The Tony Franklin effect - Part 1

Middle Tennessee was represented during the first day of the NFL draft when Tony Franklin joined Jared Goff, his quarterback at California, in the Green Room in Chicago. It was a small gesture of gratitude from Goff to the coach who spent three years molding him from a four-star prospect into the first overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.

As he returns to Murfreesboro to prepare for his first season back with the Blue Raiders, Franklin will have the opportunity to mold yet another heralded quarterback - freshman All-American Brent Stockstill.

Stockstill's success during his freshman campaign came as a surprise to many, including some Blue Raider fans, but with expectations on the rise rise for the talented signal caller, can Franklin work his magic one more time?

How does Brent Stockstill compare to Jared Goff? And what does Tony Franklin's arrival mean for the Blue Raider offense In 2016? These are some of the questions we wanted to address in this piece.

Let's begin by comparing Jared Goff to Brent Stockstill:

Stockstill has the physical ability and the talent around him to ensure he continues to progress in his second year as a starter. To do so, however, Stockstill must master Franklin’s offense, which will be quite the task for the second-year starter from Murfreesboro.

Franklin is not known for having a particularly complex playbook. But, while mastering a simple playbook may seem easy to the average outsider or fan, being able to process each play at Franklin’s preferred no-huddle pace is absolutely draining from both the mental and physical standpoints.

Under Franklin’s tutelage, Stockstill will be required to line up, receive the signal and read the coverage - all within about a 10-15 second span. Now multiply that times the average amount of plays MT will run in a given game, and all of a sudden you can become quite overwhelmed.

The traditional pro-style attack carries hundreds of plays and relies on the offense finding the perfect play against the defense for their given scenario. Franklin’s offense, however, is built upon a handful of core concepts that are designed to maximize efficiency while relentlessly attacking one or two defenders on any given play. It’s an all out assault, if you will, on those who Franklin will perceive to be the weaker links.

Over the last decade, Franklin has removed the least effective concepts of his offense in favor of a more streamlined attack that is centered around RPO’s (Run-Pass Options) and a passing attack designed to vertically, and horizontally, stress the defense out.

In the coming weeks, GoMiddle.com will preview the Tony Franklin offense and what it means for the 2016 Blue Raiders.

Stay tuned!