Johany Jutras/CFL
CFL.ca Staff
EDMONTON — James Franklin’s first career start isn’t being handed to him, he’s earned it.
The 24-year-old will become the fourth quarterback to make his professional starting debut this season on Friday night, as the Eskimos look for a spark on offence against one of the league’s hottest teams.
But while Head Coach Chris Jones could have easily turned the reins over to Franklin right away after Mike Reilly suffered a serious knee injury in the Esks’ season-opener, the second-year head coach wanted to be certain his rookie quarterback was ready.
“He’s played some very good football ever since camp and you don’t want to discredit the things you see in pre-season games,” Jones said. “But they are just that – they’re pre-season football games. Until you saw enough evidence in regular season games you don’t want to throw a young kid to the fire and let him go against a very good defence.”
The Eskimos’ 49-20 loss to the Ticats wasn’t good for much, but a trace of good came from Franklin’s performance. In for Matt Nichols, the kid out of Missouri looked exactly like he had all season, only this time with an extended look against one of the elite defences of the CFL.
“He played against a very good defence the other night and performed well,” said Jones.
So now after much anticipation, Franklin will step on the field as a starter for the first time this season rather than a backup.
As a rookie he’s completed 62.7 per cent of his passes and thrown five touchdowns to just one interception, compiling a quarterback rating of 106.1 on 67 passes. His numbers have been respectable, even in last week’s loss in Edmonton to the Ticats in which he threw for 254 yards and two touchdowns on 22-of-36 passing to go with an interception.
His quarterback rating would put him third among current starters – but the key is he wasn’t a starter when he put up those numbers.
“It’s a big difference,” said Franklin on the distinction between starting and coming off the bench. “Different mindset and also different approach as far as the week leading up to that game.”
Three other quarterbacks, one a rookie, made their first career professional starts already this season with mixed results. Rakeem Cato, 23, turned heads with his stellar first start, leading the Alouettes to an upset win over the Calgary Stampeders.
Brett Smith and Robert Marve each lost their first starts, but while Smith was overwhelmed against Edmonton’s top-ranked defence, Marve showed well in a loss at home to the Argos. Smith has shown steady improvement since while Marve makes his second career start on Saturday night.
All eyes on Friday night, meanwhile, will turn to Franklin, who some fans have been waiting to see start all season.
Nichols was once the big-name quarterback prospect in Edmonton and Jones maintains that he didn’t look out of place in throwing for 1,488 yards this season with eight touchdowns and 10 interceptions. But with Franklin the ceiling could be a little bit higher right now, and now he’s getting his chance to justify the hype for real.
“Nichols has played very good football for us, but James played very well and he graded out a little bit better, that’s the direction we’re going,” said Jones. “He’s calm, he’s poised. He’s able to throw on the run and able to move around in the pocket. That’s what I see that’s most impressive about him.”
“He’s earned the opportunity to go out and become our starter and I’m looking forward to seeing what he brings to our football team.”
The Eskimos take on the Argos on Friday night, a team they lost to back in the first game of the season in Fort McMurray. It feels like so long ago, now, a time when Franklin sat third on the Eskimos’ depth chart and had the outlook of a longer-term development project.
Franklin has taken his ascent on the depth chart in perfect stride, every step of the way, so don’t expect his first start to be any different.
“I won’t be the only one out there, it’ll be the team,” said Franklin. “We just need to play well together and go out there and make sure we’re executing.”
“From my standpoint individually I need to make sure I’m being smart with the ball, giving the guys opportunity, giving them the right play call and they’ll do the rest from there and I know our defence is going to go out there and play hard.”
