The Denver Broncos saw their offseason dominated by talk of wide receivers — 1st through a trade for Jaylen Waddle, then by the outstanding play of Pat Bryant and Marvin Mims Jr. in training camp.
The 1 wide receiver no one has been talking about? Troy Franklin.
Predominantly Orange’s Lou Scataglia pointed out the lack of buzz around Franklin, who was 2nd on the Broncos in receiving in 2025, and placed the 3rd-year former Oregon star on his list of Broncos on the “Hot Seat” in 2026.
“It’s clear that Franklin has now fallen out of favor a bit this offseason,” Scataglia wrote on September 8. “While he does have that Oregon connection with Bo Nix, the Broncos added Waddle for a reason, and also did see Pat Bryant have himself an offseason. As of now, it’s really not unrealistic to think that Franklin is, at best, the fifth option in the room after Sutton, Waddle, Bryant, and Marvin Mims Jr. Franklin is listed behind Sutton, Waddle, and Mims on the current depth chart right now. The main issue with Franklin is that he does appear to have a low ceiling overall. He doesn’t necessarily excel at anything and wasn’t a consistent separator last year, either. Franklin appears to be trending in the wrong direction.”
The Broncos open the regular season in a primetime matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football — and Franklin’s role seems like a mystery.
Troy Franklin Made Wild Prediction for 2026
Franklin, a 2024 4th-round pick, made a pretty significant leap in his second season in 2025 with 65 receptions for 709 yards and 6 touchdowns — more than double his 28 receptions for 263 yards and 1 touchdown as a rookie.
“I’m going to get a 1,000-yard season,” Franklin told The Denver Post on Thursday. “I’m going to double up the touchdowns. And receptions, I need to probably get about 80 or 100.”
Broncos Fired OC, WR Coach After AFC Title Game
Franklin and the rest of the wide receivers didn’t receive much of a vote of confidence following a snow-filled, 10-7 home loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.
After a few days of complaining about everything from dropped passes to how his receivers catch the ball (“put your thumbs together”), head coach Sean Payton fired offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and wide receivers coach Keary Colbert.
Franklin was one of the main culprits when it came to dropped passes — he and teammate Courtland Sutton finished tied for second in the NFL with 8 dropped passes each.
There’s also the matter of durability. Franklin went into the Witness Protection Program down the stretch, and in the final 4 games of the year — 2 regular-season games and 2 playoff games — Franklin had 4 receptions for 17 yards and no touchdowns. He didn’t even play against the Patriots with a hamstring injury.
Forgotten Denver Broncos WR ‘Trending in the Wrong Direction’