Which team has drafted the most hall of famers since the merger?

It’s not the Broncos

The NFL-AFL merger happened in 1970. Since that happened 134 NFL Hall of Famers have been drafted (and some players who were not drafted, like Kurt Warner, have made the HoF) and been inducted into the Hall of Fame (including those who will be inducted later on this year). This does not include players who played after the merger but were drafted before it like Bronco draftee and Hall of Famer, Curley Culp. Culp was drafted with the 31st pick in the 1968 draft by the Broncos but never played for the team.

The Broncos have drafted four of these guys. The four Bronco Hall of Fame draftees are (draft year, player)

1974 Randy Gradishar

1989 Steve Atwater

1990 Shannon Sharpe

1995 Terrell Davis

John Elway was drafted by the Colts, even if he played his entire career with the Broncos.

With the exception of 1992, and 2004 every draft has had at least one Hall of Famer (1970-2007). No player drafted in 2008 or later has made the hall of fame (yet).

The only guy from the 1992 draft with any chance of making the Hall of Fame is Darren Woodson (not Rod or Charlie who are both in the Hall of Fame). Darren was a first team All Pro in 1994, 1995 and 1996 and was selected to five ProBowls during his career. He is often confused with the other two Woodsons who played defensive back in the NFL and are in the Hall. This may hurt his chances of ever getting in. Rod Woodson was drafted in 1987 and inducted in 2009. Charles Woodson was drafted 1998 and inducted in 2021.

The 2004 draft had Jared Allen who will get into the Hall of Fame at some point. He was first team AllPro four times and selected to five Pro Bowls. Larry Fitzgerald was also taken in the draft and will be in the Hall soon. He was only first team All-Pro once, but he was selected to eleven Pro Bowls (pre-joke era). Another 2004 draftee who will get in is Ben Roethlisberger.

By team the franchise that has drafted the most HoFers 1970-2007 is Pittsburgh. They have 12.

Four teams only have one, but of those three are relatively new (Jaguars, Panthers and Texans (the Houston team not the Dallas team that moved to KC)) while the Bengals are not.

The full list by year is below

The only recent Bronco draftee who will most likely be in the Hall of Fame is Von Miller. No other Bronco draftee from this century has had a career that comes close to the Hall of Fame level. Ryan Clady was elite, but not for long enough. Patrick Surtain needs to maintain his level of excellence for at least four or five more years to enter HoF discussions at the end of his career. Elvis Dumerville was not good enough for long enough. Nor was Brandon Marshall (the WR not the LB).

In terms of Bronco draftees that were picked last century, Karl Mecklenburg probably has the best chance. He was named first team All-Pro three times and made the Pro Bowl six times, but he was hurt by never being the best defensive player in the league, much less in the AFC during his playing career. He was also hurt by never playing for a Super Bowl winning team. He is also hurt by how he was used in the Bronco defenses of the 80s. He was never the guy who was just a pass rusher. He could do it all on the field and so he only had double digit sacks once in his career and only finished his career with 79 sacks.

I have argued that Tom Nalen deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, but doubt that happens before I am in my golden years.