Dominique Franks

CB, KR · Oklahoma
Franks brings big-play ability as a return specialist, much like former Sooners Antonio Perkins and Derrick Strait, both defensive backs who had the ability to return punts. The junior has also shown natural hands, timing and leaping ability to get to the ball at its high point. Along with his impressive speed, he is a dangerous threat to score any time he touches the ball. Franks continues to mature physically and will need to add bulk and strength to compete with bigger receivers, but he has the reach to be very disruptive mirroring his man coverage throughout the route's progression. In two years as a starter, he broke up 15 passes, eight of them on third-down plays. He also showed that he is an opportunist as a pass thief, returning two of his six interceptions for touchdowns. Franks was a highly sought after recruit coming out of Union High School, where the in-state product was selected Tulsa World Oklahoma Player of the Year and first-team All-State as a senior. That year, he was runner-up for State Defensive Player of the Year honors from The Oklahoman. The KTUL Ford Award winner was rated the 26th-best cornerback nationally by College Football News.com and 15th by Scout.com. Rivals.com rated Franks the state's fourth-best overall prospect and he was named to Prep Star's All-American team in 2005, along with garnering national recognition from Super Prep. He helped the Redskins to two Class 6A state titles as a junior and senior after transferring from Owasso High. Franks recorded seven interceptions and returned three of them for touchdowns during his final season. As a return specialist, he scored three times on kickoff returns during his senior season, and rushed for five touchdowns as a tailback. Franks enrolled at Oklahoma in 2006, where he redshirted while competing on the scout team. The following season, he played behind Marcus Walker at field cornerback before earning his first career start vs. West Virginia in the Fiesta Bowl, producing three of his six tackles for the season in that contest. He spent most of the year on special teams, averaging 10.33 yards on 12 punt returns while gaining 37 yards on a kickoff return. In 2008, Franks emerged from fall camp as the Sooners' starting field cornerback. He was named All-Big Twelve Conference first-team by the Dallas Morning News, as he totaled 42 tackles, returned a fumble recovery 39 yards for a score and picked off four passes that included an 18-yard touchdown return vs. Nebraska. His 10 pass breakups gave him 14 passes defended for the season, tied for 38th nationally. Franks again earned first-team All-Big Twelve recognition as a senior, as he paced a secondary that ranked 99th in the nation vs. the pass in 2008 (251.5 yards per game) to improve to 20th in the NCAA in 2009, allowing 179.69 yards per game. He totaled 47 tackles, broke up five passes and caused a fumble that he recovered. The junior also returned one of his two interceptions 85 yards for a touchdown vs. Kansas, the seventh-longest runback in school history. He averaged 17.0 yards on 11 punt returns and 19.29 yards on seven kickoff returns. After the season, Franks announced that he was leaving school to enter the 2010 NFL Draft. The cornerback said that Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops tried to talk him out of leaving too early, but only briefly. "He wanted me to come back to school," Franks said. "Every coach is gonna tell their kid to come back to school (that's) coming out early. But he's a great coach."