SAN FRANCISCO — In their end-of-year meeting a year ago, Sean Payton told Troy Franklin that he wanted him to play more like a Tesla. Start fast. Stop fast, and on a dime. Franklin’s offseason training, involving grown-up games of red-light-green-light, buoyed him to a big Year Two leap: 65 catc hes, 709 yards, six touchdowns. Franklin hasn’t yet had an end-of-year conversation with Payton, 10 days after the Broncos’ season suddenly ended in the AFC Championship. But the 22-year-old receiver’s mind is dead-set on his 2026 measurables. “I’m going to get a 1,000-yard season,” Franklin told The Denver Post Thursday, in between rounds at Super Bowl Radio Row in San Francisco. “I’m going to double up the touchdowns. And receptions, I need to probably get about 80 or 100.” So, Franklin was asked, does he see himself making that leap? “Yeah, yeah, for sure, man,” Franklin said. “Because I could’ve done it this year. But I think, obviously, in the beginning of the year, things were a little — they weren’t how they were in the backend of the year, just with how clean we were as an offense, penalty-wise, just being on the same page and stuff like that.” The second-year wideout’s sudden absence was a not-so-quiet subplot in the Broncos’ 10-7 loss to the Patriots, as Franklin missed his first game of the 2025 season with a hamstring strain. Franklin didn’t have a catch in Denver’s previous divisional-round win over the Bills. But his presence was sorely missed against New England, as head coach Sean Payton turned to a flurry of screens to try and generate some traction in the flurries of second-half snow that hit Empower Field. Franklin finished second among all NFL wide receivers in 2025 in screen catches and fourth in yards on screens, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats. He, however, could only watch in the snow. “Kudos to the Patriots, man,” Franklin said. “They got it done — when they needed to get those situations and have ‘em, they had ‘em. And they were just better than us that day, man, for sure. “It definitely sucks, though, not having the full team. I think it definitely would be different if we had a full team. But that’s a part of the game, man.” Franklin said his hamstring is now “pretty good,” hasn’t needed surgery of any kind, and he’s been back to running the past couple of days. He’ll now go into his third season in Denver with a new position coach after Payton fired receivers coach Keary Colbert two days after the Broncos’ loss. Payton made multiple references to reporters after the game that the Broncos’ pass-catchers had too many drops in 2025, and Franklin was certainly part of the problem: he finished tied with teammate Courtland Sutton for the second-most drops in the NFL (eight), according to Pro Football Focus. Franklin shrugged off the room’s struggles when asked about drops and staff changes in San Francisco. “To be honest, everybody in the league drops the ball, so — what are we talking about here?” Franklin said. “Yeah, he said something about passes being dropped the whole year, whatever,” Franklin continued, when asked if he’d seen Payton’s comments on drops. “Yeah, and I agree, to a certain extent. But, you know, even the best — quote-unquote — in the league are dropping passes. So it can go both ways.” Related Articles How the Seahawks revitalized former Broncos QB Drew Lock after Russell Wilson trade Broncos season ticket prices to increase league-average 9% as renewal window opens Here’s why Patriots WR Stefon Diggs says he was ‘close’ to signing with Broncos in free agency What are the Broncos’ biggest offseason needs? | Mailbag Patriots WR Trent Sherfield is still mentoring Broncos’ Pat Bryant after Bryant took his job Franklin, though, does want to specifically continue working on his releases off the ball and strength in order to “get me to that next step,” as he put it. The 6-foot-3 receiver ended his second season in Denver weighing around 184 pounds, he said; he said he plans to add roughly 10 pounds in the offseason and report to training camp at 195. The Broncos’ view on Franklin’s development could heavily influence their offseason approach to a receiver group that finished paper-thin in the AFC title game after injuries to Franklin and rookie Pat Bryant. General manager George Paton said in a postseason presser that Denver is “always looking to improve at every position,” and the Broncos clearly need more depth in the receiver room. If they believe Franklin can hit another leap next to Sutton, as Franklin himself does, Denver likely wouldn’t need to sell the farm for a high-profile name. “Just be a little stronger, be able to just play through contact a little more,” Franklin said, of adding muscle in the offseason. “And everything else will be set.” Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis. ...read more read less