The 2024 NFL Draft is here, making it an excellent time to highlight some of the class' best players with scouting reports. Each report will include strengths, weaknesses and background information.
Here's our report on Troy Franklin.
Franklin is one of the more intriguing wide receiver prospects in the draft due to his size/speed/stride length/vertical ability profile. He's tall, lanky receiver with an easy, efficient, gliding stride that helps him eat up off-coverage cushions. He also has the outstanding accelerating speed to run by and get on top of corners.
There were routes where Franklin showed a feel for route running using his vertical stem to attack and set up corners, especially off-coverage corners when he could use the threat of his vertical speed to get them off their spot and/or turn their bodies. At times, he showed he could work the middle of the field effectively on slant, glance routes and dig routes. And he has the short-area burst and accelerating speed to seamlessly make the transition from receiver to home run threat if he has space in front of him.
One question that must be answered by evaluators and coaches is whether he can effectively defeat physical press coverage at the next level given his thin, sleek frame. He'll have to work through contact without route disruption to create enough separation to provide a clean target for the quarterback.
Whether he can be a boundary X receiver at the next level will be a big question for his NFL coaches. Franklin was predominantly a static receiver in the Oregon offense, but he could well be effective as a movement Z receiver with free access off the ball generating speed and stride length as a vertical receiver.
Franklin came to Oregon from northern California as one of the top 75 recruits in the nation and a top 10 receiver prospect. Franklin started his final two seasons at Oregon, finishing his career with an outstanding 2023 season: 81-1383-17.1-14 TD
In 2022, Franklin predominantly lined up outside including snaps at boundary X on the back side of trips. His snaps in the slot primarily came out of empty formations.
In 2023, Franklin predominantly lined up outside again with significant snaps at boundary X, but he also lined up at No. 1 to trips. As was the case in 2022, his snaps in the slot primarily came out of empty formations and almost always to the boundary side of the formation.
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