The speedy Troy Franklin could have a breakout year this upcoming season.
After going home and sleeping on it, Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton woke up wanting to draft Oregon wide receiver Troy Franklin. He even texted GM George Paton early that morning, alerting him of his desire to trade up and select Franklin. After making some calls, the Broncos were indeed able to trade up and select Oregon wide receiver Troy Franklin with their 102nd overall pick in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
Franklin was reuniting with his college teammate and quarterback, Bo Nix, in Denver, and expectations were high for the rookie wide receiver. However, things started slowly for Franklin in Denver. He was not a standout player for the Broncos throughout training camp and the preseason and seemed to be passed by seventh-round rookie Devaughn Vele on the depth chart. That carried over into the regular season, where Franklin didn’t see his first catch until their week three game vs. the Bucs.
Despite this, Franklin did flash some ability to get open downfield, but had issues simply catching the ball, OR Bo Nix would overthrow him just by a little bit. Despite their chemistry in college, the two seemed to have a hard time connecting consistently in the NFL.
Bo Nix’s first career postseason TD is a DEEP ball to his college teammate Troy Franklin pic.twitter.com/F10pVsFyfR
— MileHighReport (@MileHighReport) January 12, 2025
It wasn’t all bad for Franklin. He would catch his first career touchdown vs. the Chargers during their week 6 matchup, and his playing time started to increase. During their Thursday Night blowout victory vs. the Saints, Franklin saw a total of six targets and finished the game with 5 receptions for 50 yards.
He was used sporadically throughout the rest of the season, getting a handful of targets each game, and would find the end zone against the Falcons on a screen play. While the production wasn’t amazing, he was still being used weekly in the offense and continued to flash the potential for the big impact play.
That potential turned into reality during the Broncos’ wildcard matchup with the Buffalo Bills. During their opening series against the heavily favored Bills, Bo Nix and Franklin finally connected on a deep play, leading to a touchdown and the Broncos taking an early 7-0 lead. Things went south for the Broncos quickly after this play, but it did show the potential that Franklin can bring to the offense.
Now, entering his first full offseason with the Broncos and still very young at 22 years old, the explosive Franklin could be on the verge of a breakout year.
Player Profile
Troy Franklin | Wide Receiver | Broncos
- Height: 6-3
- Weight: 180 pounds
- Experience: 2nd year
- Age: 22 years old
- 40-Yard Dash: 4.41 seconds
- 2024 stats: 28 receptions for 263 yards and 2 touchdowns
Broncos WR Troy Franklin’s 2025 outlook
The Broncos’ wide receiver room is suddenly pretty crowded. You have Courtland Sutton, Marvin Mims, Devaughn Vele, rookie Pat Bryant, Troy Franklin, and a number of undrafted rookies pushing for a roster spot. So, it’ll be fascinating to see how all this works out moving forward.
I believe Franklin will continue to have the deep threat specialist role this upcoming season. He is arguably the fastest receiver on the team and, outside of Mims, is the only speedy deep threat on the roster. He showcased the ability to separate and get open downfield last season, but either failed to complete the catch, or Nix just missed him. If a few more of these connections hit, we would be having a very different conversation about Franklin’s rookie season. So, I am a little more bullish on his potential this upcoming season.
The bigger question is, will he become more than just a deep threat specialist? He is still a young receiver who is continuing to develop and is having his first full offseason with the Broncos. Add in becoming more comfortable with the playbook, hopefully better chemistry with Nix, and natural development and improvement, and hopefully, we see Franklin become a weekly playmaker for the Broncos.
At the very least, I believe Franklin will be a deep threat specialist for the Broncos and quarterback Bo Nix this upcoming season.
Final Thoughts
As I said, I am bullish on Franklin’s upside this season. If Nix didn’t overthrow Franklin, and/or Franklin doesn’t drop the ball, he could be coming off a rookie season with at least 5+ touchdowns and probably 500+ yards. Unfortunately, that did not happen, but the potential for it is still there. Add in a year of growth, building more chemistry, becoming more confident and comfortable in the offense, and I think we could see big things from Franklin this upcoming season.
With that said, I think it will be difficult for Franklin’s role to expand past deep threat specialist. Courtland Sutton will get his usual amount of targets, Mims will have his packages, Engram will see a bunch of targets, same with Harvey, and I think we’ll see a lot of Pat Bryant this season as well. So, Franklin will need to thrive in this designated role and force himself into that conversation.
How Payton manages all these touches will be fascinating this upcoming season. I also want to see the pecking order behind Sutton and Engram in the passing game. Will Mims see an expanded role as a receiver? Will Pat Bryant start as a rookie? What about Vele? Will Franklin break out?
It’s a nice problem to have and I believe Franklin has the ability to force himself into this conversation and have a breakout year this upcoming season.