Zakhari Franklin Transfers To Ilinois

Zakhari Franklin Transfers To Ilinois

Zakhari Franklin is one of the more underrated wide receivers to hit the transfer portal this off-season, and it would appear he has a new home. Franklin posted to his social media today that he will be transferring into the Big Ten to play for Illinois and Bret Bielema. Franklin was a standout at UTSA before transferring to Ole Miss for the 2023 season but ran into a litany of injury issues before redshirting so he could have one more year of eligibility.

I was all in on Zakhari Franklin at Ole Miss this season, and I am not sure if I am as high on him going to play for the Fighting Illini. At Ole Miss, he would be with an innovative offense and a promising QB in Jaxson Dart. Now, he will be playing for a Bielema offense that isn’t terribly exciting and a QB in Luke Altymer who struggled with turnovers last season (13 touchdowns, 10 interceptions). During his time at UTSA, Franklin had 261 receptions for 3,349 yards and 37 touchdowns. His final two UTSA seasons were outstanding, which helped bolster his transfer status.

I still believe that Zakhari Franklin has some draft value. He will be turning 24 this year, which is not ideal as a draft prospect, but has tons of talent still. I’m not totally sure the move to Illinois is the right one, but if he can make it work with Luke Altymer, he might revive some of his draft stock. Back when it was believed he would be declaring for the NFL Draft, I had a sixth-round grade on him in his draft profile. Now, with one last season in college, can he rebuild his draft stock?

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