Broncos' poor draft history in the premium rounds a key factor to team's 0-2 start

I think it's fair to say that most of Broncos Country is still in shock with what happened in the last minute of the Week 2 loss to the Chicago Bears. After seeing more of the same poor play we have become accustomed to over the last few years, it's becoming increasingly difficult to be optimistic about the rest of this season.

Here are some not-so-great stats this franchise has compiled of late:

First back-to-back losing seasons in nearly 50 years (2017-18)
Six-game losing streak dating back to 2018 season
A combined 11-23 record in the last 34 games
First 0-2 start in 20 years
First home opener loss since 2011
Only team in the NFL through 2 weeks with no sacks and no forced turnovers

How did we get to this point? How did a perennial 12-plus win playoff team take such a sharp turn in the wrong direction?

There are a lot of contributing factors. You can point to poor coaching, player development, injuries, etc. The biggest reason of them all is how poorly Denver has drafted in recent years, 2013-2017 in particular.

Let's take a look at some of the team's first-round selections over the past eight seasons.

2019: Noah Fant #20
2018: Bradley Chubb #5
2017: Garett Bolles #20
2016: Paxton Lynch #26
2015: Shane Ray #23
2014: Bradley Roby #31
2013: Sylvester Williams #28
2012: No pick
2011: Von Miller #2

What an eye-opener. Just look at the flops on these picks. It's obviously way too early to say whether or not Noah Fant was good pick, so let's ignore that selection for the time being. Now, look at the rest of the picks.

Outside of Bradley Chubb and Von Miller (who were both the best defensive players in their respective drafts — and to be honest 'can't miss players'), were any of these first-round picks in the last eight years good selections?

Von is the only Broncos' first-rounder prior to 2017 that is still on the team. Unbelievable!

For comparisons, let's take a look at a couple of the top teams in the league right now and see how they have done in the same span.

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Let's look at the Dallas Cowboys.

2018: Leighton Vander Esch #19
2017: Taco Charlton #28
2016: Ezekiel Elliott #4
2015: Byron Jones #27
2014: Zack Martin #16
2013: Travis Frederick #31

Every single one of the players above still plays for the Cowboys. On top of that, outside of Taco Charlton, they are all Pro Bowl-caliber players. Heck, three or four of them are All-Pro players.

How about the Los Angeles Chargers?

2018: Derwin James #17
2017: Mike Williams #7
2016: Joey Bosa #3
2015: Melvin Gordon #15
2014: Jason Verrett #25

Similar situation above. How many of these guys are All-Pros?

You can apply this same logic across a number of top teams. Why is there a correlation here?

Rosters are built through the draft

And it's not just the first round. The best teams in the league are the ones that consistently draft well rounds one through seven. If you think the Broncos track record in round one is poor, take a look at their day two selections:

2018: Courtland Sutton, Royce Freeman, Isaac Yiadom
2017: DeMarcus Walker, Carlos Henderson, Brendan Langley
2016: Adam Gotsis, Justin Simmons
2015: Ty Sambrailo, Jeff Heuerman
2014: Cody Latimer, Michael Schofield
2013: Montee Ball, Kayvon Webster

Wow. The 2018 class so far looks promising but from 2013-2017, only four of the 11 selections are still on the team. Gotsis and Simmons are the only ones that have started at any point in their NFL careers.

Obviously, there are a lot of contributing factors as to why this 0-2 Broncos team is in the state they are in, but look no further than these draft selections as to why there is such a lack of depth on the roster.

That said, the 2018 and 2019 drafts appear to be very encouraging so the Broncos are at least trending in the right direction. Here's to hoping that continues.

What do you all think? Is the draft the biggest reason the team is in the state it's in? Or is there another more significant contributing factor to the team's lack of recent success? Feel free to chime in on the comments section!

Follow Trevor on Twitter @TrevorJudge and @MileHighHuddle.

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