Franklin has plenty to study during spring practice with four quarterbacks vying for the starting and backup jobs and trying to master the Tigers' new spread offense.
``He said he's grading everything from warmups all the way to the end of practice, so basically you've just got to stay consistent every day,'' said rising sophomore Kodi Burns.
And make throws. Lots of them.
Franklin's rough estimate is that the quarterbacks will attempt about 200 passes a practice. No wonder Neil Caudle was icing down his right shoulder after Sunday's opening practice.
Burns and junior college transfer Chris Todd are considered the front-runners for the No. 1 job, while Caudle and freshman DeRon Furr also are vying to replace Brandon Cox.
``We chart everything that they do,'' Franklin said. ``The ones that count are the ones when we're going against the defense. Those count a whole lot more. There's always a lot of quarterbacks that can complete the ball against air, and when you put live bodies out they're not as good.''
Burns fared well in his debut under Franklin's system. He threw a 22-yard touchdown pass in his only completion of the Chick-fil-A Bowl, and also ran for 69 yards and a 7-yard score to win it in overtime.
``I'm coming out here with a lot of confidence competing for the job, and I feel pretty good about it,'' Burns said.
Todd initially committed to play in Franklin's offense at Troy, then followed him to his new job at Auburn. Todd has experience running the spread attack in junior college and as a freshman at Texas Tech.
Franklin said Todd was probably the most accurate of the passers in Sunday's practice.
``I knew that's what he's good at,'' he said. ``He's good at throwing the ball. He's got a pretty good basic understanding of the offense. There will be some things that are a little bit different for him than what they were.''
The Tigers resume practice Tuesday morning. Their first scrimmage is scheduled for Saturday at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Coach Tommy Tuberville called that ``judgment day'' for the quarterbacks.
Todd said he doesn't know when to expect the coaches to announce a decision.
``Normally you don't have four quarterbacks coming in and competing right off the bat,'' he said. ``It could be a little different this time around. It just depends on if somebody's going to step up and set themselves apart from everybody else.''
http://accesswdun.com/article/2008/2/207341