Name: Leon Franklin
Height: 5’8″
Weight: 206 lbs.
High school: Southfield (MI) A&T
Position: Running back
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #40
Last year: I ranked Franklin #108 and said he would be a backup running back (LINK). He ran 8 times for 33 yards while playing in nine games.
TTB Rating: N/A
Franklin came out of nowhere as a walk-on to be the #4 running back last season. A prep running back from Southfield, he didn’t play football at all as a freshman, redshirted as a second-year player, and then appeared on the field in 2021, getting more snaps than 3-star recruit Tavierre Dunlap. His season high in carries was 3 in the season opener against Western Michigan, and he only totaled 8 carries for 33 yards. But he was usually the first guy in behind Hassan Haskins, Blake Corum, and Donovan Edwards.
Now that Haskins is gone to the NFL, it might make sense to bump him up to #3, but I don’t think that will be the case. I think Dunlap is a superior talent and played less last season to preserve his redshirt. They may preserve freshman C.J. Stokes’s redshirt in the same manner as Dunlap’s last year, but also the staff has moved Kalel Mullings to running back part-time – if not full-time – to be a power back. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Franklin drop to at least #5 on the running back depth chart in 2022.
Prediction: Backup running back and special teamer
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