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2021 Chaminade-Madonna RB Thad Franklin returned to the fold and committed to Miami yesterday for the second time in the process.
The 6-0 215 pounder is currently a consensus 4-star prospect in the national rankings. According to the 247Sports Composite Ranking, he is the #189 player nationally in 2021, the #11 RB in the country, and the #25 player in the Sunshine State. His commitment moved UM class ranking on 247Sports up to #5 in the nation and to #6 on Rivals.
The Player
UM has long pursued Franklin as their top RB target in the 2021 class, handing him an offer back in October of 2018. Franklin wasted little time accepting a spot in UM’s class, committing to Miami just two days later. Despite landing some big-time offers around that time from the likes of Ohio State, Georgia, Oregon, Penn State, and UF, Franklin stayed loyal to the Canes for over a year; however, the poor 2019 season Miami had on offense gave him second thoughts, and he decommitted from Miami this past December. After Franklin visited UM for their Junior Day in late January and the Canes’ new offensive staff eased a lot of his concerns, Franklin felt comfortable enough to come back into the fold.
On film, you can see that Miami easily has a high 4-star RB on their hands here. Franklin has quality burst through the line of scrimmage to rip through arm tackles and attack the second level of a defense. Once he gets a head of steam, Franklin is tough to bring down and has a great physical build for a RB at 6’0” 215. While Franklin is not a true burner, he’s very much an angular runner with build-up speed to get to the edge or outrace a DB in the open field. He shows an effective jump cut to defeat contain and swiftly run away from the flow of the defense. I also love how decisive he is with his cuts and he doesn’t dance around in the backfield; in other words, he gets north-south very quickly. Showed improvement from sophomore to junior year in running a little more lower to the ground and looked more like a natural running back.
According to MaxPreps, Franklin ran for 2,282 yards (7.9 ypc) and 28 TD’s in 14 games as a junior in 2019, along with 4 catches for 50 yards and a TD pass to boot. Franklin is also a multi-sport athlete and is a star basketball player for the Lions as well.
The Class
Franklin is the 9th commit overall in the 2021 class and the first running back. Although UM took two RB’s last cycle, the Canes only have 4 RB’s on the roster overall with two being juniors; either by transfer or leaving for the NFL draft, it’s historically been rare to see a RB stick around Miami for their senior season. With that in mind, it’s pretty certain that UM will continue to pursue a second RB in this class.
Miami Central (FL) 4-star Amari Daniels has been chased by Miami since he was in middle school. The Canes were his first offer back in 8th grade and the smaller 5’8” Daniels would be a great compliment to a size/straight-line speed combo back like Franklin. Daniels most recently visited Miami last month for the Junior Day event and has the Canes high on his list. Both FSU and Texas A&M are schools to watch out for here.
Daniels’ teammate Yulkeith Brown is an athlete that has proven himself at both running back and receiver, and he is someone that could figure into this position group as well. He recently put UM in his top 6, and this recruitment is likely to come down to the local school (Miami) and the childhood favorite (LSU).
Other in-state prospects with offers include IMG Academy (FL) 4-star Loveasea Carroll, a former South Carolina commit, and Lake Brantley (FL) 3-star Anthony Williams, who just landed a UM offer two weeks back. The rest of UM’s running back offers are out of state players that you’d like to see make it to campus before you take them as serious options for this class.
The Team
Talent-wise, Miami is loaded at the RB spot right now, just how it should be for being located smack dab in the middle of a hotbed for skill position talent. Technically, all four of the current RB’s on the team will still have eligibility at Miami by the time Franklin hits campus in 2021, them being Cam’Ron Harris, Robert Burns, Don Chaney, and Jaylan Knighton. As previously mentioned though, there’s a good chance one or both of Harris or Burns does not return for their senior season. As it stands now, Franklin will enter a highly competitive battle with all these players for snaps in the rotation as a freshman, but he is certainly physically developed enough to have a chance at seeing some playing time early on if things click mentally with him.
The 6-0 215 pounder is currently a consensus 4-star prospect in the national rankings. According to the 247Sports Composite Ranking, he is the #189 player nationally in 2021, the #11 RB in the country, and the #25 player in the Sunshine State. His commitment moved UM class ranking on 247Sports up to #5 in the nation and to #6 on Rivals.
The Player
UM has long pursued Franklin as their top RB target in the 2021 class, handing him an offer back in October of 2018. Franklin wasted little time accepting a spot in UM’s class, committing to Miami just two days later. Despite landing some big-time offers around that time from the likes of Ohio State, Georgia, Oregon, Penn State, and UF, Franklin stayed loyal to the Canes for over a year; however, the poor 2019 season Miami had on offense gave him second thoughts, and he decommitted from Miami this past December. After Franklin visited UM for their Junior Day in late January and the Canes’ new offensive staff eased a lot of his concerns, Franklin felt comfortable enough to come back into the fold.
On film, you can see that Miami easily has a high 4-star RB on their hands here. Franklin has quality burst through the line of scrimmage to rip through arm tackles and attack the second level of a defense. Once he gets a head of steam, Franklin is tough to bring down and has a great physical build for a RB at 6’0” 215. While Franklin is not a true burner, he’s very much an angular runner with build-up speed to get to the edge or outrace a DB in the open field. He shows an effective jump cut to defeat contain and swiftly run away from the flow of the defense. I also love how decisive he is with his cuts and he doesn’t dance around in the backfield; in other words, he gets north-south very quickly. Showed improvement from sophomore to junior year in running a little more lower to the ground and looked more like a natural running back.
According to MaxPreps, Franklin ran for 2,282 yards (7.9 ypc) and 28 TD’s in 14 games as a junior in 2019, along with 4 catches for 50 yards and a TD pass to boot. Franklin is also a multi-sport athlete and is a star basketball player for the Lions as well.
The Class
Franklin is the 9th commit overall in the 2021 class and the first running back. Although UM took two RB’s last cycle, the Canes only have 4 RB’s on the roster overall with two being juniors; either by transfer or leaving for the NFL draft, it’s historically been rare to see a RB stick around Miami for their senior season. With that in mind, it’s pretty certain that UM will continue to pursue a second RB in this class.
Miami Central (FL) 4-star Amari Daniels has been chased by Miami since he was in middle school. The Canes were his first offer back in 8th grade and the smaller 5’8” Daniels would be a great compliment to a size/straight-line speed combo back like Franklin. Daniels most recently visited Miami last month for the Junior Day event and has the Canes high on his list. Both FSU and Texas A&M are schools to watch out for here.
Daniels’ teammate Yulkeith Brown is an athlete that has proven himself at both running back and receiver, and he is someone that could figure into this position group as well. He recently put UM in his top 6, and this recruitment is likely to come down to the local school (Miami) and the childhood favorite (LSU).
Other in-state prospects with offers include IMG Academy (FL) 4-star Loveasea Carroll, a former South Carolina commit, and Lake Brantley (FL) 3-star Anthony Williams, who just landed a UM offer two weeks back. The rest of UM’s running back offers are out of state players that you’d like to see make it to campus before you take them as serious options for this class.
The Team
Talent-wise, Miami is loaded at the RB spot right now, just how it should be for being located smack dab in the middle of a hotbed for skill position talent. Technically, all four of the current RB’s on the team will still have eligibility at Miami by the time Franklin hits campus in 2021, them being Cam’Ron Harris, Robert Burns, Don Chaney, and Jaylan Knighton. As previously mentioned though, there’s a good chance one or both of Harris or Burns does not return for their senior season. As it stands now, Franklin will enter a highly competitive battle with all these players for snaps in the rotation as a freshman, but he is certainly physically developed enough to have a chance at seeing some playing time early on if things click mentally with him.
