What was the greatest draft class in Broncos history?

One thing that stood out during this exercise was how few contenders there were to consider for the greatest Denver Broncos draft class.

Since the AFL/NFL merger, the Denver Broncos have had over 50 draft classes and surprisingly there are very few draft classes where we would find talent up and down the board to the point where we might consider it to be one of their greatest draft classes of all time.

In fact, I really only found three worth mentioning here and that shocked me. As I reviewed all of the Broncos draft classes dating back to the merger, I found these three contenders: 1975, 2006, and 2012.

1975

There were 17 players drafted by the Broncos in this class, but we’ll just focus on the names we’ll all remember.

In the first-round, they picked cornerback Louis Wright who would play 12 season in Denver and end up with 26 career interceptions. He was a First-Team All-Pro two times and made the Pro Bowl five times. He is enshrined in the Broncos Ring of Fame.

In the fourth-round, they found wide receiver and kick returner Rick Upchurch. In his 9 year career, he would be a First-Team All-Pro three times and make the Pro Bowl four times. He had 267 receptions for 4369 yards and 24 touchdowns, but his career was made by his prowess in the return game. He had eight total punt returns for a touchdown in his career and led the league in return average three times. He is also enshrined in the Broncos Ring of Fame.

The last two notable picks were fifth-round nose tackle Ruben Carter who played all 12 seasons for the Broncos and eighth-round pick defensive back Steve Foley. Carter would finish with 30 sacks and a fumble return for a touchdown in his career as a member of the vaunted Orange Crush defense. Foley would also play all 12 seasons with Denver and finished with 44 total interceptions and two defensive touchdowns in his career.

2006

In perhaps the only draft class in Broncos history, Denver hit on nearly every single pick they made that year. While none of the picks are likely Ring of Famer types, all of them had solid careers with Denver and in the NFL in general.

• First round: Quarterback Jay Cutler
• Second round: Tight end Tony Scheffler
• Fourth round: Wide receiver Brandon Marshall
• Fourth round: Edge rusher Elvis Dumervil
• Fifth round: Offensive lineman Chris Kuper

Cutler would finish his career with over 35,000 yards passing and 227 touchdown passes in 12 seasons, although eight of those seasons were spent with the Chicago Bears.

Schefler split his eight year career between Denver and the Detroit Lions. His best seasons came with Denver as one of Cutler’s primary receiving targets.

Marshall played 13 seasons in the NFL with six different teams and produced nearly everywhere. He holds the record in Denver for most receptions in a single game and hauled in over 100 receptions in a season six times in his career, including three times with Denver. He was a First-Team All-Pro selection in 2012 and made the Pro Bowl six times. In his career he had 970 receptions for 12,351 yards and 83 total touchdowns. Not bad for a fourth-round pick.

Again in the fourth-round, the Broncos picked up a short-ish defensive end with a massive wing span in Elvis Dumervil. He played seven of his 11 seasons in the NFL in Denver and top 17 sacks in a single season twice. He was a First-Team All-Pro twice and a Pro Bowler five times. He finished his career with 105.5 sacks and 23 forced fumbles in his career.

Kuper ended up finding a starting role as a right guard in Denver from 2007-2011. Not bad for a late round pick.

While most of these players ended up playing much of their careers elsewhere, it doesn’t take away from the fact that the draft class in 2006 was strong.

2012

The last draft class to make the cut was a rather sneaky good draft class that John Elway somehow nearly hit on every single pick in that class. This class was vital to the Broncos Super Bowl 50 championship run as well, which makes it even a stronger candidate.

• Second round: Defensive tackle Derek Wolfe
• Second round: Quarterback Brock Osweiler
• Third round: Running back Ronnie Hillman
• Fourth round: Defensive back Omar Bolden
• Fifth round: Defensive tackle Malik Jackson
• Sixth round: Linebacker Danny Trevathan

While both Osweiler and Hillman had vital roles on the team during their 2015 run and Bolden was a critical special teams player, it was the three picks on the defensive side of the ball that helped make the greatest defense in Broncos history.

The ‘Orange Crush’ defense was great, but that 2015 defense was historic. They took down two Hall of Fame caliber quarterbacks before slaying the reigning NFL MVP in the Super Bowl. That playoff run will always be remembered as one for the ages and it was that 2012 draft class that made up a huge chunk of that defense.

Greatest Draft Class in Broncos History

Looking over these draft classes, I think I will have to pick 1975 as the greatest draft class in Broncos history. The reason it out-classes 2006 and 2012 who were very close to being my pick as well is that there were two Broncos Ring of Famers selected and two other players who were outstanding 150+ game starters for the franchise.

The 2012 class comes darn close and I do think Derek Wolfe might end up being a Ring of Fame candidate at some point down the road as he did play all but a single season in Denver, but I had to go with that 1975 class here for this one. It’s subjective though, so let me know which class you think takes the prize and vote in our poll below!