouri Tigers". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Missouri Tigers vs. Kansas Jayhawks". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  8. ↑ Gregorian, Vahe. "Mizzou beats No. 21 Texas 17–5". stltoday.com. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  9. ↑ Reeves, Jen. "Mizzou Beats North Carolina in Independence Bowl". KOMU. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  10. ↑ Fornelli, Tom. "Missouri's James Franklin to have shoulder surgery". CBSSports. Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  11. ↑ Henry Josey runs for 3 TDs as Mizzou outlasts Oklahoma State
  12. ↑ "Lions continue roster trim". Archived from the original on August 26, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Argos acquire rights to QB James Franklin in trade with Eskimos - CFL.ca". CFL.ca. December 11, 2017. Retrieved December 11, 2017.
  14. ↑ "Argos officially sign Franklin through 2019 - CFL.ca". CFL.ca. January 4, 2018. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  15. ↑ "With Ricky Ray down, Toronto Argos look to QB Franklin to lead way against his former team". Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  16. ↑ "Argos QB James Franklin loses starting gig after slow start | CBC Sports". CBC. Retrieved July 31, 2018.
  17. ↑ "2018-10-12 Game Tracker - Hamilton Tiger-Cats vs. Toronto Argonauts (2531) - CFL.ca". CFL.ca. Retrieved October 23, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Toronto Argonauts QB James Franklin injured, McLeod Bethel-Thompson expected to start vs. BC Lions - TSN.ca". TSN. The Canadian Press. July 3, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
  19. ↑ Dunk, Justin. "Argos to start James Franklin at quarterback against Riders | 3DownNation". Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  20. ↑ "McLeod Bethel-Thompson back as Argonauts starter - TSN.ca". TSN. The Canadian Press. October 11, 2019. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  21. ↑ "Argonauts release 12 players, including McEwen, Franklin". CFL.ca. February 7, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2020.
  22. ↑ "Riders extend quarterback James Franklin". Riderville.com. January 12, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  23. ↑ Saskatchewan Roughriders [@sskroughriders] (April 9, 2021). "The Saskatchewan Roughriders have announced the following roster moves: RETIRED• 🇺🇸 QB, James Franklin• 🇺🇸 WR, Rashad Greene" (Tweet). Retrieved April 9, 2021 – via Twitter.
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