Who Should I Start? Troy Franklin or Arian Smith

Friday, January 16, 11:04 PM

Denver Broncos wide receiver Troy Franklin took a pretty big leap forward in his second NFL season in 2025, catching 65 passes on 104 targets for 709 yards and six touchdowns in 17 regular-season games after posting a 28-263-2 line in 16 games as a rookie in 2024. Franklin was the team's second leading receiver this year behind Courtland Sutton, and his six TDs also ranked second. The 22-year-old was tied for 46th among all WRs at 8.3 half-PPR fantasy points per game, though, and he wasn't as productive late in the year when rookie Pat Bryant began to see a bigger role next to him in the passing game. In the last two regular-season games, Franklin caught only four passes for 17 yards, although the Broncos' offense didn't have to do much to handle KC and L.A. with most of their starters resting. Against the Bills in the Divisional Round, a defense that allowed the seventh-fewest half-PPR points per game to receivers, Franklin will be a low-cost, low-end fantasy WR in playoff formats.

Wednesday, November 19, 12:15 AM

New York Jets wide receiver Arian Smith had his lowest snap share since Week 1 in the team's 27-14 loss to the New England Patriots in Week 11. Smith played just 15.8% of the snaps and ran 21.2% of the routes, both significantly lower than his season averages. It seems the rookie wideout has moved into a depth role after the Jets acquired two wide receivers at the trade deadline in John Metchie III and Adonai Mitchell. Smith wasn't a fantasy-relevant option to begin with, catching six of 10 targets for 47 yards in 10 games this season.