Best Broncos to Ever Wear the Jersey Number: 90-99

USA Today recently presented its list of the best NFL players to wear a particular jersey number, a list that included four former Denver Broncos players: John Elway, Peyton Manning, Terrell Davis, and Gary Zimmerman.

As we approach the 2023 NFL season, let's have some fun and look at who were the best Broncos to ever wear each jersey number, from 0 to 99.

I used Pro Football Reference's Approximate Value to determine most of the selections. In a few cases, I selected more than one player, whether they were tied in PFR AV or there is more than one player who holds significance to the team's history.

In the final installment, which covers 90 to 99, we have a lot of defensive players, including several who were part of Super Bowl-winning teams.

No. 90: Neil Smith | DE

Players who wore this number include Ron Holmes, Dan Williams, and DeShawn Williams, but the best player to wear this number for the Broncos spent most of his career with an AFC West rival.

Smith was the second overall pick in the 1988 NFL Draft and spent his first nine seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, getting named to five Pro Bowls. However, the Chiefs cut him after the 1996 season.

He signed with the Broncos and went on to be part of back-to-back Super Bowl champions. In his three seasons with Denver, he had 19 sacks and 92 total tackles, plus a Pro Bowl bid in 1997. Smith spent his final season in the NFL (2000) with the Chargers.

No. 91: Alfred Williams | DE

The best Broncos player to wear this number is another member of the back-to-back Super Bowl wins that included Smith. Williams, who played for the Colorado Buffaloes in college, started his career with the Bengals.

He was the 18th overall pick of the 1991 NFL draft and spent four seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, then the 1995 season with the San Francisco 49ers, before he joined the Broncos in 1996.

In his first season with the Broncos, Williams went to the Pro Bowl and was a first-team All-Pro selection, getting 13 sacks. He played three more seasons with the team and had 2.85. sacks and 131 combined tackles for the Broncos.

No. 92: Elvis Dumervil | OLB

Sylvester Williams, a member of the Broncos team that won Super Bowl 50, wore 92, but he wasn't the best player to wear that number. That distinction goes to Dumervil.

A fourth-round selection in 2006, Dumervil had 8.5 sacks as a depth player, then won a starting job in 2007 and had 12.5 sacks. He had five sacks in 2008, but then came 2009, his best season as a pro, in which he led the NFL with 17 sacks, got his first Pro Bowl bid, and first-team All-Pro honors.

Dumervil missed the 2010 season with a torn pectoral muscle but came back for two more seasons with the Broncos, being named to the Pro Bowl both years. He had 63.5 sacks in six seasons with the Broncos, then spent the next four seasons with the Baltimore Ravens and his final season (2017) with the Niners.

No. 93: Trevor Pryce | DL

Dre'Mont Jones wore this number the past four seasons, but the best player to wear the number was part of the Broncos' back-to-back Super Bowl wins to cap the 1997 and 1998 seasons.

Pryce was the Broncos' first-round pick in 1997 and didn't see much playing time that year, but he started 15 games in 1998 and had 8.5 sacks. He only got better, getting 41 sacks in the next four seasons, going to the Pro Bowl in all those seasons, and getting first-team All-Pro honors in 1999.

Pryce played for the Broncos until 2005 when he signed with the Ravens. In his nine seasons with the Broncos, Pryce had 64 sacks and 325 total tackles. He has a good case for induction into the Broncos Ring of Fame.

No. 94 (Tie): Keith Traylor | DL

This is the last time we have two players sharing the honor. Both were part of Super Bowl-winning teams, and the first one had the higher PFR AV for the Broncos.

Traylor was a third-round pick by the Broncos in 1991 and lasted just two seasons. He then played for the Green Bay Packers in 1993, then the Chiefs in 1994 and 1995. But Traylor returned to Denver in 1996, and that's when he made his mark.

Traylor spent the next four seasons with the Broncos, including the two seasons they won back-to-back Super Bowls, and started 61 games on the defensive line. He played seven more seasons after that with the three other teams. While with the Broncos, Taylor had 7.5 sacks and 206 combined tackles.

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No. 94 (Tie): DeMarcus Ware | OLB

The other player to share the honor didn't score as high on PRF AV, but make no mistake: Ware was a major reason the Broncos won Super Bowl 50.

Ware was a first-round pick by the Dallas Cowboys in 2005 and earned a reputation for being one of the best pass rushers in the NFL. After nine seasons, the Cowboys released him, and as fate would have it, he joined Aqib Talib and T.J. Ward in signing with the Broncos on the same day of free agency.

Ware went on to play three seasons with the Broncos and had 21.5 sacks and 81 combined tackles. He went to the Pro Bowl in 2014 and 2015. Ware was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2023.

No. 95: Derek Wolfe | DL

And now we come to another player who was a major reason the Broncos won Super Bowl 50. He's also the clear choice as the best Broncos player to wear 95.

Wolfe, a second-round pick in 2012, made his mark as a rookie with six sacks, 40 combined tackles and two pass tipped passes. His 2013 season was cut short because of injuries, and he didn't quite hit his stride in 2014.

But in 2015, Wolfe was back to top form with 5.5 sacks and 49 combined tackles. He spent four more seasons with the team, finishing with 34 sacks and 350 combined tackles. Wolfe played his final season (2020) with the Ravens.

No. 96: Shelby Harris | DL

Longtime Broncos fans might remember Harald Hasselbach, who had a fine career, but the best player to wear 96 was a fan favorite in recent seasons.

Harris was drafted by the Raiders in the seventh round of the 2014 draft and played just eight games in the next two seasons. He bounced around to several teams in 2016, then signed with the Broncos during the 2017 offseason.

That was where Harris emerged as a key contributor and eventual starter. In five seasons with the Broncos, Harris tallied 21.5 sacks, 203 combined tackles, and 25 pass breakups. He was traded to the Seattle Seahawks in 2022 as part of the package that brought Russell Wilson to the Broncos.

No. 97: Malik Jackson | DL

And now we recognize yet another key player on the Broncos' Super Bowl 50-winning team and one of the biggest steals in team draft history.

A fifth-round pick in 2012, Jackson didn't see much action as a rookie but got a bigger role in 2013 and 2014. In 2015, he won a starting job and turned in his best season as a pro with 5.5 sacks, 45 combined tackles, and seven pass breakups.

Jackson then spent the next three seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, two more with the Philadelphia Eagles, and his final season in 2021 with the Cleveland Browns, before he retired. For the Broncos, he had 14.5 sacks and 15 pass break-ups in four seasons.

No. 98: Maa Tanuvasa | DL

We have yet another Broncos player who was a part of Super Bowl wins. An eighth-round pick by the Rams, Tanuvasa didn't catch with the Rams and ultimately signed with the Broncos in 1995.

He spent most of his first three seasons as a depth player but started five games and had 8.5 sacks in 1997, the season in which the Broncos finished with their first Super Bowl win.

In 1998, Tanuvasa started all 16 regular-season games and had 8.5 sacks again, with the Broncos winning their second Super Bowl. Tanuvasa stayed with the Broncos through 2000, then played with the Chargers in 2001. In six seasons with Denver, he had 33 sacks and 154 combined tackles.

No. 99: Shane Dronett | DL

Adam Gotsis and Kevin Vickerson are recent Broncos to have worn 99, but the best player to wear the number played for the Broncos in the early 1990s.

Dronett was a second-round pick in 1992 and was a solid contributor. He had 6.5 sacks as a rookie, then claimed a starting job in 1993 and had seven sacks.

Dronett followed with six sacks in 1994 but started just two games in 1995, his final season with the team. He then spent five more seasons in the NFL with the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons before injuries ended his career.

Our next installment will cover numbers 80 to 89. In the meantime, be sure to check out 0-9, 10-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, and 80-89.

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