How Oregon receiver Troy Franklin performed at the NFL Combine
Oregon receiver Troy Franklin had an opportunity to separate himself on Saturday among one of the deepest groups of wideouts in recent NFL Draft history.
But Franklin had an up-and-down showing during testing and drills at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis.
Franklin performed well in the 40-yard dash. He posted a time of 4.41 seconds — 10th-best among the 30 receivers who ran on Saturday. His 1.61-second 10-yard split, however, was the slowest among all receivers.
Franklin tied for 11th among receivers with a 39-inch vertical jump and tied for 18th with a 10-foot-4 broad jump.
In the 20-yard shuttle, Franklin posted a time of 7.31 seconds, which was seventh-best among the nine receivers who participated. His 6.9-second three-cone drill time was fifth-best among the same group.
Franklin came in at 6-foot-1 7/8 and 176 pounds. During his final season at UO, he was listed at 6-foot-3, 187 pounds.
While Franklin performed relatively well in the testing portion of the combine, he struggled in the gauntlet drill.
Franklin is currently listed as ESPN’s No. 51 overall player and No. 10 receiver prospect.
Troy Franklin NFL.com scouting report
“The puzzle pieces are fairly easy to put together when assessing who Franklin is and who he could be in the NFL. He’s a tall, linear receiver with good speed. He’s sudden enough to beat press but lacks the play strength to win combat catches and fight for operating space underneath. He has an innate talent for avoiding traffic and maintaining his distance from pursuit after the catch on crossing routes on all three levels. Franklin might not get WR1 target volume, but he should be productive with a high yards-per-catch average and the ability to open things up underneath for his teammates. Franklin could become a coveted complementary piece for an established WR1 or a productive vertical target for a team looking for instant help in the passing game.” – Lance Zierlein
Strengths
- Angular frame with excellent release quickness to elude press.
- Can hit corners with a wicked crossover to uncover on quick slants.
- Gives strong vertical push to drive corners off intermediate breaks.
- Accelerates past and stacks cornerbacks behind him.
- Innate feel for maintaining distance from nearest defender in open space.
- Talented after the catch and will hit his share of catch-and-run scores.
- Explosive leaper with loose upper body to twist and pluck it.
Weaknesses
- Below-average strength and could struggle against physicality.
- Unable to hold off challengers and save catch space when contested.
- Rolls into intermediate breaks with excessive gather steps.
- Ball-tracking inconsistencies will pop up at times.
- Focus drops are part of the package.
