Back for the 2024 NFL Draft edition, The Trick Play team is once again offering to immerse you in the heart of the event through the scouting reports of Rayane and Valentin. Who will become the next gem of the pro world and who, on the contrary, risks a spectacular flop?
The 2024 NFL Draft starts right now on TTP!
Strengths :
Weaknesses :
WR Troy Franklin excels as a stretch fielder with elite speed on the 3rd level.
— Valentin (@ScoutValentin) January 5, 2024
His ball skills are far too inconsistent.
He can be outmuscled because of his light frame.
Needs to diversify his releases package.
Slow in and out of breaks.
Tyquan Thornton 2.0, 3rd round talent. pic.twitter.com/zJKinXSFQK
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Troy Franklin has an intriguing physique for the position, presenting both strengths and weaknesses. He is very slender with long limbs, has a high center of gravity, and lacks muscle mass. There's a noticeable lack of weight and muscle on Franklin; he has the weight of a small slot receiver despite being 6'2" tall. This lack of power is evident across all aspects of his game and poses a significant issue. He is a very fast athlete for his size, boasting elite speed even at the third level (deep). While I wouldn't say he has incredible explosiveness, it is compensated by high-quality footwork and light feet. His acceleration isn't jaw-dropping either, considering his weight, but it's still good for an athlete of his stature. He moves fluidly for his build, which is quite uncommon.
Franklin doesn't have a diverse set of releases, but he executes them very well. He needs to work on this aspect because it will help him create more uncertainty and imbalance against cornerbacks, allowing him to create separation more quickly with his speed. His separation is indeed a problem because it relies solely on his speed. With long arms like his, even if he lacks power, he should use them much better. So he has much more ease in creating separation on go routes or drags.
His long legs don't allow him to develop a lot of speed on crossing routes, and he can't be precise because he lacks footwork frequency. However, his route tree is more developed than it seems. Curl or comeback routes are well executed, even if the breaks aren't ultra-sharp (which is difficult with long limbs), they are precise. However, his in or out breaks are quite slow, allowing defenders time to attack Franklin again.
Franklin puts a lot of stress on cornerbacks due to his speed, so they tend to give him some cushion. I would have liked to see him provide more viable options for his quarterback when this space was given. The respect he commands is interesting because it allows him to attack slants with a considerable gap between him and his defender. The fact that he hasn't faced high-caliber cornerbacks may raise questions; his performance could be significantly reduced against the more physical cornerbacks in the NFL. He doesn't fundamentally have a bad IQ against zone coverage, but he still has room to improve in terms of when and where to sit in his route.
His ball skills are really hit or miss; he has good ball tracking and a large catch radius thanks to his long arms, but his lack of coordination between eyes, feet, and hands, coupled with his lack of upper body flexibility, have sometimes caused him to struggle with balls well within his reach and in the area of play where he was expected to excel. He needs to improve his catching technique and is prone to drops due to lack of concentration. I question his playmaking ability because he can disappear in certain games. I haven't seen an ability to pull out another tool from his pocket on bad days to make up for this deficiency.
Franklin isn't a threat after the catch unless there's no one in front of him; thanks to his speed, he won't be caught from behind. He has poor transition from receiver to runner when in traffic, easily falling upon contact, lacking the moves or agility to shake off defenders and gain yards. He was quite utilized by Oregon in the screen game, where he was completely ineffective due to the issues I just mentioned.
I think Franklin will be limited in the NFL in his run blocking due to the lack of power, but I find that he positions his long arms well and consistently redirects defenders.
Troy Franklin is a prospect who shouldn't be placed in just any offense. If he ends up in a team without a strong offensive line, his game will suffer, and he won't be very useful because he won't have the time to develop his routes and stretch the field. At this point, it's difficult to see more than a role as a deep threat in the vertical passing game. However, as I mentioned, in the right hands, Franklin could create a lot of space for his teammates and force defenses to respect his speed. I think there's room for a bit of muscle gain even though it won't affect his game much given his build. There's also room for technical improvement; he's young and shows flashes of potential.
I would assess Troy Franklin as a third-round prospect, but a selection in the second round wouldn't surprise me if a team needs this type of wide receiver.