Quote:
Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins
Franklin's greatest asset as a runner is his vision. He has the best running vision of any QB I've ever seen. That allows him to winnow and angle his way into areas where he can pick up first downs without being extremely fleet of foot.
Contrastingly, Gabbert had better foot speed than Daniel or Franklin, plus a body to truck people, but he didn't have the vision to successfully execute QB runs.
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And for the flack he gets for being a bit of a wuss once he gets hurt, Franklin's incredibly tough when he's healthy.
I don't think it's his vision that makes him as effective as much as it is his decisiveness and his toughness. Some guys will see that hole and think twice about diving down into it. They'll stutter-step and hope it opens up more. Franklin, OTOH, will charge into that hole, get his 2-3 yards and maybe even bust through a tackler for more.
It's why he's such a valuable weapon on 3rd downs, especially on those intermediate 3rd down plays.
I've found it odd how few articles address his injury; it's almost an afterthought in most pieces I've seen. I just don't agree - I think this is a huge hit for us.
I think the plan should be to go back to more of the spread style we saw under Christensen - spread 'em out and beat 'em through numbers. Use your RBs as gamebreakers rather than guys designed to set up favorable down/distance scenarios. If they get stuck in the backfield and you're facing 3rd and 12, so be it. With those teams, 3rd and 3 didn't feel any different to me than 3rd and 13. I really think that's how we should play it now.
We've made the Bowl game. We earned a little credibility within this conference however the season plays out. I think we should aim high here - go big or go home. We could probably stay largely unchanged schematically and beat KY, TN and have a respectable bowl with an 8 win season. I'd rather go aggressive, risk losing those games but also perhaps steal this damn division.