Broncos wide receiver Troy Franklin ranked second on the team last season with 104 targets, 65 catches, 709 receiving yards and six touchdowns. Only Courtland Sutton had more targets, catches, receiving yards and touchdowns.
Thus, no one was more affected by Denver’s acquisition of Jaylen Waddle than Franklin.
“He’s a guy who’s coming in who’s a first-rounder,” Franklin told Luca Evans of The Denver Post on Tuesday. “We traded high value for him, and he’s going to get his touches, you know?
“But I think the same thing to where we’re not just going to be predictable. . . . ‘Oh, yeah, we’re giving 17 [Waddle] the ball every play.’ It’s just one of those deals where I think we just always gotta be ready.”
Franklin, a fourth-round pick in 2024, said before the Waddle trade that he was aiming for his first 1,000-yard season in 2026. That doesn’t seem likely with Waddle and Sutton expected to command most of the targets.
While his targets likely decrease, he also is likely to have better looks.
“Obviously, I think it’s a bit of both,” Franklin told Evans. “You got a guy coming in like that — obviously he’s getting paid more than me, or whatever the case is. I feel like that’s the thought any receiver has when they get somebody coming into the receiver room, you know?
“But I know me, personally, I’m always up for a challenge, competition. I think I’m hyper-competitive. I know what I can do out there, man. Especially just building off of last year. And I’m just building now, with him there. Trying to figure out my role in the offense now, and all that good stuff. And it’s been going good, man.”
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