Broncos could deploy hidden rookie to fix obvious issue stemming from Week 1

The Denver Broncos most glaring issue stemming from their Week 1 loss to the Seattle Seahawks might not be rookie QB Bo Nix. Nix was not done any favors out there from his wide receivers. There seemed to be a couple of drops, and the unit as a whole just struggles to get consistent separation.

The team also made what now appears to be a hugely questionable decision to cut WR Tim Patrick, who is now on the Detroit Lions. Patrick was as a reliable as they come, but he missed all of the 2022 and 2023 seasons, so I suppose Denver thought he was not close to his former self.

Anyway, Josh Reynolds led the way among the wide receivers in Week 1, and that's a problem. It's not that Reynolds is bad; he's just not a WR1 in the NFL, and if you watched Sunday's game, it doesn't appear that any WR on the field today for the Denver Broncos is close to being a WR1.

For their Week 2 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and perhaps after that, the Denver Broncos must consider making rookie WR Troy Franklin active. He was among the seven inactive players today for the Broncos, and that should not have been much of a surprise.

He's a young rookie that fell to the fourth round in the 2024 NFL Draft. He was formerly seen as a top-50 player, but he fell into round four. Given that the Broncos have a clear an obvious problem at WR, they should see if Franklin can generate some separation better than guys like Reynolds, Courtland Sutton, and Devaughn Vele.

The worst that happens is Franklin ends up showing why he was made inactive. He's just 21 years old, so even by a rookie standard, he's young. But if the Denver Broncos want to find some sort of solution with their WR room in the 2024 NFL Season, they must already consider making this change.

Lil'Jordan Humphrey was an active player today, and no offense to him, but I just have no idea what benefit he could provide over Franklin. Humphrey is a career bottom-of-the-roster player, and Franklin's ceiling has not been made known yet, so there's an example of who Franklin could leapfrog on the roster.

And the chemistry that Bo Nix and Troy Franklin have from their college days at Oregon could also play a part here. No matter how you slice it, the Broncos should try this potential solution going forward.