INDIANAPOLIS — There are plenty of talented wide receivers in the 2024 NFL Draft class, coming in all shapes and sizes, but one pass catcher who sticks out with his size and speed combination is Troy Franklin. The Oregon WR pieced together a strong season in 2023, catching 81 passes for 1,383 yards and 14 touchdowns on the way to first-team All-Pac 10 honors.
Franklin was known as a deep threat in college football with the speed to take the top off the defense but wanted to make clear to myself and the media at the NFL Scouting Combine that he isn’t just a one-trick pony.
“Just know that technique is probably the most important part of it,” Franklin said of his route running Friday. “Just having the cleanest breaks so that I can create that separation. I think those are the biggest things.”
Franklin stands 6-3 but mentioned that he only expects to weigh in somewhere in the 180s after playing at 187 pounds this past season in Eugene. He told reporters he recognizes that one aspect of his game that he can improve on going to the next level is his physicality.
“I think my biggest challenge will be play strength,” Franklin said. “There’s a lot of grown men there in the NFL so I just think that I’ll have to hit the weight room a little bit. Get some work in and put more armor on me, but that’s pretty much it right there.”
As mentioned before, Franklin is a speed demon who can make opposing defenses pay either down the field or after the catch on short and intermediate passes. I asked Franklin what one play sticks out from this past season that best defines his game.
“I think most people would [pick] what play I would choose,” Franklin said. “It would be my USC play and just showing that speed and my playmaking ability, for sure.”
Franklin said he has had a formal meeting with the Steelers in Indianapolis and that he really enjoyed getting to speak with HC Mike Tomlin. I asked Franklin what it would be like to play opposite a guy like WR George Pickens in Pittsburgh.
“Oh. that would be fun, for sure,” Franklin said. “I definitely think that he can get a little mentality in me like that different mentality that he has, but most definitely, I think that it would be fun playing alongside George Pickens.”
Franklin is projected to go somewhere in the late first to early second round in this year’s draft. Having conducted the pre-draft profile on Franklin for the site, I concluded that he’s an athletically gifted receiver who can take the top off defenses as well as make them pay after the catch at the next level and is a better route runner than most give him credit for. Franklin could play both inside and outside for the Steelers should they target him with one of their first two picks, adding some real firepower to the passing game with an explosive playmaker who would inject some serious speed and YAC ability into their offense.
