Joshua Franklin
Second year in the same secondary at Western Michigan. One game to point at: 10 tackles against Boise State — Week 4, 2026.
38 tackles · 0 sacks
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
38 tackles. 6 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 1.5 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Western Michigan | 38 | 26 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 6 | 1 |
| 2025 | Western Michigan | 53 | 32 | 5.5 | 1.5 | 10 | 2 |
| Career | 91 | 58 | 7.0 | 1.5 | 16 | 3 |
Last game (Wk 9): 1 pass breakup, 4 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 9 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 12-13@ No. 16 Michigan | 5 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 49-14vs Monmouth | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 3 | W 28-21@ Rice | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 7-32vs Boise State | 10 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 10 tackles |
| Wk 5 | W 20-17@ Buffalo | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 38-7vs Kent State | 8 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 7 | W 21-14@ Central Michigan | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 8 | L 38-45@ Toledo | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 23-10vs Bowling Green | 4 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Total | 38 | 26 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 6 |
Oct. 31 · W 23-10 vs Bowling Green, play by play
4 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
His game this year: coverage — 6 passes defended in the 9 games with play by play.
How Western Michigan’s defense played that day
Bowling Green’s 13 drives: 11 stopped (3 takeaways) · 2 scored. While the game was within a score they held 7 of 9. His pbu came with Western Michigan up 7.
2 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
3 tackles, including 2 passes broken up, tied for 10th-most passes broken up in FBS that week.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
8 tackles, including 2 passes broken up, tied for 5th-most passes broken up in FBS that week.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
1 tackle.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. It places 2 for him; the box score credits 1.
10 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. It places 11 for him; the box score credits 10.
1 tackle, including 1 more for loss.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
4 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. It places 5 for him; the box score credits 4.
Ratings of the games shown run from -21 to +12 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
16%6 pass breakupsTackle volume
38tackles this seasonTFL rate
4%2 TFL38 tackles · 1.5 for loss · 6 pass breakups.
2 seasons under Lance Taylor, all run-heavy offenses — 16-7 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 9 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 6.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
| Road5g | 2.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 4.6 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.7 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 3.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Lance Taylor
Pass share
33.7%
202 pass / 397 run
Plays / game
66.6
9 games
Team sack rate
6.1%
231 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy.
Player standing · 2026
About as many tackles a game as a typical FBS defensive back who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
2026 outlook
In the mix for All-MAC
Based on 2025: #8 of 40 Mid-American DBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 35% of returning players who ranked #4–10 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 31–38%).
2026 is in progress.
