Troy Franklin's 2024 season probably could not have gone worse. After several drops and misplays during the regular season, Franklin hauled in a massive touchdown bomb from Bo Nix, serving as Denver's lone touchdown in their playoff matchup in Buffalo.
Franklin parlayed his huge reception into a solid preseason where the former Oregon Duck routinely made huge plays and was showing signs of legitimate improvement. Once preseason games turned on, Franklin continued his strong offseason and was one of the bright spots for the Broncos' offense.
Ultimately, Franklin had a ton of eyes on him entering the season. He produced a respectable 44 receiving yards on four receptions in Week 1, positioning himself to get a larger role in the offense against the Colts. Franklin finally had his breakout game in what felt like a must-win game in Week 2 against the Indianapolis Colts. He was arguably the biggest reason the team was in shape to win the game.
Troy Franklin broke out in massive week 2 performance against the Colts
For the first time since their days at Oregon, Franklin and Bo Nix connected for a huge game, which served as a strong bounce-back performance for the Broncos' quarterback. Franklin turned in exactly 100 all-purpose yards, which included 89 receiving and 11 on the ground.
Franklin was a one-man show on Denver's first scoring drive, hauling in a 42-yard reception from Nix, carrying the ball for 11 yards, and then scoring on a three-yard pitch from Nix. Franklin remained one of Denver's major targets throughout the game, as he was the only receiver to see more than four targets. In fact, Franklin was targeted nine times by Nix, which is more than double any other Broncos receiver. The second-most targeted Bronco was Courtland Sutton, who was targeted just four times in Denver's heartbreaking loss.
In an offense with Sutton, Evan Engram, Marvin Mims Jr., Pat Bryant, and a pair of dynamic running backs with RJ Harvey and JK Dobbins, it might be easy to forget about Troy Franklin. The second-year receiver has done a nice job carving out a role for himself and has made sure that he is now a focal point of Denver's passing attack.
If Denver is going to make noise in the AFC this year, a strong and healthy connection between Franklin and Nix could be paramount. Odds are that there won't be many more games with Sutton taking a backseat to Franklin, let alone with a reception disparity as large as there was this week. Even if that is the case, an effective and threatening Franklin can make all the difference for Sean Payton and the Broncos.