Who Should I Start? Troy Franklin or Jalen Coker

Sunday, August 17, 1:22 PM

Denver Broncos second-year wide receiver Troy Franklin continued to stand out in the team's 27-7 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday in the second week of the preseason. Franklin caught four of his five targets from backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham for 67 yards and two touchdowns. The 22-year-old out of Oregon has received praise from teammates this summer and has now caught nine passes for 85 yards and the two scores in two preseason games. He shared the team lead in catches and targets with rookie Pat Bryant on Saturday. Franklin has shown improvement in training camp going into his sophomore season in th NFL, but competition for targets in Denver behind WR1 Courtland Sutton could be fierce. He caught 28 of his 53 targets for 263 yards and two TDs in 16 regular-season games (six starts) last year and is currently outside RotoBaller's top 100 fantasy wideouts.

Thursday, August 28, 12:11 PM

Carolina Panthers general manager Dan Morgan said specifically that wide receiver Jalen Coker will play in the slot this year after the team traded veteran Adam Thielen to the Minnesota Vikings this week. Morgan also called Coker "a baller." Now that Thielen is out of town, the 23-year-old second-year pass-catcher projects to start in the slot in three-wide sets alongside rookie first-rounder Tetairoa McMillan and Xavier Legette. After going undrafted last year, Coker signed with the Panthers and made noise in his first year in the NFL with 32 catches on 46 targets for 478 yards and two touchdowns in 11 games (four starts). Coker was Carolina's top slot receiver from Weeks 5-10 when Thielen was injured, and he was in a near every-down role to close out the year. Coker is ranked as the No. 63 receiver at RotoBaller and is worth a late-round flier as a sleeper in upcoming fantasy drafts.