By Charles Goldberg
AuburnTigers.com

AUBURN, Ala. ? John Franklin III figures he'll have a busy month leading up to the start of spring practice trying to impress receivers, trying to win respect, putting his best foot forward in Auburn's quarterback race.

The newest quarterback on the Auburn campus arrived in January and says he's ready.

"I'm just trying to get familiar with the receivers and building relationships with everybody on the team," he says. "You have to lead through action. Coming in, it's 'Who is he? Who is he?' In order to be in that leadership role, you have to lead by example. I'm looking forward to winning these guys over and showing them the true competitor that I am."

Franklin was one of the gems in Auburn's Top 10 signing day class Wednesday and is one of nine signees who will participate in spring practice. He comes from East Mississippi Community College with the promise of being a dual-threat quarterback. He says he developed his college game first at his first stop, Florida State, and learned the Auburn-style offense in junior college.

He'll soon discover where he stands.

"Competition brings out the best in everybody," Franklin said. "All I ever wanted was an opportunity. I feel like that's what I'm getting. I can do the rest."

Franklin is no rookie, and everybody knows it. He'll compete with Jeremy Johnson and Sean White for the starting job when spring practice begins March 1. Tyler Queen will return from surgery to eventually join the race and new quarterback signee Woody Barrett will arrive when summer workouts begin. Franklin will be in that mix. Who said so? Coach Gus Malzahn said so.

"Yes, that's out there, but you can't pay attention to it," Franklin said upon arriving on campus. "I try to tune that out as much as possible and try to remain focused, because you can get caught up in that. This is my second go-around, and I'm more focused. That plays as an advantage to me."

Malzahn threw Franklin in the quarterback race in his signing day press conference Wednesday.

"He’s going to get a chance to win the job. Our quarterback position is wide open," Malzahn said.

Franklin profiles as a contender. He had a huge game at East Mississippi last year, the one in which offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee watched as Franklin scored on runs of 65, 33, 29, 13 and 5 yards. He threw for another score. He's a junior college guy, just like Cam Newton and Nick Marshall, who would come on and excel in Malzahn's Auburn offense.

Who wouldn't want to be the next Cam Newton?

"Every quarterback wants to be the next Cam Newton," Malzahn said, and added Newton's success has helped Auburn's recruiting.

Franklin knows all of that. He likes the history of junior college quarterbacks who have made it.

"That, and the system that Coach Malzahn runs are the main reasons I chose to come to Auburn," He said. "Not everybody wants to deal with a junior college quarterback, but I'm excited about his track record ? both of his guys went to the national championship game, both are in the NFL right now. Why wouldn't you want to play for him? His resume speaks for itself. That's definitely one of the main reasons I chose Auburn."

Franklin said he "ran the Auburn-type stuff when I got to junior college, so I understand it."

"When I got to Florida State I really learned how to be a quarterback. It's something I'll never forget because it took so long to get it," he said. "But once it's in your head, it's in your head. I'm grateful for the experience because it taught me how to be a true quarterback. Coming out of high school I was real raw at the position. I only started playing quarterback my freshman year in high school, so I got to Florida State on raw talent. I learned how to play the game through the eyes of a quarterback at Florida State."

Now, Franklin said, "I feel like I'm the true definition of a dual-threat quarterback. Not many quarterbacks can run a 4.3 40. I take pride in that."And now he'll see how it plays out.

"I feel like this is a legit opportunity."

This post was edited on 2/5/16 at 4:06 pm