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Denver Broncos land multiple steals on Day 3 of NFL Draft, starting with Troy Franklin

Rich Kurtzman
Troy Franklin trots in for a touchdown.

Troy Franklin trots in for a touchdown. Credit: Troy Wayrynen, USA TODAY Sports.

The Denver Broncos may have reached for quarterback Bo Nix in the first round, but after that, Troy Franklin kicked off a run of draft day steals for the orange and blue.

Sean Payton was desperate to find a quarterback, and Nix was their man at No. 12 overall. Outside of Michael Penix being drafted at No. 8, Nix was the biggest reach of the selection process.

After Payton and George Paton addressed that glaring need at QB though, they assembled a dynamic Day 3 of the draft.

Troy Franklin, Nix’s college teammate, was the biggest steal of the draft

If you want to give a rookie quarterback the best chance to excel, give him a former teammate to throw to.

When the Broncos moved up 19 spots to take Franklin, it was brilliant for many reasons.

First and foremost, Nix has his guy from college. He now goes along with Courtland Sutton, Tim Patrick, Josh Reynolds, and Marvin Mims. While the Broncos new starting quarterback will be working on timing with the veterans, he and Franklin are already synced up.

Second, Denver needed to add to their receiver room after trading away Jerry Jeudy. Not only that, but there were rumors flying around they’d trade Sutton, too. But, that didn’t happen.

And third, the fact Franklin was still on the board at 102 was surprising, considering where many had him going. Pro Football Focus had him at No. 29 on their big board, and the Consensus Big Board had Franklin at No. 39 overall.

Warren Sharp said Troy Franklin was the biggest steal of the fourth round, and of the entire NFL Draft.

Here’s a look at the most underdrafted players from the fourth round per Sharp:

There’s Franklin at the top of the list, with a DCOE of -7.077, the highest of any for Sharp’s list. DCOE stands for Draft Capital Over Expectation, a great way to calculate if a team reached or stole a player.

DCOE also helps when putting together an entire draft class. And again according to Sharp, the Broncos were 8th in that category.

What’s exciting about Franklin is his speed. The 6’2″ receiver ran a 4.41 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine, which is exceptional speed the Broncos have been missing. His straight-line speed is phenomenal, as is his ability to run after the catch. Franklin has been compared to Chris Olave, who has back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons for the Saints in his first two years.

One thing the Broncos rookie needs to work on his building his strength, as he’s only 176 pounds on that 6’2″ frame.

But that shouldn’t be a problem now that he’s in the NFL. Franklin should be impressing as early as this fall.

Kris Abrams-Draine, Audric Estime among other big-time steals for Broncos

It wasn’t just Troy Franklin as a draft-day steal for Denver. The orange and blue landed a great cornerback and running back in Round 5, too.

Kris Abrams-Draine was expected to go at pick No. 90, but fell all the way to Payton and Paton at No. 145. That gave him a DCOE of -3.460, or fourth-best steal of the round. Two picks later, the Broncos took running back Audric Estime, who was expected to go at 119, for a DCOE of -1.581.

Abrams-Draine is a little undersized, at 5’11” and 179 pounds. He has to prove he can help in the run game. But, considering Patrick Surtain II and newly signed veteran Levi Wallace are the presumptive starters at corner, the rookie is likely to step into a backup or nickel cornerback role. That’s a great way to get him adjusted to the NFL and the bigger, more physical receivers.

As for Estime, size and strength are the least of his worries. He comes in at 5’11” and 221 pounds, an absolute beast of a running back. He’s being compared to Jamaal Williams, who went off for the Detroit Lions with 17 touchdowns in 2022.

Estime is likely a short yardage and goal line back for the Broncos. But he’s also been brought in to compete with Javonte Williams as the starting back.

Warren Sharp wasn’t the only one high on the Broncos 2024 Draft picks, Benjamin Watson of Grinding the Mocks was high on the work Payton and Paton did, too.

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