James Franklin

Franklin's numbers could drop in his second season as the Tiger starting quarterback. He has a talented group of receivers in T.J. Moe, Marcus Lucas and Dorial Green-Beckham, but Missouri's transfer to the SEC means that Franklin will see much tougher defenses than he did in the Big-12. Still, not all of Franklin's opponents will be of high SEC quality. Between his rushing ability (981 yards, 15 touchdowns in 2011) and talented receivers, Franklin should post nice numbers against teams like Southeastern Louisiana, Arizona State, UCF, Kentucky, Tennessee, Syracuse and Texas A&M. A spring shoulder injury required surgery, so monitor Franklin's comeback heading into the season.

Franklin doesn’t figure to be razor-sharp as a passer, but he brings a lot of athleticism to the position and should be a good running threat in Missouri’s spread offense. The Missouri offense threw the ball 37.7 times per game last year, so Franklin will get plenty of chances to make plays this year. After running for 116 yards and two scores in very limited time last year, he should prove to be an effective dual threat.