The past two weeks have seen Broncos WR Troy Franklin go from challenging Courtland Sutton's lead-target status to barely involved in the passing game. He followed a Week 13 dip in usage by running a season-low 17 routes in Sunday's win over the Raiders. That marked just a 39.5% rate vs. Denver's 43 dropbacks. Franklin still ranked third among Broncos WRs in that category but trailed well behind No. 2 Pat Bryant (67.4%) and narrowly led No. 4 Marvin Mims Jr. (34.9%). Franklin ranked fifth among Denver wideouts in total snaps, trailing -- in order -- Sutton, Bryant, Lil'Jordan Humphrey, and Mims.
Those playing time numbers reveal more about Franklin's issues than the target and reception totals from the game do.
Here are the Broncos who garnered more than one target against the Raiders:
| Player | Tgt | Rec | Yds |
| Sutton | 10 | 6 | 62 |
| RJ Harvey | 6 | 6 | 25 |
| Bryant | 4 | 4 | 32 |
| Humphrey | 3 | 3 | 27 |
| Franklin | 4 | 3 | 11 |
| Adam Trautman | 2 | 2 | 17 |
| Adam Prentice | 2 | 2 | 11 |
| Evan Engram | 2 | 2 | 8 |
That follows a 2-21 receiving line on three targets for Franklin against Washington. And his volume downturn looks even worse when you realize that Bo Nix has dropped back 91 times and attempted 83 passes over the past two weeks.
Not only should you not plan to start Franklin next week against the Packers, but you can probably think seriously about dumping him for someone else.
Bryant's obviously the biggest winner in the depth-chart shuffling at WR. The rookie has seen 4+ targets in three straight games and collected 12 catches after averaging just 1.9 targets and 1.0 receptions across the first 10 games.
His production has remained modest, including lines of 3-42 and 4-32 the past two weeks. So don't overrate Bryant's value the rest of the way.
Next week holds a difficult matchup with a Packers D that ranks seventh in total DVOA and pass DVOA.
Franklin's usage decline -- especially in relation to Bryant -- bodes ill for at least his near future.
The second-year wideout remains under contract through 2027, but he sure looks like a good bet to sit behind at least Bryant and Sutton on the depth chart and might need to fight to even rank third.
See if you can find a sell opportunity before we get too far away from this season's positive production.
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