The Denver Broncos have totally rebuilt their wide receiver room since Sean Payton arrived, and the one lone presence in the room has been Courtland Sutton, who has turned into a very efficient target for Denver, especially on third and fourth downs.
Well, in recent years, Denver has drafted receivers like Marvin Mims Jr, Devaughn Vele, Troy Franklin, and Pat Bryant. The team traded Vele to the New Orleans Saints before the year began, but they have seen guys like Franklin and Bryant show signs of being something notable.
Mims seems to still be in that 'gadget-y' type of role on offense, and that might simply be who he is. Well, Troy Franklin gets a lot of attention, as he was a teammate of Bo Nix's at Oregon and actually went a lot lower in the 2024 NFL Draft than expected. It was a shaky start to the year for Franklin, but over the past seven games, things have really heated up.
It's been a tale of two halves for Troy Franklin in year two
I was able to find something very interesting regarding Troy Franklin, and the split here is actually right down the middle. Here are Franklin's statistics when targeted in the first seven games of the 2025 NFL Season:
46 targets
27 receptions
269 yards
38.4 yards per game
14 first downs
71.7 passer rating (when targeted)
Here are his statistics over the past seven games:
48 targets
30 receptions
357 yards
51 yards per game
15 first downs
95.6 passer rating (when targeted)
Franklin has quite literally improved everywhere over the past seven games. The big thing that sticks out is that he's been a legitimate target for Bo Nix, as his passer rating when targeted is now well above 90. Earlier in the season, it did feel like Nix was forcing the ball to Franklin at times.
That doesn't seem to be the case now. Franklin has really taken a noticeable step forward in recent weeks and is averaging nearly 13 more yards per game over the past seven weeks of the season. With Courtland Sutton being a known commodity at this point, having another player like that develop is going to do wonders for this WR room down the stretch.
Troy Franklin is still just 22 years old and honestly just now a more common age for rookies in the league. Heading down the stretch, the hope here is that Franklin continues to be this efficient target for Denver, as it could lead to something truly special in 2026.