Notre Dame is hosting a few junior recruits this weekend as they return to the practice field for Spring Football 2017. Ja’Mion Franklin, a 3-star defensive tackle from Maryland, is one of those visitors. He arrived in South Bend without an offer in hand from Notre Dame. He will not leave South Bend without one. Notre Dame extended an offer to the rising 3-star DT upon arrival yesterday.
Extremely humbled and thankful to receive offer #13 from Notre Dame ‼️? #GoIrish? #IrishBouND18 @TomLoy247 @CoachMikeElston @BrianDohnScout pic.twitter.com/7XUIhpxCN2
— ?JShmoney? (@Jamion_Franklin) March 24, 2017
As of today, Ja’Mion Franklin has a number of offers, but the Notre Dame offer is currently his biggest. Boston College, Duke, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Temple, Virginia, Wake Forest, and Northwestern. Solid offers, but Notre Dame would none of them would be considered elite. That, however, is very likely to change and Notre Dame is getting in on Franklin at a great time.
Franklin (6’1′, 315 lbs) just recently visited Clemson for a junior day and while he left without an offer, there is a lot of interest from the Tigers. Florida State, Michigan, and Penn State are starting to get in the mix as well. If you watch his highlight film below, it’s easy to see why.
- Franklin is a pure inside, power prospect. His game is very much in the mold of a Louis Nix actually.
- In many of his highlights he simply blows up the opposition and collapses a play.
- He also shows a knack for forcing fumbles which is likely why he was on Mike Elko’s radar when he was at Wake Forest already.
- For a big man, Franklin already has a pretty nice spin move and is not just a pure bull rusher. Don’t get me wrong, his game centers around his power, but as a junior he is already working on some secondary moves. That’s big.
Ok, that was all of the good. His highlights also show why he is currently a 3-star prospect and not a 4-star just yet. He is still inconsistent and plays too high at times. Even in his highlights, there are a couple of plays that he makes where he is stood up at the line and makes a play as the runner gets to him. For a 6’1″, 315 lbs defensive tackle with his strength, that should rarely happen on the prep level.
Ok, back to the good news. That is something that is very correctable with good coaching. As Franklin improves his technique and learns how to play with some better leverage, he could be a scary good nose tackle for Notre Dame.
How Franklin Would Fit In
Notre Dame already has one defensive tackle committed in the class of 2018 in Jayson Ademilola and Franklin would be a hell of a counterpart. Ademilola, the #1 prospect in the state of New Jersey, could grow into a nose tackle at some point, but he has the talent to be a big time 3-technique whose playing making ability could be unleashed down the road next to a power player like Franklin.
Notre Dame is considered the leader in the clubhouse now that they have offered and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he left campus as the 12th commitment in the class of 2018. It shouldn’t surprise anyone if Franklin’s Notre Dame offer is not the first big time offer he receives either. This is one recruitment that could really heat up even if he leaves campus committed.
It appears that Franklin had an outstanding visit, and the expectation seems to be that he will eventually be
a Notre Dame commit, and then signee
Unusual prospect for a DT, many of whom are bulky boys in high school. Nix and Cage come to mind.
Somewhere he has picked up the commitment to leverage his size with fitness and body shaping.
It would be a nice foundation for Balis, Ballou and Grimes to work with.
A solid prospect.
You can’t teach 300.