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Broncos All-Time Draft Bust Team: Offense
With the 2024 NFL draft rapidly approaching, who are the Denver Broncos' biggest busts on the offensive side of the ball?
We're just weeks away from the 2024 NFL draft, and Denver Broncos fans are wondering what's going to happen over that three-day span from April 25-27. We've all heard about how the draft is a crap shoot, in which you never know how drafted players will turn out until they see the field.
But like any team, the Broncos have had their fair share of draft picks over the years who failed to live up to expectations. That got me wondering: Which Broncos draft picks would form an All-Time Draft Bust Team?
Thus, I went back to research the Broncos' draft history and came up with an 11-player offense and an 11-player defense comprised of players drafted in the first three rounds who failed to live up to expectations. I limited my choices to those taken in the first three rounds because that's where you expect to find quality starters for which there is a case to keep them for the long term.
You'll find some familiar names on this list because, in some cases, there was no way to avoid recency bias. In other cases, though, you may not remember these guys.
We'll start with the offense. I selected one quarterback, one running back, three wide receivers, one tight end, two offensive tackles, and three interior offensive linemen. You will see a couple of "dishonorable mentions" along the way, but the focus will be on the 11-player offense that disappointed to some degree.
Let's go over who got the dubious distinction of making this offense.
Quarterback: Paxton Lynch | Round 1 | 2016
Aug 24, 2018; Landover, MD, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Paxton Lynch (12) attempts a pass
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Two first-round picks were the clear front runners, but there's a reason why Lynch got the nod, even though Tommy Maddox made things interesting. It's not because of recency bias or a trade-up in the first round that made Lynch the choice, but rather when Maddox was drafted, the Broncos still had John Elway on the roster. When Lynch was drafted, Peyton Manning had just retired.
Sticking with Maddox for a moment, his selection in 1992 came because then-head coach Dan Reeves and Elway were at odds with one another. But after the 1992 season, Reeves was fired, Wade Phillips was hired and he made it clear the Broncos were going to build around Elway.
With Lynch, it's a different story. Not only did Lynch fail to impress when he took the field, but the Broncos didn't have a good option to fall back upon and entered quarterback purgatory, from which they have been unable to emerge thus far. From Case Keenum to Drew Lock to Russell Wilson (among others), not one QB since Lynch was drafted has worked out.
Simply put, Lynch marks the start of the Broncos era in which they have been unable to find a quarterback. And that's what earns Lynch the QB spot over Maddox.
Running Back: Montee Ball | Round 2 | 2013
Sep 3, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos running back Montee Ball (28) is tackled by Arizona
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Recency bias came into play here again, but there's a good reason why Ball got the nod. The 2013 draft had some intriguing running back prospects, but after Le'Veon Bell went to the Pittsburgh Steelers before the Broncos' second-round pick came up, they went with Ball.
Ball looked promising in his rookie season with 559 yards rushing on 120 carries, averaging 4.7 yards per tote. But in 2014, he played in just five games, and undrafted running back C.J. Anderson eventually surpassed him, along with the late Ronnie Hillman, a 2012 third-round pick.
Ball was cut after 2015 training camp and never played in the NFL again.
Wide Receiver: Marcus Nash (R1/1998), Carlos Henderson (R3/2017) & Darius Watts (R2/2004)
Aug 10, 2017; Chicago, IL, USA; Denver Broncos wide receiver Carlos Henderson (11) is defended by
Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
There are those who will want to put Ashley Lelie on this team, but Nash was a worse first-round pick taken by Mike Shanahan. Nash was the Broncos' first-rounder in 1998 and played in just 10 games in two seasons, catching a whopping four passes before he was traded to the Baltimore Ravens during the 1999 season. He's easily the biggest bust among Broncos wide receivers.
And while recency bias folks will give Jerry Jeudy grief, he did see plenty of game time in his four seasons with the team. Meanwhile, 2017 third-round pick Carlos Henderson never saw the field during the regular season.
Henderson missed his rookie season with a thumb injury and was cut after the 2018 training camp. After Lynch, Henderson stands as John Elway's worst draft selection in the first three rounds.
Our final wide receiver bust could have been KJ Hamler, but I went with another former second-round pick: Watts. The 2004 second-rounder caught 31 passes for 385 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie, but played in just six games in 2005, catching two passes.
Watts was waived after the 2006 training camp and it wasn't until the last week of the season that he signed with the New York Giants. That team then waived him during the 2007 offseason, and he never played in the NFL again.
Tight End: Richard Quinn | Round 2 | 2009
October 10, 2010; Baltimore, MD, USA; Denver Broncos tight end Richard Quinn (81) before the game
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Josh McDaniels gets a lot of grief for his first draft with the Broncos — and with good reason, too. Let's start with the hands-down worst tight end bust for the Broncos: Quinn.
The Broncos sent two 2009 third-round picks to the Steelers to get the 64th overall pick (second round) and a fourth-round pick so they could select Quinn. What they got in return was just one reception on three targets in two seasons.
The Broncos waived Quinn in 2011 and he bounced around to multiple teams in the next four seasons but never caught a single pass again. Quinn may very well be the worst second-round pick by the Broncos in the team's draft history.
Offensive Tackle: Kelvin Clark (R1/1979) & Ty Sambrailo (R2/2015)
August 19, 2017; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Denver Broncos offensive lineman Ty Sambrailo (74) blocks San
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
We go way back to 1979 to find our first offensive tackle bust, that being Clark — a 1979 first-round pick. He spent three seasons with the Broncos but started just eight games.
Clark was traded to the New Orleans Saints in 1982 and was moved to guard at that point. He did start 15 games in 1984, but that didn't do much for the Broncos, who got little in return for a first-round pick.
The other offensive tackle brings the recency bias, as I went with Sambrailo, a 2015 second-rounder. Expected to compete for right tackle, Sambrailo became the starter at left tackle when Ryan Clady was lost to injury.
Sambrailo struggled, then got injured after three games and missed the rest of the season. In 2016, he started just four games and didn't fare well.
The Broncos traded Sambrailo to the Atlanta Falcons before the 2017 season and he spent three seasons with them, then two seasons with the Tennessee Titans. But it was still a net failure for the Broncos' return on their second-round pick.
Interior O-Line: Steve Schindler (R1/1977), Mark Cooper (R2/1983) & J.D. Walton (R3/2010)
Dec 11, 2011; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos center J.D. Walton (50) prepares to hike the football
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
This one turned out to be tougher to find three candidates, namely because the Broncos have seldom drafted interior offensive linemen in the first three rounds. In fact, two of the players I picked to fill out the All-Bust roster weren't necessarily bad players but simply ranked lower than other interior linemen taken in the first three rounds.
Back in 1977, the Broncos used a first-round pick on Schindler. However, he started just four games in two seasons and was cut before the 1979 season. It was unfortunate because Schindler stood out in college football but never had the same impact in the NFL.
But as for the other two selections, they weren't necessarily becuase of a lack of talent or contributions, but because they missed too much time with injuries.
Consider Cooper, a second-round pick in 1983. Cooper did have a decent career with the Broncos, starting 12 games in four seasons and starting in Super Bowl XXI. However, he missed a lot of games because of injuries, and in 1987, the Broncos parted ways with him, and he finished his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
And then there's Walton, who was considered by some as the best prospect at center in the 2010 draft. The Broncos took him in the third round and he struggled, then showed some promise in 2011 under a new coaching staff. However, in 2012, he suffered a dislocated ankle a few weeks into the season, and never reclaimed the starting job before he was waived near the end of the 2013 season.
While I wouldn't consider Cooper and Walton to be busts in thesame sense that the other players are, they were the only options available to fill out the team. That is unless you want to argue for players at different positions to take their place.
At any rate, that's the Broncos All-Time Draft Bust offense. In the next installment, I'll look at who made the Broncos' All-Time Draft Bust defense.
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