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Broncos History Of Draft Day Hits and Misses
Published: April 14, 2009
Draft day. Some say it separates the GM men from the boys. As far as The Denver Broncos history is concerned, it has proven to be the marker of mediocrity and Superbowl greatness.
Rather then analyzing the stats of every player, multiplying their draft number times pi, and then referring to the current BCS schedule, I’m going to use Superbowl Rosters to quantify whether the team was worthy and how the draft played into their success.
Let me begin by analyzing the 1977 Superbowl Roster. All remaining Superbowl seasons will be covered in future articles.
The Infamous 1977 Year
Craig Morton and the “Orange Crush” defense. It put Denver on the map. It also showed the nation how good the “Donkeys” are at choking in the big game.
Of the starters in that game the following were all drafted by the Broncos in the ’69-’76 draft years: Barney Chavous, Billy Thompson*,Claudie Minor, Louis Wright*, Lyle Alzado, Otis Armstrong, Paul Howard, Randy Gradishar*,Riley Odoms, Rubin Carter, Steve Foley*, Tom Glassic, Rick Upchurch, Tom Jackson*.
Of these draftees, The five players with (*) following their names have been honored in The Ring of Fame. The 1973 and ’75 draft classes were quite possibly the best in Broncos history. Below I compiled a list of the draft years breakdown:
1973 – Denver Broncos
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 9 Otis Armstrong RB Purdue
2 36 Barney Chavous DE South Carolina State
3 54 Paul Howard G Brigham Young
4 88 Tom Jackson LB Louisville
1975 – Denver Broncos
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 17 Louis Wright DB San Jose State
4 95 Rick Upchurch WR Minnesota
5 107 Stan Rogers T Maryland
5 121 Rubin Carter NT Miami (Fla.)
8 199 Steve Foley DB Tulane
For a team to draft almost all of their starters is incredible. Especially in the 90s and on, when FA’s gets quite expensive. Something to realize with these drafts, is that only three were considered “high” draft picks. Which shows that with good scouting and luck, a team can make out like bandits in the draft.
The memorable 1987 Superbowl XXI (not that we want to remember)
The Orange Crush Defense was back! The potent Offense lead by QB John Elway and the 3 amigos (Mark Jackson, Vance Johnson, and Ricky Natiel) was smoking hot. The broncos had just come off of one of the greatest offensive feats in NFL history “The Drive”. In an overtime AFC championship game VS the Cleavand Browns John Elway engineered a 98-yard drive to tie the game on Jan. 11, 1987. They won 23-20. Who could stop them now??? The Donkeys went on to Choke big time VS the NY Giants 39-20. I can see Mark Bavarro crossing his heart in the end zone right now.
Regardless, this team was a great team and the past drafts made a huge impact on their prosperity. The following is the starting roster for Superbowl XXI : Vance Johnson*,Dave Studdard, Keith Bishop*,Billy Bryan*, Mark Cooper*, Ken Lanier*, Clarence Kay*, Steve Watson, John Elway, Sammy Winder*, Gerald Willhite*, Andre Townsend*, Greg Kragen, Rulon Jones *, Jim Ryan, Karl Mecklenburg*, Ricky Hunley, Tom Jackson *, Louis Wright*, Mike Harden*, Steve Foley*, Dennis Smith *. The players with (*) following their names were drafted from 1973-1987. A lot of the Broncos Veteran Defense was present at their 1st Superbowl appearance in 1977, so once again the ’73 and ’75 drafts were paramount in the Broncos ascension to greatness.
The draft didn’t prove to be a treasure trove that the early 70’s drafts proved to be, but perhaps the greatest draft in Bronco history was 1983. Not only did this draft produce 3 starters in Super bowl XXI, it was also the draft that the Broncos traded for a disgruntled young QB from Stanford. Dan Marino……NOT. John Elway was originally drafted by the Colts, but didn’t want to play there stating that he believed the team could not allow him to be successful and threatened to play baseball. Possible Cy Young? We’ll never know, because he decided to be a HOF Q for the Denver Broncos. The Colts traded him to the Denver Broncos for QB Mark Hermann, rights to OL Chris Hinton and a first-round pick (OG Ron Solt) in the 1984 NFL Draft on May 2, 1983. Hinton was a major part of this deal, making the ’83 draft the most famous in Broncos History. This draft also has 2 major draft steals in Gary Kubiak, and Karl Mecklenburg.
1983 – Denver Broncos
Rd Sel # Player Position School
1 4 Chris Hinton G Northwestern
2 31 Mark Cooper T Miami (Fla.)
3 60 Clint Sampson WR San Diego State
5 116 Weedy Harris — Houston
5 125 Bruce Baldwin — Harding
6 143 Victor Heflin DB Delaware State
7 172 Myron Dupree DB North Carolina Central
8 197 Gary Kubiak QB Texas A&M
9 228 Brian Hawkins — San Jose State
10 254 Walt Bowyer DE Arizona State
11 283 Don Bailey C Miami (Fla.)
12 310 Karl Mecklenburg LB Minnesota
Other note worthy draft steals that lead to the ’87 Superbowl squad are the following:
1980 – Denver Broncos
Rd Sel # Player Position School
2 42 Rulon Jones DE Utah State
5 131 Mike Harden DB Michigan
6 157 Keith Bishop G Baylor
1982 – Denver Broncos
Rd Sel # Player Position School
5 131 Sammy Winder RB Southern Mississippi
1984 – Denver Broncos
Rd Sel # Player Position School
2 46 Andre Townsend DE Mississippi
7 186 Clarence Kay TE Georgia
1985 – Denver Broncos
Rd Sel # Player Position School
2 31 Vance Johnson WR Arizona
2 54 Simon Fletcher LB Houston
1986 – Denver Broncos
Rd Sel # Player Position School
6 161 Mark Jackson WR Purdue
1987 – Denver Broncos
Rd Sel # Player Position School
12 334 Tyrone Braxton DB North Dakota State
Who would have thought that Tyrone “Chick” Braxton would have been as great as he was?? These drafts would prove to be essential to the next 2 Superbowl’s as well. These debacles will be covered in my next additions.
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