Denver Broncos’ Past Draft Busts

By Jordan Long

The NFL Draft starts tonight at 6 Mountain Time with the 1^st round.  2^nd and 3^rd rounds are tomorrow while the NFL Draft finishes up on Saturday with the 4^th through 7^th rounds.  There have been plenty of great draft picks for the Denver Broncos throughout the years, but many busts.  Let’s take a look at a few of the Broncos’ worst NFL Draft Picks.

                Quarterback Paxton Lynch spent 2013 to 2015 as the starting quarterback for the Memphis Tigers.  There he showed he could be a running quarterback. He finished with 8,863 passing yards, 59 touchdowns, and 23 interceptions. When he ran the football in college, Lynch proved he could gain yards out of the pocket with 687 yards and 17 touchdowns.   Denver only had Trevor Siemian at quarterback. 

                Denver selected Lynch with the 26^th overall draft pick.  The thought was Lynch was a quarterback who could play in the Gary Kubiak offense and be the quarterback of the future.  Kubiak ran the bootleg offense and had the quarterback running out of the pocket.  Unfortunately, it didn’t work out.  Lynch spent two years in Denver from 2016 to 2017.  He played in 5 games and started 4 of them.  Lynch had a disappointing 1-3 record as the starter for Denver,  passing for 792 yards and 4 touchdowns along with 4 interceptions. Denver let him go following the 2017 season.  He is now out of the league, last appearing for the Steelers in 2019.

                Looking back, Denver should have waited to select a quarterback.  If they would have, Dax Prescott might have been there for them in the 2^nd or 3^rd round.  Dallas took him in the 4^th round.  He would have been a better pick than Lynch.

                In the 2009 NFL draft, the Broncos went into the 2^nd-round hoping to upgrade the secondary.  Alphonso Smith was there.  He played his college football at Wake Forest.  He totaled 154 tackles, 9 sacks, and 21 interceptions from 2005 to 2008.

                It was a surprise Smith was still on the board in the 2^nd round.  The Broncos took him with the 37^th selection.  Denver hoped he was going to improve the secondary and be a shutdown type of cornerback.  It didn’t work out.  Smith appeared in 15 games for the Broncos, totaling 14 tackles.  Denver traded him to Detroit after 1 year. 

                 2007, the Broncos ended up with the 17^th pick in the 1^st-round.  Denver wanted to help out the defensive line.   The defensive line needed to make more plays and pressure the quarterback. Jarvis Moss was the selection at 17.  Moss played his college football at the University of Florida.  He started two years totaling 61 tackles and 15 sacks.  Moss also put his hands up to knock a ball away when it was thrown by the quarterback with 6 passes defended.  Denver anticipated him to do the same thing in the NFL.

                Moss ended up playing for the Broncos from 2007 to the first 9 games of 2010.  He was not the defensive end the Broncos thought they selected.  He had 3.5 sacks, 4 quarterback hits, and 24 tackles.  Denver let him go 9 games into the 2010 season.  The then Oakland Raiders picked him up but he didn’t do much for them.  He appeared in 19 games for the Raiders totaling 2.5 sacks, 10 quarterback hits, and 16 tackles. He was out of the league at the end of the 2011 season.

                In the 2005 draft, the Broncos took a gamble in the 3^rd round.  They thought the best running back was there for the taking in Maurice Clarett.  Clarett spent his college football at Ohio State.  He played one year, 2002 rushing for 1,237 yards and 16 touchdowns.  He was used in the passing game, totaling 104 receiving  yards and 2 touchdowns.  He had off the field issues which ended up with him being kicked off the team.  The Broncos knew about these character concerns but they thought they were behind him and believed it was worth the risk.

                It didn’t pan out.  Clarett didn’t even earn a spot on the team.  He was waived before the season started.  This might be one of the worst draft selections at the running back position by then Head Coach Mike Shanahan.  He didn’t miss much, but this was a clear whiff.     

                A final selection that didn’t work out was wide receiver, Marcus Nash. Nash played his college football at the University of Tennessee.  There he caught 177 footballs for 2,447 yards and 20 touchdowns from 1994 to 1997.  This was a guy who was supposed to go in the 1^st-round of the NFL Draft or even be off the board early in the 2^nd round.

                The Broncos were looking to add depth to their wide receiver core.  Their top two wide receivers were Ed McCaffery and Rod Smith.   Behind them was Willie Green.  They figured another wide receiver couldn’t hurt to add to this group. 

                Denver decided to go with Marcus Nash with the 30^th overall pick.  Nash appeared in 10 games for the Broncos totaling 4 catches for 76 yards, not what they anticipated.  Denver traded Nash 2 games into the 1999 season to Miami.  He didn’t last with the Dolphins but landed with Baltimore to finish 1999.  With the Ravens, Nash didn’t even record a catch.  He was out of the league after that season.

                In this years’ draft, the Broncos are looking to add talent to their team. They want to improve on their 5-11 record.  Whoever they draft the Broncos anticipate they will add depth and help the team rather than being an NFL bust.