John Franklin III hopes to be Auburn's starting quarterback in 2016, and he took the first step in the process Wednesday morning.

AL.com has confirmed the East Mississippi Community College quarterback signed his National Letter of Intent with Auburn. He is set to enroll Jan. 10 and has opted to spend time with his family in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, over participating in Auburn's practices for the Birmingham Bowl.

"It feels good to make it official finally," Franklin said. "I'm just ready to get up there next month and get to working, get time in with the guys and start getting ready for this season we're about to have coming up."

Franklin, who stands at 6-foot-2, 180 pounds, sees an opportunity to make an immediate impact right away at Auburn, where quarterbacks have struggled to find success running Gus Malzahn's zone-read offense in 2015.

Junior Jeremy Johnson and redshirt freshman Sean White combined for 2,107 passing yards and only 10 touchdowns while rushing for a mere 146 yards this season. Johnson threw six interceptions in the first three games and was benched for White before returning to the starting lineup for the final four games when White suffered a knee injury.

Auburn's coaching staff has compared Franklin to former Tigers star Nick Marshall, a fellow JUCO transfer who effectively ran Malzahn's offense during his two seasons on the Plains in 2013 and 2014. Franklin is listed as an "athlete" by recruiting services but says the Tigers brought him in "strictly as a quarterback" and have not discussed a potential position change.

"Coach (Malzahn) told me he needed somebody and he got Cam (Newton), then he needed somebody and got Nick Marshall," Franklin said. "Now he needs somebody so he came and got me. I'm just ready to go to work and earn my spot the right way and get the ball rolling with everything."

At Florida State in 2013 and 2014, Franklin was redshirted as a freshman and played sparingly as a sophomore before transferring to EMCC after the Seminoles signed former Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson. FSU used Franklin to simulate Marshall in practices for the 2014 BCS National Championship Game.

As the second-string quarterback for EMCC, Franklin passed for 733 yards with seven touchdowns while rushing for 451 yards and nine touchdowns in nine games this fall.

"That's what we've been missing -- explosiveness," Franklin said last month. "I feel like I can bring that to the team. I'm looking forward to getting here and getting started and hopefully turning our season around next year to what Auburn's supposed to be like. I'm hoping to win the starting job before we go into fall camp. That's my goal."

This marks the second season in a row Auburn has signed the nation's No. 1 junior college athlete in the 247Sports Composite. The Tigers inked Jason Smith out of Mississippi Gulf Coast last December. The Tigers are also expected to sign defensive end Paul James III of Copiah-Lincoln Community College later today.