Player
Troy Franklin
WR · DEN
Year-2 WR growth is the league's most reliable scouting signal — and 2024's first-round WRs all stalled or regressed. Franklin, a 4th-rounder, is the class's only sustained-improvement story so far.
Biggest Year-2 yards jump of any 2024-class WR — by 73 yards.
Anomaly2024 WR draft class — receiving yards Year 1 to Year 2 (reg season)
| Player | 2024 Yds | 2025 Yds | Jump |
|---|---|---|---|
| Troy Franklin | 263 | 709 | +446 |
| Ryan Flournoy | 102 | 475 | +373 |
| Adonai Mitchell | 312 | 453 | +141 |
| Ricky Pearsall | 400 | 528 | +128 |
| Marvin Harrison Jr. | 885 | 608 | -277 |
| Ladd McConkey | 1,149 | 789 | -360 |
| Brian Thomas Jr. | 1,282 | 707 | -575 |
| Malik Nabers | 1,204 | 271 | -933 |
Of the 22 WRs drafted in 2024 with at least one receiving yard in either year, Franklin had the largest sophomore-year increase: +446 yards. The next-best jump is Ryan Flournoy at +373.
Most of the class went the other way — Nabers (-933), Thomas Jr. (-575), McConkey (-360), and Harrison Jr. (-277) all regressed. Of the seven 2024 WRs who topped 400 rookie-year yards, six dropped in Year 2. Franklin and Pearsall are the only sophomore-jump stories in this class — and Franklin's jump is more than 3x anyone else's who actually improved.
Why it matters. Year-2 WR growth is the league's most reliable scouting signal — and 2024's first-round WRs all stalled or regressed. Franklin, a 4th-rounder, is the class's only sustained-improvement story so far.
Among 2024-draft-class WRs, he was 2nd in receiving yards as a sophomore.
Rare2024 WR draft class — 2025 production
| Player | Tgts | Rec | Yds | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ladd McConkey | 106 | 66 | 789 | 6 |
| Troy Franklin | 104 | 65 | 709 | 6 |
| Brian Thomas Jr. | 91 | 48 | 707 | 2 |
| Rome Odunze | 90 | 44 | 661 | 6 |
| Marvin Harrison Jr. | 73 | 41 | 608 | 4 |
| Xavier Worthy | 73 | 42 | 532 | 1 |
| Ricky Pearsall | 53 | 36 | 528 | 0 |
Only Ladd McConkey had more yards than Franklin among the 2024 WR class in 2025 — and only by 80. He out-produced Marvin Harrison Jr., Rome Odunze, and Xavier Worthy despite being drafted after all three. The 102nd-overall pick is the 4th-best Year-2 WR from this class so far.
His 65 catches also led the entire class. The bigger jump from 2024 to 2025 — receptions up 132% — isn’t one anyone else in the group came close to matching.
Why it matters. For a 102nd-overall pick to out-produce three first-round WRs (Harrison Jr., Odunze, Worthy) in their sophomore year is the kind of value gap that reshapes how teams approach Day-3 receiver scouting.
All 9 career TD catches have come from Bo Nix. Zero from anyone else.
RareFranklin career receiving TDs, by passing QB
| Season | Week | QB | Yards | From Goal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 6 | Bo Nix | 2 | 2 |
| 2024 | 11 | Bo Nix | 7 | 7 |
| 2024 | 19 | Bo Nix | 43 | 43 |
| 2025 | 2 | Bo Nix | 3 | 3 |
| 2025 | 7 | Bo Nix | 2 | 2 |
| 2025 | 8 | Bo Nix | 25 | 25 |
| 2025 | 8 | Bo Nix | 7 | 7 |
| 2025 | 10 | Bo Nix | 7 | 7 |
| 2025 | 15 | Bo Nix | 23 | 23 |
Every receiving touchdown of Franklin's NFL career — all nine, across two seasons including the playoffs — has been thrown by his college QB Bo Nix. He has never caught a TD pass from a relief QB, a backup, or anyone else.
That's mostly because Nix has started every Broncos game since Franklin arrived (Nix has not missed a snap due to injury), but the symmetry is rare: it's an Oregon-built scoring connection that has carried clean into the NFL with zero exceptions.
Why it matters. QB-WR scoring chemistry that survives a college-to-NFL move is the strongest available predictor that a Day-3 receiver will hit. Franklin has zero TDs from any other QB — the entire scoring profile is Nix-dependent.
His average target distance dropped — and he got more efficient, not less.
AnomalyAverage air yards per target by season
| Year | Targets | aDOT | Deep Tgts (20+) | Deep % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 56 | 13.4 | 20 | 35.7% |
| 2025 | 104 | 12.7 | 24 | 23.1% |
His rookie role was deep-shot-heavy — 35.7% of targets traveled 20+ yards. The Broncos used him as a vertical decoy more than a route-tree piece.
In 2025 his aDOT dropped slightly (13.4 → 12.7), the deep-target share fell to 23.1%, and yet the catch rate jumped from 53% to 63% and total yards per game nearly tripled (16.4 → 41.7). The route tree expanded — that’s what unlocked the role.
Why it matters. When a young receiver gets more efficient as the route tree widens — instead of being asked to make tougher catches downfield — it usually signals the offense trusts him with full-menu usage, not just decoy snaps.
28 yards from a 1,000-yard career — likely cleared in his first playoff game.
MilestoneFranklin career receiving totals (regular season + playoffs)
| Span | G | Rec | Yards | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 regular | 16 | 28 | 263 | 2 |
| 2024 playoffs | 1 | 2 | 54 | 1 |
| 2025 regular | 17 | 65 | 709 | 6 |
| Career total | 34 | 95 | 1,026 | 9 |
Through 34 NFL games Franklin sits at 972 regular-season yards / 1,026 all-game yards. He's already cleared 1,000 receiving yards in his career when playoff snaps count, and the regular-season-only 1,000-yard mark is 28 yards away at the start of the 2026 season.
For a 102nd-overall pick to be a sub-2-year, 1,000-yard receiver is unusual: in his rookie class, only McConkey and Brian Thomas Jr. (both top-50 picks) reached the same total faster. Franklin will be the first Day-3 WR from the class to hit it.
Why it matters. Career milestones for Day-3 picks are leading indicators of contract extensions and target-share durability. Franklin reaching 1,000 career yards in two seasons would make him an outlier in his draft tier.
Only viable 4th-round WR from his draft — by a 5x yardage margin.
ComparisonEvery 4th-round WR picked in 2024 — 2025 reg-season production
| Player | Pick | Tgts | Yds | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Troy Franklin | 102 | 104 | 709 | 6 |
| Devontez Walker | 113 | 8 | 136 | 3 |
| Javon Baker | 110 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacob Cowing | 135 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Four wide receivers were taken in Round 4 of the 2024 draft. Two of them (Baker, Cowing) recorded zero receiving yards in 2025. Devontez Walker mustered 136. Franklin's 709 yards is roughly 5.2x the entire rest of his round combined (136 yards across three other players).
The gap isn't injury-related either — Baker and Cowing were healthy scratches or practice-squad bodies. In a round normally treated as roster-depth, Franklin is the only WR producing like a starter.
Why it matters. Round-by-round hit rates are the currency of draft analysis. Franklin being the only 4th-round 2024 WR with meaningful production reframes his pick as a clear scouting win, not a chemistry-driven reach for Bo Nix.
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