Former All-American, Broncos WR Named One of NFL’s Worst Rookies

“The logic seemed sound: The Denver Broncos paired their new franchise quarterback, Bo Nix, with his favorite collegiate target, Troy Franklin,” Sobleski wrote. They should hit it off, right? Well, the previous rapport hasn’t translated so far. Franklin has four receptions for nine yards through his first four games, including a minus-two-yard effort on two catches this past weekend against the New York Jets. Sunday’s rain obviously affected the Broncos offense. But it doesn’t excuse Franklin’s inability to create an impact overall.”

The Broncos traded up to select Franklin in the fourth round (No. 102 overall) of the 2024 NFL draft out of Oregon and signed him to a 4-year, $4.875 million rookie contract with a signing bonus of $854,836.

Nix, Franklin Both Struggling as Rookies

Nix, the No. 12 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, has done little to help Franklin or any other of Denver’s wide receivers through the first 4 starts of his career — his 62.5 QB rating has him 31st out of 32 NFL starting quarterbacks headed into Week 5.

In a 10-9 win over the Jets in Week 4, Nix made the kind of NFL history most players want to stay away from.

“Nix completed 48 percent of his passes for 60 yards with 1 touchdown and 0 interceptions,” Heavy.com’s Josh Buckhalter wrote on Sept. 29. “He attempted 12 passes, giving him 2.4 yards per attempt. That is the lowest mark in a win by any QB with at least 25 attempts since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, per NFL researcher Dante Koplowitz-Fleming.”

Nix is also 26th in the NFL in total passing with 660 yards, 1 touchdown and 4 interceptions.

Franklin Drew Comparisons to Elite NFL WR

Franklin was a two-time All-Pac-12 pick for the Ducks and capped his career with 81 receptions for a single-season school record 1,383 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns in 2023. He was also named a second-team Associated Press All-American and his 25 career receiving touchdowns were also a school record.

Franklin may have dropped in the draft due to questions about his size — he’s a tad light at 6-foot-2 and just 176 pounds but ran the 40-yard dash in 4.41 seconds at the NFL combine.

NFL analyst Lance Zierlein had Franklin projected as a second-round pick and compared him to New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave.

Olave was the No. 11 overall pick in the 2022 NFL draft out of Ohio State and started his career with back-to-back seasons of over 1,000 receiving yards.

“Franklin might not get WR1 target volume, but he should be productive with a high yards-per-catch average and the ability to open things up underneath for his teammates,” Zierlein wrote in his pre-draft evaluation. “Franklin could become a coveted complementary piece for an established WR1 or a productive vertical target for a team looking for instant help in the passing game.”