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Broncos stock report: Rookie WR Troy Franklin shows progress vs. Saints

Published

1 year ago

October 18, 2024

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Broncos stock report: Rookie WR Troy Franklin shows progress vs. Saints

Here’s a look at whose stock improved or declined after the Broncos’ 33-10 win over the Saints on Thursday night.

Stock Up

ILB Cody Barton: Denver’s inside linebacker played the game of his life. Barton recorded eight tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and a recovery that resulted in a touchdown during the fourth quarter. Barton played with his hair on fire from the start of the game. With less than four minutes to go in the first quarter, he ran into the backfield undetected by Spencer Rattler and the Saints offensive line before recording a strip-sack. The Broncos’ defense took a big hit in Week 3 when Alex Singleton tore his ACL. Barton, Justin Strnad and now Kwon Alexander — who made his Broncos debut in the win — have done a nice job picking up the slack.

Rushing attack: The Broncos’ run game was a beautiful sight to see. Denver totaled 225 yards on the ground while averaging 6.4 yards per attempt. Javonte Williams had his best performance of the season, rushing for 88 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries. He averaged 6.3 yards per carry — his most in a game since 2021. Quarterback Bo Nix didn’t have any issues using his legs, recording 75 yards on 10 attempts. Jaleel McLaughlin also got in on the action with 35 yards. Denver had 206 rushing yards through three quarters. Granted, not every team will be as bad defensively as the Saints. But if Denver wants to have success offensively the rest of the season, it starts with running the rock.

WR Troy Franklin: The rookie wide receiver’s performance wasn’t earth-shattering, but it showed he is making progress. Franklin had a team-high five catches for 50 yards while averaging 10 yards per reception on six targets. His best play came in the second quarter when Nix rolled to the right before completing a 30-yard pass to Franklin. The catch helped set up Williams’ 8-yard rushing touchdown, which gave Denver a 13-0 advantage. Nix has been eager to get Franklin more involved, and that has shown in the last two weeks.

CB Ja’Quan McMillian: In case anyone forgot, McMillian is pretty good at football. Denver’s nickel cornerback finished with six tackles (two for loss) and showcased his ability as a blitzer in the fourth quarter when he forced Rattler to fumble, resulting in Barton’s scoop-and-score. This season, there’s been so much talk about Pat Surtain II — who was out with a concussion — and the ascent of second-year cornerback Riley Moss. But McMillian, building on his strong play from last season, has also played a major role in the secondary’s success through seven weeks.

Stock Down

Nix’s footwork: Sure, the Broncos won and Nix played well overall. That doesn’t eliminate the need for Nix to improve his footwork in the pocket. He missed out on putting the Broncos in the red zone and maybe recording a passing touchdown on Denver’s first drive because he failed to get his feet properly set, leading to an incomplete pass meant for tight end Lucas Krull. This wasn’t the first time Nix’s footwork has impacted his accuracy. Throughout the season, he has had moments of happy feet in the pocket, leading to missed opportunities in the passing game. Nix has the tools to be a quality quarterback in the league. His footwork has to improve if he wants to reach new heights.

WR Courtland Sutton: Denver’s veteran wideout was a nonfactor in primetime, not recording a single target against New Orleans. Sutton hasn’t been terrible this season. But he hasn’t been great, either. Entering Thursday’s matchup, Sutton averaged 46.2 receiving yards per game with a receiving success rate of 40%. He has averaged 5.9 yards per target — a career low. Sutton still has a knack for making spectacular catches. But he’s not doing that on a weekly basis.

RB Audric Estime: The rookie is fun to watch whenever he’s trucking across the field. He had five carries for 29 yards, including a 13-yard run in the fourth quarter. The issue with Estime is ball security. He has two fumbles on nine attempts this season. Estime fumbled on his first career carry in Week 1. Against the Saints, he lost the ball with 6:17 to go in the fourth quarter, resulting in a turnover.

WR Marvin Mims Jr.: As a returner, Mims is like a 98 overall player in Madden. The same can’t be said about him as a receiver. He had two catches for 18 yards on three targets and hasn’t recorded 20 or more receiving yards in a game since last year’s loss to the Patriots in December. He had a chance to make his stat line a little sweeter, but he dropped Nix’s pass attempt during the final seconds of the first half.

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Originally Published: October 18, 2024 at 9:14 a.m.

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Denver, CO

Broncos designate LB Drew Sanders for return from injured reserve

Published

10 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Broncos designate LB Drew Sanders for return from injured reserve

Broncos linebacker Drew Sanders was back on the practice field Saturday for the first time in 5 1/2 months. Denver designated Sanders to return from injured reserve. He had last practiced July 26 in training camp, when he suffered a torn ligament in his foot and then had surgery. The Broncos did not put Sanders […]

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Broncos offensive line is the engine that drives offense

Published

22 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Broncos offensive line is the engine that drives offense

I’ve been covering the Denver Broncos for his entire career and I remember writing up some pretty harsh criticism of his play early on — especially in regards to holding penalties. I recall at one point he was committing holding penalties at a record-breaking rate. He was so far above the rest of the field that he’d break charts if anyone tried to chart it. The best part of that saga is that he never let the outside noise (from me and many others) get to him. He worked on his craft and he got better. And then got even better to the point where it is pretty clear that he is one of the best left tackles in all of football. He is going to go down as one of the best tackles in franchise history too when its all said and done. It’s a great comeback story.

All that said, he wasn’t the only one of the Broncos players on that offensive line to make an impact with guard Quinn Meinerz also being named a PFF All-Pro player. The whole offensive line has been dominant in nearly every category and is the main engine that has driven the offenses successes this season.

4) Denver Broncos
Team OLi Grade: 83.0
Best-Ranked OL: Garett Bolles, 89.0 (7th overall, 3rd position)
Worst-Ranked OL: Alex Palczewski, 63.5 (159th overall, 61st position)

And one more to complete the picture comes from Sharp Football Analysis who has the Broncos ranked fifth-overall in their NFL Offensive Line Stats:

There is so much evidence that shows the trenches on both side of the ball is what has brought the success of the 2025 Broncos. It’s an area that Sean Payton has said in the past is always an area of focus. He knows you don’t win consistently if your team is being dominated in the trenches.

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Here’s how the NFL typically handles the top seeded team’s Divisional Round schedule

Published

1 day ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Here’s how the NFL typically handles the top seeded team’s Divisional Round schedule

As the number one seed in the AFC, the Denver Broncos could end up playing on either Saturday or Sunday. It all comes down to which teams win during Wild Card weekend.

Head Coach Sean Payton was asked about the potential Divisional Round schedule and he said nothing is finalized. However, the NFL has been known to follow a certain schedule that could end up with the Broncos playing on Saturday if either the Buffalo Bills or Los Angeles Chargers win on Sunday and they’d play the following Sunday only if they had to wait until Monday for the outcome of the Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers game.

The other thing with that extra week off is about preparation. One of the better questions the media asked of Payton on Friday was whether or not they do more advanced scouting on potential opponents they have not yet played this season.

“Look, there are four options,” Payton said. “One is in the division. We’ve played one two years in a row—or it feels like that with Houston. Buffalo. We’ll break down kind of all four and then look at… We’ll have personnel reports on the four… You do have enough time to look at third down, look at personnel packages, study situational football. I think that’s pretty common when you look at playoff history. A lot of times, you end up with a division team sometimes in the first round. I know that’s happened a number of times over the years with me. It’s hard to gauge how these other games are going to go not having spent much time looking at New England. [We’ve] seen Jacksonville. It’s one of those where you just watch them. You’re working while you watch them. You’re working on each plan, and then you go from there.”

I came away feeling like Payton and the Broncos know two of their potential opponents fairly well. The other two will get some high level review, but nothing super deep as there just isn’t enough time. That is saved for this coming week when the opponent is finalized.

Payton and his staff have some great experience coaching in the playoffs, so this young Broncos team should be well-prepared for their football game.

Frankly, I like the idea of the Broncos getting their game out of the way early. Give Payton and his staff an extra day to begin the prep work needed for the AFC Championship game provided they come out with a win in the Divisional Round.

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