WR Troy Franklin, Oregon
6-foot-3 | 187 lbs
Career Stats: 160rec 2,483yds 25TDs
Pros
Possessing elite speed is by far Franklin’s biggest asset as he enters the NFL Draft after his Junior season at Oregon. Standing 6-foot-3 and listed anywhere from 170 to 187 lbs, depending on what site you look at, Franklin can fly. His current unofficial 40 time on PlayerProfiler is 4.40, but I’d be willing to bet he could be in the high 4.3s when he tests at the Combine. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen in the past, speed alone rarely equates to success — NFL or fantasy — but lucky for us Franklin has a few more things going for him.
He has above-average-to-good route-running ability. He gets in and out of his breaks quickly and uses his speed to his advantage when trying to sell the DB on a comeback route. Due to his speed, he did not see a lot of tight-man coverage as defensive coordinators chose to play off coverage to avoid giving up the big play, and therefore I couldn’t get a good read on how well he handled press-man but his release off the line looked twitchy and explosive in the film I watched.
One essential trait that Franklin has- some lesser deep-threat receivers lack- is the ability to track the ball in the air. It’s one thing to be able to fly down the field and get open, it’s another to be able to track the ball while running full speed and make the catch — something that Franklin excels at.
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Cons
As fun and exciting a prospect as Franklin is, he is not without his flaws, and the biggest one that stood out was his lack of physicality both at the catch point and on the few times I saw him getting pressed at the line of scrimmage. He lacks the strength needed to play through contact, which he will have to improve on at the next level if he is to avoid the “one-trick-pony” label often associated with fast but slender receivers in the NFL.
High-pointing the ball is another negative for Franklin as he tends to wait for the ball to fall to him, which is fine when he is three or four steps ahead of the DB. Still, he struggles when the DB is there to challenge him, something he can expect to happen a lot more in the NFL with bigger, stronger, and faster corners. Lucky for him, and anyone who drafts him, this is something that can be coached out of him. I don’t see Franklin ever being a true WR1 on an NFL team, but he can develop into a strong WR2 on a team with an established alpha on the other side. As for fantasy, he may end up as a receiver who will lack consistency from week to week but be a game-breaker a few times a year.
Summary
Franklin has a high ceiling but an equally low floor in Dynasty. He is an elite athlete with athlete speed but lacks play strength and a go-get-the-ball mentality. The NFL loves speed, which should fetch him some decent Draft Capital in April, which in turn will put him firmly in the 1st round of our rookie drafts in May.
For a player with Franklin’s height/weight/speed combo, it’s very difficult to find a good player comparison without making it sound negative. He reminds me a lot of Chosen Robbie Anderson or Darius Slayton, neither of which will excite Dynasty managers, but both players have hung around in the NFL because of their speed, so maybe Franklin can buck the trend and become a viable fantasy option.
Strengths
- Elite Deep Speed
- Good-to-great route runner
- Ball tracking
Concerns
- Functional Strength
- Struggles vs. Press Man
- Not physical at the catch point
- He doesn’t “attack” the ball, instead lets it drop to him
- contested catch ability is lacking
2024 Dynasty Rookie Draft Projection: Mid-to-late 1st round pick
Ideal Role: WR2 opposite an Alpha, deep threat
Player Comp: a faster DeVonta Smith(ceiling) Chosen Robbie Anderson(floor)
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