Secreat weapon: Franks at flanker

A reader emailed last week with a great idea for the OU football team. Why not spot Dom Franks on offense?

Don’t look now, but Franks has become quite the weapon as a punt returner. The last two games, Franks has three punt returns of greater than 40 yards. Not too shabby for a guy who didn’t have the punt return job until Ryan Broyles’ injury early in the Miami game.

Franks is one of OU’s fastest players and has shown that he’s got quite the nack for finding open-field seams and making people miss. Which is exactly what the Sooners are missing on offense without Broyles.

Why not insert Franks on occasion offensively? Send him deep — OU has no deep threats — or hit him with a quick screen or something.

I’m not talking about playing Franks full-time on offense. Just spot him five or six plays against Texas. At the least, give the Longhorns something to think about.

Two-way players became trendy in the 1990s. OSU did it with R.W. McQuarters. Kansas State did it with Chris Canty. OU used it a tad with Andre Woolfolk, before permanently moving Woolfolk from wide receiver to cornerback.

I don’t know why it has fallen from favor. Perhaps everything has gotten too complicated, both offense and defense. Perhaps the practice time can’t be spared.

But desperate times cause for desperate measures, and this OU squad cries out for some talent in the receiving corps. That talent can be found on the defensive side, where Franks is an excellent cornerback.