Troy

Franklin

Payton added that if this were a playoff game, Payton would probably be playing. But this is management with the hope of getting things in shape for Bryant down the line. Marvin Mims will find more snaps in Week 15 and both Troy Franklin and Courtland Sutton should get a slight workload upgrade.

Franklin had a forgettable Week 14 showing. He may have banged the left side of his hip while being leveled by Raiders S Isaiah Pola-Mao on a downfield incompletion, but Franklin returned after a play or two. Franklin’s most consequential play occurred on the Broncos’ third drive, when he bobbled a reception on 4th-and-3. He initially met the ball while in first-down territory but was knocked backward as he was securing the catch and the officials ultimately ruled him down behind the first-down marker. Franklin has 32 yards over the last two weeks and is a risky FLEX against the Packers in Week 15.

Franklin had been on a fantasy tear before being slowed by the zone-heavy Washington defense, which limited the team’s ability to attack aggressively downfield throughout the evening. It was the first game since Week 6 in which Franklin failed to see eight or more targets after emerging as a true downfield threat as the team’s primary Z-type receiver. He will be in a good spot to see his volume return when the Broncos face the Cover-3-heavy Raiders in Week 14.

Franklin and Courtland Sutton are essentially co-WR1s in this offense currently, and Franklin managed to reel in a big catch on an adjustment downfield late to clinch an (easier) game-winning field-goal attempt. He also set up Denver’s only touchdown with a 35-yarder that Bo Nix rocketed to exactly the right spot. The Broncos haven’t exactly run up the score on anybody besides the Cowboys this year, but Franklin enters the Broncos bye with at least eight targets in each of his last five games and has turned the corner from his early-season prayer yard usage and become a solid WR3.

Franklin should also be credited with an interception if life were fair, as he flat-out dropped a pass from Bo Nix that landed in the hands of Kyu Blu Kelly. The 2024 fourth-round pick was able to find the end zone, however, on a dart from Nix in the second quarter to tie the game at 7-7. Franklin remains a FLEX option going forward, and that includes Week 11 against the Chiefs.

Franklin has watched a lot of Bo Nix incompletions this year — 15 in the last three weeks alone — and hasn’t been able to turn this major role into anything other than good games against the Colts and Cowboys. The Cowboys game was a mirage, but Franklin will be a usable FLEX in good matchups. The Raiders qualify in Week 10.

Franklin was left wide open in the middle of the field on his first touchdown, what we’ll call “a normal Dallas Cowboys zone defense snap,” then dusted Trikweze Bridges on his second score one-on-one on a route where he faked inside and went back to the wide-open out. It was good to see Franklin finally make good on the air yards, but this performance was extremely Dallas Cowboys-pilled and he’ll be more of a desperation FLEX against the Texans in Week 9.

This is the first we’ve seen of Denver being tied to the wideout trade market, but it does make some sense given how disappointing Troy Franklin and Marvin Mims have been this season. Fantasy managers in deeper leagues should be aware of the fact that those players are not comfortably locked into their roles for the rest of the season. Jones notes that Denver has all of its picks through the fifth round and added a fourth-rounder (for Devaughn Vele) in the preseason.

Franklin, as usual, ran a bunch of empty routes as the de facto WR2 in the Broncos offense. His touchdown came on a fluky tip that ended up in Franklin’s hands near the back of the end zone — one of Bo Nix’s two passing scores on the day. Franklin hasn’t had more than 55 receiving yards in a game since Week 2, and mostly profiles as a deep league fantasy option in the balanced Denver offense. He’ll face the Cowboys in Week 8.

Franklin added two yards on his lone rush of the day. Things got off to a rocky start for the young wideout with a fumble on his first touch of the game. Luckily for him, Sean Payton didn’t yank him from the lineup and he finished the day second on the team in targets. Franklin has at least three catches in three straight games but hasn’t topped 55 yards or scored since Week 2. He is nothing more than a route-runner WR5 heading into Week 7 against the Giants.