Despite a ton of success over the years, there have been times when the Denver Broncos front office has struggled finding important pieces to the puzzle in the draft. Prior to John Elway’s tenure, there wasn’t a whole lot to write home about as it relates to this rocky mountain franchise. Even during Elway’s successful career, Denver missed on its fair share of draft picks.
Here are the first-worst NFL draft picks in Denver Broncos history. No, you will not find Tim Tebow on this list. You can, however, find the reason for not including him below.
1. Tommy Maddox, Quarterback (First Round, 25th Pick in 1992)
The 1992 NFL draft class for quarterbacks has to go down as one of the worst in the history of the league. Maddox was the second quarterback selected that season behind David Klingler, who went No. 6 overall to the Cincinnati Bengals. Virginia quarterback Matt Blundin went to the New York Giants with the 40th pick.
None of these quarterbacks amounted to a darn thing with their original team.
Maddox, who left UCLA after his sophomore season, earned First-Team All-American honors in his final college season. His decision to leave college two years before graduating shocked the football world, especially considering he was considered the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy the following season.
Maddox was supposed to be the heir-apparent to John Elway in Denver. Interestingly enough, he didn’t last anywhere near as long as his counterpart. Maddox played two seasons in Mile High, starting just four games and throwing six touchdowns compared to nine interceptions.
Unfortunately for the Broncos, Maddox would actually hit his stride nearly a decade after they cut him loose. After years away from the NFL and a journey into the dumpster fire that was the XFL, Maddox returned to the league with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2001. The following year saw him put up a 7-3-1 record with 20 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in route to a playoff berth. He led Pittsburgh past the Cleveland Browns in the wildcard round before coming up short in overtime against the Tennessee Titans the following week. By that time, Maddox was already considered the biggest bust in Broncos draft history.
The likes of Robert Porcher, Carl Pickens, Jimmy Smith and Darren Woodson were picked immediately after Maddox in the 1992 draft. That just added insult to injury to a team that was a player or two away from winning the title prior to Terrell Davis’ arrival a few years later.
2. Ted Gregory, Defensive Tackle (First Round, 26th Pick in 1988)
Gregory didn’t even make it out of training camp with the Broncos. Still dealing with a knee injury he suffered in college and amid criticism directed towards Denver’s front office for the pick, it traded the defensive tackle to the New Orleans Saints prior to the start of the regular season. In that deal, Denver picked up Shawn Knight, who played 14 games for the Broncos in his only season with the team.
Chris Spielman, Eric Allen, Ickey Woods, Thurman Thomas, Ken Norton Jr and Flipper Anderson were all selected after Gregory in the 1988 draft. Imagine if Elway had either Woods or Thomas in the backfield with him. That likely would have meant a Super Bowl ring or two prior to him eventually hoisting the Lombardi years later. Ouch!
3. Steve Schindler, Guard (First Round, 18th Pick in 1977)
Schindler was a highly touted offensive line prospect coming out of Boston College where he was a three-year starter and earned All-American honors as a senior in 1976. On the surface this wasn’t a bad selection. You hit on some and you miss on some. That’s just the way the ball bounces in the professional sports world.
It’s only the fact that Schindler started a total of four games in two seasons that puts him on this list. To say that the 1977 NFL draft wasn’t too kind to teams in the back end of the first round and top end of the second would be an understatement (as you can see above). With that said, four starts out of a first-round pick isn’t going to get it done.
4. Marcus Nash, Wide Receiver (First Round, 30th Pick in 1998)
Courtesy of Rant Sports.
Ouch, this pick hurt a great deal. Entering what would be Elway’s swan song with the Broncos, they looked to get one final playmaker for the defending Super Bowl champion quarterback. While this selection didn’t hurt the Broncos in 1998 (ended up winning the second of back-to-back titles), it definitely did some damage down the road.
Nash, who earned All-American honors his final season at Tennessee by recording 1,170 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns, caught four passes in 10 games and was jettisoned from the roster during his second season with the team. What makes this selection so bad in hindsight is that Randy Moss was the wide receiver that went off the board prior to Denver selecting with the final pick in the initial round. That’s the luck of the draw, guys and gals.
5. Maurice Clarett, Running Back (Third Round, 101st Pick in 2005)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqrCl0D01QY
I really flirted with going Tim Tebow here considering that he was a ridiculous reach for the Broncos in the first round of the 2010 NFL draft. Hey though, he did win a playoff game and kinda put the franchise back on the map prior to Peyton Manning taking over under center. That really can’t be discounted.
Speaking of reaches, Clarett going in the third round of the 2005 NFL draft has to qualify as one. Selecting a guy with that troubled background, who was small in stature and hadn’t played organized ball in two seasons was a downright joke for this organization. Despite all that, Denver made the unexpected move of picking him with the final pick of the third round.
At that time, many mainstream scouting outlets had Clarett pegged to either go late in the draft or miss being picked altogether. According to NFL Draft Scout, the Ohio State product with the 17th-best running back and 216th overall player in the 2005 draft.
Just one month after he signed his rookie deal and in the aftermath of multiple incidents in training camp, Clarett was released without playing a single down in a Broncos uniform. To this day, he’s yet to suit up for a regular season game in the NFL. Running backs that went after Clarett in the draft include Marion Barber, Brandon Jacobs and Darren Sproles. Yeah…
Photo: reppingthe12.com