There was very little to like in Denver's offense in Thursday night's 10-7 win over the Raiders. But WR Troy Franklin came away with a serviceable 5-40-1 receiving line. He scored the Broncos' only TD of the night on a slant from the slot from seven yards out in the second quarter. Franklin did a nice job using his body to shield a defender from the ball, making the grab through contact just beyond the goal line. He also had a key 18-yard catch-and-run to convert a third-and-one late in the fourth quarter.
I wrote in Week 9 Usage Takeaways that I still expected WR Courtland Sutton to lead the Broncos in targets the rest of the way. I'm less sure of that after watching Franklin out-target Sutton again vs. the Raiders, this time nine to four.
Franklin has now seen 8+ targets in four straight games, totaling 37 targets over that span. Sutton has just 26, including 16 over the last three.
Franklin appears to be the first read on far more plays than Sutton. And QB Bo Nix is looking to his former college teammate when plays break down.
Franklin continues to be particularly featured in the red zone, where he's out-targeted Sutton 13 to five over the last four games, including two to 0 in Week 10.
Neither Franklin nor Nix has been good enough to consider him more than a WR3. But there's also no reason to treat Sutton as more than a WR3 at this point.
The Broncos get the Chiefs' third-ranked WR defense in Week 11 before a Week 12 bye. The schedule beyond that ranks 15th-hardest for WRs.
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