Prospect Profile: Troy Franklin, WR, Oregon

Context

Played primarily split out wide in Oregon’s RPO heavy, spread attack.

Before the Catch

His stance is oddly upright, and his weight distribution is not consistent. There are long periods of games where his weight distribution can tip off the defense on run vs pass (with the obvious exception of RPOs), as his weight is slightly forward when he is heading out on a route. When facing press coverage with a jam from patient DBs with solid play strength, he can struggle to shake the defender in the early portion of the route. When he is pressed without a jam, he can use his footwork and his excellent change of direction to win off the line of scrimmage. He closes well to soft press or catch man with a variety of moves, including a hop and a foot fire, before converting to a press release where he can consistently use his single move to defeat the press. When facing off or bail coverage he can eat up the cushion exceptionally quickly and blow past flat-footed defenders with his speed. Against bail coverage, he can also effectively stem into the defender’s blind spot.

He reads coverage well and processes at a high level. He can adjust his attack of the DB’s leverage depending on the coverage he sees pre-snap, and his small adjustments are pre-meditated and effective. He has a consistent stem and makes it very difficult for even savvy DBs to read his intentions. His best attribute at the break-point is how sudden and crisp his breaks are; his technique and athleticism are how he separates consistently. He sinks his hips and drops his weight efficiently for harder angle breaks and decelerates from high speed on deep comebacks with impressive quickness. On square cut and speed cuts he is able to make the transition to perpendicular to the line of scrimmage with a minimum of fuss. His best type of breaks are those that call for a bam step on posts or corners – he has great posture, attacks with lean and uses an elbow jam to make his break sudden. He is consistently open on these types of routes against even the best competition. He also has enough speed to get open on go routes. 

The Catch and after the Catch

He can catch the ball with manual dexterity when running horizontally to the line of scrimmage whether the ball is thrown on him, behind or in front. He also has a good understanding of body position to box out in phase defenders. He can let the ball get into his body on occasion but it’s normally at the suitable time when protecting the football. Where you can expect drops is when the ball is thrown over his outside shoulder on deep balls, as he doesn’t bring his hands together quickly enough. And you can find concentration drops on tape when he is coming back to the ball and thinking about turning up field to beat a close defender for YAC. Speaking of YAC, he gets solid gains with his speed and change of direction. .

SUMMARY
Impressive downfield threat, separates consistently and excels on posts and corner routes. Catching deficiency on balls thrown over his outside shoulder and some concentration drops.

PRODUCTION
JR: 114 Tgts, 81 Recs, 1383 Rec Yards (17.1 Ave), 14 Rec TDs
SO: 83 Tgts, 61 Recs, 891 Rec Yards (14.6 Ave), 9 Rec TDs
INJURY: None

RAVENS FIT
Athleticism 4
Intelligence 4
Versatility 4
Grit 3
Scheme 4