NFL Draft 2013: Green Bay Packers Select Johnathan Franklin
By Josh Hill
The Green Bay Packers are an offensive machine and they made another move in the NFL Draft to continue that trend of offensive aggressiveness. After drafting running bak Eddie Lacy back int he second round of the draft, the Packers drafted UCLA running back Johnathan Franklin to compliment the Alabama product taken earlier in the draft.
Franklin was a sleeper pick for many teams and gives the Packers something different than what Lacy brings to the table. Franklin is a more speedy runner than Lacy is, and the two will be able to bounce off of one another and we may even see both of them in the backfield at once for the Packers this season.
In being drafted by the Packers, Franklin becomes the first UCLA running back since Maurice Jones-Drew to be drafted into the NFL. Not to compare the two by any means, but Jones-Drew has worked out pretty well for the Jaguars so far, and the Packers are hoping that Franklin turns out in a similar way for them.
Interestingly enough, the Packers were in play to acquire Jones-Drew this past offseason when he held out, but those rumors never made it past the speculation phase and Jones-Drew remains in Jacksonville. The Packers lost out on Steven Jackson this offseason as well, but now they not only have their UCLA running back, but they have two guys to replace what could have been with Jackson.
Green Bay has been missing a running game for years now, and while they will likely be running a two-back system, the Packers finally have something they’ve been coveting which means they’re as dangerous now as they’ve ever been.