The Atlanta Falcons have been seemingly stuck in neutral ever since they came within a few plays of winning Super Bowl LI. After losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 29-25 in the final seconds on Sunday, they fell to 6-7, putting their playoff hopes in serious peril.
They have a serious hole at the quarterback position, and they have won too many games to be able to draft someone such as Caleb Williams or Bo Nix in this spring’s draft. However, they could be able to draft one of Nix’s teammates — Troy Franklin, a promising wide receiver for the University of Oregon.
That was the suggestion Bleacher Report recently made for Atlanta. Several of its wideouts will be free agents this spring, and its only viable wideout moving forward seems to be second-year man Drake London.
“Troy Franklin is a classic wiry speed guy,” B/R NFL draft scout Derrik Klassen said. “At 6’3” and 187 pounds, Franklin is skinnier than you’d like for someone with his frame, but the speed more than makes up for it.
“Franklin is a true outside burner with fantastic long speed and ball-tracking skills. You’d like to see him improve his route-running ability and add a few pounds, but it’s easy to see how someone with his explosiveness, speed and ball skills will make an impact in the NFL.”
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This season, Franklin has caught 81 passes for 1,383 yards and 14 touchdowns. Along with Nix, he has led the Ducks to an 11-2 record, and they will move on to the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Day where they’re favored to defeat Liberty University.
Franklin is a very speedy receiver (he reportedly runs the 40-yard dash in under 4.4 seconds). Many consider him one of the top 10 wideout prospects in the upcoming draft and project him to go in the second round.
Coming into Sunday, Atlanta ranked 22nd in passing yards and 24th in passing touchdowns and points per game. While rookie running back Bijan Robinson looks like a potential star in the making, the team needs some productive and juice downfield in its passing game.
London had 10 catches for 172 yards on Sunday versus Tampa Bay, which was a single-game career high for him. Unfortunately, on the final play of the game, he was downed at Tampa Bay’s three yard line while attempting to get into the end zone for a walk-off touchdown.
