We’re now just days away from the start of the 2016 NFL Draft, and everyone in Denver is hoping John Elway will find the next great Bronco, especially if it’s a quarterback. But as everyone who follows the NFL knows, the draft is a total crapshoot; teams are lucky if they strike gold 50 percent of the time, even in the first and second rounds.
But it absolutely does happen. And when it does, we’ll remember those names forever.
So with that in mind, we’re looking back at the five greatest draft picks in franchise history — undrafted players don’t count.
While it’s difficult to dispute these guys’ resumes, let us know if you have another favorites we didn’t get to. Otherwise, here goes!
Honorable Mention: John Elway
Pick: 1st Round (1st Overall) Experience: 16 years (16 with Broncos)
Career Stats: 51,475 yards; 56.9% completion; 300 touchdowns; 226 interceptions; 79.9 QB rating
Honors: Hall of Fame; NFL MVP (’87); Super Bowl MVP (’98); 9-time Pro Bowler; 3-time AP 2nd-Team All-Pro
While John Elway is without question the greatest Denver Bronco in franchise history, technically he was drafted by the Baltimore Colts. And while he was immediately traded to Denver and played every one of his 234 career games in the blue and orange, his draft status is bit of a gray area.
Nonetheless, Elway deserves to be on this list, even if it has to be as an honorable mention.
5. Von Miller
Pick: 1st Round (2nd Overall) Experience: 5 years (5 with Broncos)
Career Stats: 267 total tackles; 60 sacks; 1 interception; 5 forced fumbles; 2 touchdowns
Honors: AP Defensive Rookie of the Year (’11); Super Bowl MVP (’15); 4-time Pro Bowler; 2-time 1st-Team All-pro; 2-time 2nd-Team All-pro
Here’s an interesting fact: Von Miller is the highest-drafted player in Broncos history.
In the five-plus decades of the franchise’s existence, the Broncos have only selected inside the top-10 six times, inside the top-five four and inside the top three once (Miller at No. 2 in 2011). And so far, he’s living up to the billing.
Miller is on pace to be the best defender in franchise history, but he’s still got a ways to go before he can climb this list of all-time greats.
4. Steve Atwater
Pick: 1st Round (20th Overall) Experience: 11 years (10 with Broncos)
Career Stats: 1,180 total tackles; 5 sacks; 24 interceptions; 6 forced fumbles; 1 touchdown
Honors: 8-time Pro Bowler; 2-time AP 1st-Team All Pro; 1-time AP 1st-Team All Pro
In my eyes, Steve Atwater is one of the five greatest safeties in NFL history, and I don’t care what the Hall of Fame committee says.
This is a guy who redefined the safety position and paved the way for the greats we’ve seen over the last decade, including guys like Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu. He made the Pro Bowl for seven straight seasons, and helped lead the Denver defense in two straight Super Bowl runs.
When I think of the Broncos’ all-time greats, Atwater is always near the top of my list, and the only reason he’s not higher on this list is because he’s a first rounder; he was supposed to be great.
3. Karl Mecklenburg
Pick: 12th Round (310th Overall) Experience: 12 years (12 with Broncos)
Career Stats: 1,118 total tackles; 79 sacks; 5 interceptions; 16 forced fumbles; 2 touchdowns
Honors: 6-time Pro Bowler; 3-time AP 1st-Team All Pro; 1-time AP 2nd-Team All Pro
I’d probably take Steve Atwater over Karl Mecklenburg straight up, but when you take into account the fact that Mecklenburg was drafted 11 rounds (!!) after Atwater, I have to give him the edge in these rankings.
Just think, there are only seven rounds in the NFL draft today, and I can promise you that if you included all the undrafted free agents who make a roster each season, you will not get to 310.
The odds were stacked against Mecklenburg, and he went on to have a Hall of Fame-caliber career — he’s been a semi-finalist for the last five years.
2. Terrell Davis
Pick: 6th Round (196th Overall) Experience: 7 years (7 with Broncos)
Career Stats: 7,607 rushing yards; 60 rushing touchdowns; 169 receptions; 1,280 receiving yards; 5 receiving touchdowns
Honors: NFL MVP (’98); Super Bowl MVP (’97); AP Offensive Player of the Year (’96,’98); 3-time Pro Bowler; 3-time AP 1st-Team All Pro
What else can you say about Terrell Davis? Next to John Elway, he’s easily one of the most popular players in Broncos history, if not the most popular, and his story has been told a million times.
Anyone who watched TD run the ball knows he’s a Hall of Fame player; if he had only played another handful of seasons, there’s a good chance he would have gone down as the greatest running back in NFL history.
As a sixth-round pick, Davis is right up there with Tom Brady as one of the greatest draft-day steals in league history.
1. Shannon Sharpe
Pick: 7th Round (192nd Overall) Experience: 14 years (12 with Broncos)
Career Stats: 815 receptions; 10,060 yards; 62 touchdowns
Honors: Hall of Fame; 8-time Pro Bowler; 4-time 1st-Team All-Pro; 1-time 2nd-Team All-Pro
When people talk about the Denver Broncos’ greatest draft selections, they always bring up TD, the sixth-round pick turned superstar.
But what about Shannon Sharpe?
Sharpe is a seventh-round pick turned … Hall of Famer! When he retired, he was quite possibly the greatest tight end in the history of football. Really, next to John Elway, Sharpe is probably the best Denver Bronco in franchise history.
Safe to say, I don’t think the Broncos could have selected a better player with the 192nd pick in the NFL Draft.