2. 2011
Number Of Picks: 9
Players In The League As Of 2015: 7
Players Set To Be Starters For Broncos In 2016: 1-2
High Value Picks (Round Drafted In): Von Miller (1), Orlando Franklin (2), Julius Thomas (4)
Quality Picks (Round Drafted In): Rahim Moore (2), Nate Irving (3), Virgil Green (7)
Busts (Round Drafted In): Quinton Carter (4), Mike Mohamed (6), Jeremy Beal (7)
For Elway’s first draft, this was a beauty. In any draft it is very difficult to hit on every pick; Elway hit on two-thirds of the picks in this draft, which is very good. All of Elway’s busts — Quinton Carter, Mike Mohamed and Jeremy Beal — were in the fourth round or later, which, again, is acceptable.
The key part of this draft’s success was Elway doing well in the first few rounds, and hitting on some late round guys.
Even though most people still have resentment towards Rahim Moore for letting Joe Flacco’s ball get over his head in the playoff game against Baltimore, Moore was a quality starter for the Broncos in the secondary for four years. Saying that, he sure didn’t live up to his self-proclaimed nickname of Rahim “The Dream” Moore.
Orlando Franklin and Julius Thomas were both very good picks for the Broncos, too. Orlando was a four-year starter for the Broncos on the offensive line, and while he wasn’t perfect, he was a very good player.
After Thomas recovered from injuries in his first two seasons in the league, he was a monster his last two seasons with the Broncos. Elway, and his staff, did a fantastic job by getting such a talent in the fourth round.
Finally, the first pick of the Elway era was a guy by the name of Von Miller. Looking back at the No. 2 overall pick five years later, it was a no brainer to choose Miller. What most people forget, is Miller was not the consensus choice to be picked at No. 2. Many people thought the Broncos were going to choose defensive lineman Marcell Dareus. While Dareus has proven to be a fine player, it is fair to say the Broncos made the correct pick choosing Von.
