Over the past couple years the Chicago Bears have shown to be much more adept than usual at identifying quality undrafted free agents. Players like Christian Jones, Bryce Callahan, and especially Cameron Meredith took turns making major contributions to the team. Meredith seemed like he was on the road to possible stardom last season before a catastrophic knee injury derailed those hopes.
This should not dismiss what he accomplished or what he can still accomplish. The Bears meanwhile continue to collect intriguing athletes amidst the undrafted market, nowhere more so than at the skill positions of wide receiver and cornerback. One name that garnered lots of attention is John Franklin III.
He earned minor stardom during the pre-draft process when he posted a highlight video of him supposedly running a 40-yard dash in 4.19 seconds. Even if that number wasn’t quite accurate, it was plain evidence the young man is an athlete with ridiculous speed. That was one of the reasons the Bears chose to sign him as a developmental project at cornerback.
This might seem hazardous since Franklin has never played the position. However, he does have one advantage. Something Meredith used to great effect when he first arrived.
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John Franklin III putting his QB experience to great use
Franklin had a difficult college career that saw him shift from not only multiple colleges but also multiple positions. His final year was spent at wide receiver at Florida Atlantic, but the previous years at Auburn and Florida State were spent as a quarterback. Though he never got a chance to start, the experience of learning that position and the responsibilities of reading defenses have, in his mind, given him a head start on learning how to play defensive back according to Mark Potash of the Chicago Sun-Times.
“The defense I pick up real fast because I know what it looks like as a quarterback. I know what I’m facing. I know how to stop it,” Franklin said. “I’m just learning physically to train my body how to stop it. So mentally, I feel like I’m ahead of somebody that just moved over [to defense]. I learned everything from the eyes of the person looking across the field. That’s one of my biggest advantages, and I’m using that. Once I get comfortable physically, I’ll be able to add that piece to it.”
If this sounds familiar to many Bears fans, it should. When Cameron Meredith arrived out of Illinois State in 2015, he had a similar background. He’d spent his early college career as a quarterback but shifted to wide receiver prior to joining the NFL. He was adamant that experience under center was vital to his rapid progression at the pro level.
Could Franklin use this to his advantage as well? There is a lot of uncertainty at the bottom of the Bears’ defensive depth chart. Competition is expected to be wide open. Given his immense athletic upside, it stands to reason the coaches will give him every opportunity to prove he’s worth keeping around. It depends on just how much of an advantage that QB knowledge provides him.
