Broncos Buzz About WR Troy Franklin Despite Bitter Colts Loss

The Denver Broncos lost in Indianapolis, but Troy Franklin's career performance was a big silver lining.

Denver Broncos wide receiver Troy Franklin (11) celebrates a touchdown Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, during a game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. | Christine Tannous/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Denver Broncos fans are abuzz with disappointment that wide receiver Courtland Sutton finished with just one reception for six yards in the team's 29-28 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. But the silver lining to Sutton's disappearing act was the emergence of second-year wideout Troy Franklin.

Bo Nix targeted Franklin nine times, connecting on eight passes for 89 yards and a touchdown. After the bitterly disappointing loss, Nix dished on his teammate of the past three years, dating back to the University of Oregon.

“He played well. He was everywhere. Played with great effort. And I think it goes to show just from his practice, man, he practices really hard," Nix said of Franklin post-game. "He shows up every day. He gets his timing down. He runs, and he shows up, and he just practices really hard. So, it's good to see him have a have a day like that."

Franklin was Nix's top target at Oregon, and the two were drafted together in Denver last year. Franklin's rookie season as a Bronco was mostly forgettable, while Nix turned in a historic first campaign.

Franklin's Ascension

However, from the time the Broncos began to reconvene for the offseason training program this past spring, Franklin was generating a lot of buzz. He'd put on weight, investing time and effort to build his NFL body, and when the public practices and preseason rolled around, his performance was congruent with the buzz.

Franklin displayed all the offseason markers of an ascending player, and we're seeing it now come out in the wash.

"I mean, we've seen that—I've seen that from him for as long as I've known him. And he's starting to do really well for this organization, and he’s started to look like his college self again," Nix said of Franklin. "I’m happy for him, and he always does work. He’s working really hard, he's practicing really hard and showed up in the game today.”

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Sep 14, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Denver Broncos wide receiver Troy Franklin (11) runs with the ball during the second quarter against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium. | Robert Goddin-Imagn Images

Getting the Jersey Ju-Ju Right

Franklin was assigned the jersey No. 16 as a rookie. It never felt right to him. And when the Broncos parted ways with Josh Reynolds, the No. 11 opened up for Franklin — his long-time jersey number dating back to Oregon.

Something clicked back into place in the football universe when that happened. That's one of those intangible factors that's hard to measure as an outside observer, but for the player, it makes a difference.

Nix-to-Franklin Chemistry Paying Dividends

Broncos head coach Sean Payton liked what he saw from Franklin in Week 2, as well.

“Look, he's elusive. He does a good job when the quarterback is on the move, too," Payton said of Franklin. "I think all of them collectively, when Bo scrambles, fight back to the ball to the sideline. But he's had a good camp and made some big plays for us.”

A good example of Nix and Franklin's history and chemistry together was their 42-yard connection on Sunday. Nix scrambled, and Franklin, seeing the play break down, turned it up field. Nix hit him down the sideline.

What a throw and catch from Nix to Franklin 👀

DENvsIND on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/K3qjnAUHHu

— NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2025

The Broncos want to see more, certainly. But lost in the shuffle of Franklin's big game was the Sutton dud. And while Marvin Mims Jr. caught a touchdown pass, he only had two receptions on the day.

That's a nut that Payton and Nix will have to crack. The Broncos have a variety of weapons to attack opponents, and once they get all their ducks in a row, they're going to be hard to stop, especially with running backs J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey helping to return to the ground game to plausible threat status.