It’s been a five-year time bomb waiting to go off.
John Elway took the helm as Denver Broncos vice president of football operations in 2011, a year removed from the disastrous Josh McDaniels experiment, and was tasked with getting the Broncos back onto the winning track. With the assistance of then-general manager Brian Xanders for two years, Elway drafted Von Miller, Julius Thomas, Derek Wolfe, Malik Jackson and Danny Trevathan. Among the big names, Elway also dug up Orlando Franklin, Virgil Green and Brock Osweiler, all whom contributed to getting the team back on the championship path.
Elway signed big free agent players Peyton Manning, Wes Welker, DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib, Darian Stewart and T.J. Ward. Coaches John Fox and Gary Kubiak were brought in, both leading the team to the Super Bowl, with Kubiak winning one.
Through all the moves, Elway earned the team five straight division championships, two conference championships, and a Lombardi trophy. This earned Elway quite a few ‘get out of jail free’ cards with Broncos fans.
But the time bomb started ticking in 2012. Xanders and the Broncos parted ways, leaving that year’s draft in Elway’s hands alone.
Before Xanders’ departure, he produced five Pro-Bowlers for the Broncos, as well as the third-highest draft classes in terms of games started during his tenure. Elway and the Broncos haven’t drafted one since, making the Broncos one of three teams — along with the Cleveland Browns and the New Orleans Saints — that hasn’t drafted a single Pro Bowler since in the last five years.
Elway did find some diamonds in the rough in 2012, pulling Malik Jackson in the fifth round and Danny Trevathan in the sixth. Derek Wolfe was also their first pick, albeit in the second round, and has started all five years with the Broncos.
2013, though, is when the wheels began to fall off. Sylvester Williams, the team’s first pick, was the only perennial starter the Broncos managed to pull out of the draft. Williams left the team for the Tennessee Titans in the 2017 season after not being offered a contract by the Broncos. The entire 2013 class only managed to play in 167 games — pathetic when compared to the 2012 class’ 354 games and five starters, and even worse when looking at Xanders’ swan song in 2011; 500 games played by the players in that class, with seven perennial starters.
2014 and 2015 were just as ugly, with the acquisitions of starters Shane Ray, Bradley Roby and Matt Paradis as the highlights, but Michael Schofield, Cody Latimer, Ty Sambrailo, Jeff Heuerman and Lamin Barrow checked off as draft-day blunders and busts by Elway. Across the two drafts, the players have seen 356 games of action, only two games more combined across the 13 players than the 2012 draft class alone. The two classes combined only produced five starters, as well.
The blunders of the drafts were offset by great free-agency moves, but with the retirement of Peyton Manning and DeMarcus Ware, the draw of the Denver Broncos no longer measures up when compared to other championship-caliber teams. The Band-Aid has been ripped off, and the scar left by Elway’s draft record has been revealed.
2016’s draft class is still up in the air, but only Riley Dixon and Justin Simmons have managed to become perennial team starters, while the success of Adam Gotsis, Devontae Booker and Will Parks are still up in the air. Quarterback Paxton Lynch has also produced next to nothing — despite being the supposed heir to the throne — overtaken by seventh-rounder Trevor Siemian for two straight seasons. 2017 brought in tackles Garett Bolles, who started right away, but the class has produced nothing but question marks otherwise, even out of return specialist Isaiah McKenzie, who has fumbled four times and only produced two receptions as a wide receiver. Tight end Jake Butt has some of the highest potential out of the entire class, but is on injured reserve and will miss the entire season with a knee injury sustained during his final game at University of Michigan.
Now, after a 51-23 beatdown to the Philadelphia Eagles, the time bomb has exploded, the Broncos are foundering and there is no solution in sight. Elway’s poor draft moves have put the Broncos in a deep hole, and one that free agency can’t easily fill. Elway’s drafts have to improve to bring the Broncos back onto the rails, and it has to start right away in 2018 with multiple starters — and finding those Pro Bowl-caliber players for the first time since 2011.
The ‘get out of jail free’ cards that were duly earned have all been spent. Now, it’s time for Elway and the Broncos to win their off-seasons the old-fashioned way. It won’t be easy.