All it took last year was a bobbled snap, an interception or an occasional incompletion for someone in the student section of Faurot Field to shout the fan-favorite line, “Put in Franklin!”
I’m sure most of the critics, sober or not, were well aware that their armchair quarterbacking was rather premature. But now that his time has arrived, Tiger fans have every right to be excited over what is to come from James Michael Ray Franklin.
Missouri fans welcome new quarterbacks with regularity, but this time just feels a little different. Perhaps James Franklin is just different.
Tiger fans by now are used to welcoming quarterbacks along the lines of Chase Daniel and Blaine Gabbert — prototypical air-out passers operating the Missouri spread passing attack. And though Franklin’s mobility files him under another brand of signal callers, he will tell you himself he is no Brad Smith. (Let’s be honest: nobody is.)
Franklin is instead a transfusion of what we’ve seen from the last three quarterbacks to operate the Tiger offense. His mobility mixed with spread passing experience will keep his responsibilities as the new Missouri frontman a mystery until we see him in person next Saturday at Faurot Field.
The big storyline with Franklin during camp has been the shoes he has to fill. If those shoes are Gabbert’s, he might not have as far to go as some may think.
Missouri fans operated a pretty rocky relationship with Gabbert during his time here. He was never a natural fit, as his conflicting skill set placed his inherently enormous expectations on a plateau he would never be able to reach.
Gabbert was such a pro-style model that he was selected 10th overall in last April’s NFL Draft, despite completing a final season that was statistically underwhelming. From a purely numerical perspective, if Franklin is asked lead the same set of skill players to 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions, the bar isn’t all that high.
Of course, the Blaine Gabbert story cannot be told purely by numbers, as no college gunslinger’s can. Missouri’s 28 rushing touchdowns in 2010 said otherwise about just how much the 10-3 team expected out of its man under center.
Even still, Gabbert had his struggles, particularly in big games and big moments. Fans might forever hold a grudge over Gabbert’s final game, when a bread-basket interception against Iowa turned the tides in a 27-24 Insight Bowl loss. Forgoing his senior season then cemented that the shoe was never going to fit.
Luckily for Franklin, he will never have the same level of expectation. On the field, fans are unsure of what they’ll get. But off the field, they have already found a kid who is as likable as it gets.
Franklin exhibits a unique and extraordinary personality. He’s the most popular interview as well as the fan favorite – and for reasons beyond his role as quarterback. With a smile as wide as the Missouri river, if Franklin has moments where he’s not a cheery Godsend of a good kid playing quarterback, he sure doesn’t show it in public.
As a new football season approaches, Tigers fans don’t fear the unknown. They welcome it with open arms, ready for the time when Missouri will “put in Franklin.”
