Lashlee 'not yet' considering position change for JF3

AUBURN | John Franklin enrolled at Auburn in January hoping to win the starting quarterback position. With Sean White being named the starter last week, that leaves Auburn with a question of how best to use the junior college transfer.

Franklin, who has two years of eligibility left, could still help out Auburn as a quarterback this season and certainly has the athleticism to move to another position like wide receiver.

But thoughts of moving Franklin to a new position aren’t on the mind of Auburn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee right now.

“Not yet,” Lashlee said. “The thing that is tough, like I’ve said, to be fair to John, John wasn’t even the starter on his junior college team last year. We recruited him and signed him as an athlete. So we felt like we could take him as an athlete, give him a shot at quarterback and see how he progressed.

“To be honest with you, I’ve been very pleased with his progression. He’s done a lot of good things, quickly, in a fast timetable. I think there’s nothing but positives to say about him right now. So we’ll just continue to try to bring him along. He is a phenomenal athlete, so any ways we think we can use him to help, we will. But right now, he’s still playing quarterback.”

Lashlee said both Franklin and Jeremy Johnson will have important roles on this year’s team although he and head coach Gus Malzahn have yet to define those roles. Johnson could be named the backup quarterback when Malzahn releases a depth chart Tuesday.

With Kerryon Johnson taking a much bigger role at the running back position, Franklin could assume his role of the Wildcat quarterback. Most of Franklin’s biggest plays during scrimmages in the spring and fall came from his running ability.

Of course, they’ll both have to prepare this week in practice for a potential injury to White just like any backup quarterback.

“It’s harder when you are the backup or number two or three guy because you may not get the same looks, but when you get your opportunity you are going to be expected to execute those things at the same level,” Lashlee said.