Mark Schlereth won three Super Bowls, two of which came during his tenure with John Elway and the Denver Broncos. But being an old teammate of Elway hasn’t stopped Schlereth, who does radio work and a podcast these days, from shading the top dog in Denver’s hierarchy.
On Sunday after Denver lost its fourth game in a row, looking godawful in the process, Schlereth addressed fans who’ve been calling for the team to tank for better draft positioning.
I’ve heard from a lot of @Broncos fans about tanking for a chance at a better draft pick. My question to those fans is what makes you think we can pick a offensive player that can play?
— Mark Schlereth (@markschlereth) November 6, 2017
Oh, that’s brutally honest, and we love it.
Schlereth is also on to something. The past three drafts, Denver’s top offensive players taken in the top three rounds have all either been busts or appear to be on their way to being busts.
Past three years (14’ 15’ 16’), top 3 rounds, 5 offensive players selected… either gone, or barely contributing. pic.twitter.com/qkY0Ns060l
— Rich Ohrnberger (@ohrnberger) November 6, 2017
We’ve highlighted Elway’s inability to bring in offensive talent as his fatal flaw, and apparently we’re not the only ones who think so. The Broncos are absolutely tanking right now on offense, and it’s hard to imagine things will turn around any time soon.
Though, while losing out and earning a top-5 pick might seem ideal at this juncture, nothing in the team’s recent draft history suggests that will improve things at all.