After drafting Oregon quarterback Bo Nix in the first round, the mandate ended Denver Broncos Headquarters had to build the nest around him. With limited selections, including no second-rounder, the Broncos had to be patient and use their draft picks wisely.
In Round 4, the Broncos saw an opportunity to grab a wide receiver who was seen by some draftniks as a Day 2 talent, but he had fallen a few rounds. The Broncos arrested his fall and selected Oregon well over Troy Franklin with pick 102 in the fourth round, reuniting Nix with his No. 1 college target.
As hopeful as Broncos fans were to take the Nix-Franklin connection to the next level, the reality of the learning curve and assimilation process both rookies had to endure in training camp and the preseason kept things from taking shape . However, despite a forgettable preseason, Franklin made the 53-man roster and eventually worked his way into the offense, while Nix was named the Broncos’ starting quarterback prior to the regular season opener.
Franklin caught a few passes in Week 3. But it wasn’t until Week 6 that Franklin was finally able to pop his NFL Christmas and catch the first touchdown of his career.
Despite a few failed attempts by Nix to connect and a brutal decline from Franklin, the young wideout has continued to gain steam, even being Denver’s most targeted wideout from Week 5 through Week 7. But Nix and Franklin are clearly still working always rebuilding their chemistry. within the framework of Sean Payton’s offensive system, which requires mastery of the playbook and countless hours of repetition to get the timing down.
On Friday, Payton quashed any notion that Nix had “forced” the ball to Franklin. The head coach lamented Nix’s big loss to a wide-open Franklin in Week 9’s 41-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens(in fourth place, no less), with more of an emphasis on the collective outlook of the Broncos’ receiving corps in relation to the unit’s chemistry with the still-growing starting quarterback.
“Certainly there are ways to get guys involved early, but within the framework or coverage schemes, I didn’t see the forced decision on Troy,” Payton said. “That’s good. In other words, we’ll run certain plays. Last week we got a blitz-zero look, we checked it, we had it blocked and he’s got Troy. We just kind of knocked it down, but that was clearly the right read. It was the perfect – when you say the perfect sequence, it had the protection and the match.”
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Bo Nix … missed a wide-open TD to Troy Franklin on 4th down.
Huge opportunity. #Broncos #Raven pic.twitter.com/dNr4pw3GUv
— Henry McKenna (@henrycmckenna) November 3, 2024
This just further illustrates Payton’s emphasis on how small Denver’s margin for error is. That’s how it goes in the NFL. It’s doubly true against the AFC’s elite teams.
If Nix had not toppled Franklin, would it have changed the outcome of the game? Probably not, but you never know.
Analysts have criticized the Broncos’ receiver room for a lack of talent. It’s hard to refute such claims when players like veteran Lil’Jordan Humphrey are dropping passes and putting the ball on the floor. And it is not the case that Franklin has thus far been insensitive to ‘dropsy’.
In building the nest around Nix in last April’s draft, the Broncos also took a seventh-round flyer on Utah wideout Devaughn Vele. While his selection prospects initially seemed dim, when the Broncos moved on from Tim Patrick, it created a vacuum that the similarly sized rookie could potentially fill.
Unfortunately, injury and the typical learning curve of novice trial and error have prevented Vele from fully blossoming thus far, but like Patrick, he has shown a penchant for making the hard catch and moving the chains, putting his big frame on the line to haul in passes for his fellow rookie quarterback.
Meanwhile, Nix’s chemistry with Courtland Sutton is really starting to accelerate. With back-to-back 100-yard receiving games, it appears the Nix-Sutton connection only covers the surface.
Those guys played a lot,” Payton said. “I think what’s important in this league is not just the chemistry with Courtland, Troy, Vele and ‘LJ’ (Humphrey), it has to be a unity. It is always difficult to predict. It’s not that hard to predict how busy a tight end can be. It is difficult to predict how busy a recipient is sometimes.”
Based on how the Kansas City Chiefs play coverage, this might not be the week where Denver’s wideouts go gangbusters. But look for high utilization of the middle of the field at Arrowhead, whether that’s in the form of receivers, tight ends or running backs catching passes from Nix.
Through nine games, Franklin has totaled 14 receptions on 27 targets for 135 yards and a touchdown. Look for him and Nix to make some big plays as we move further into the 2024 season.
If the Broncos can’t win the margin of error battle in Kansas City, this team could expect a two-game losing streak and a return to the .500 club. Fingers crossed.
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