Jake Plummer‘s inclusion on this list might be surprising to some, but to me, he’s undoubtedly one of the top 30 Broncos of all-time.
Plummer led the Broncos to three straight playoff berths after signing on as a free agent from the Arizona Cardinals, another team he brought from the ashes into a playoff appearance.
The Broncos were stuck in a post-John Elway lull with records of 8-8 and 9-7 the two years prior to Plummer’s arrival.
Plummer proved to be a difference-maker for the Broncos, winning nine of his first 11 starts with the team before an injury shortened his 2003 season.
The Broncos won 39 regular season games in Plummer’s time with the team, and ‘The Snake’ ended up throwing for 11,631 yards and 71 touchdowns in four seasons with the team.
The most memorable year for Plummer and the Broncos came in 2005 when the Broncos had a dominant rushing attack, Plummer was playing efficient football and the defense was dominating opponents.
That team was arguably the best to never win a championship in Denver, and Plummer was the one leading the charge.
With Plummer under center, the Broncos became the first team to beat Tom Brady in the postseason. They also became the first Broncos team since Elway’s teams to win in the postseason.
Plummer likely could have played more than he did with the Broncos, but the team had decided to move on to Jay Cutler prematurely. He didn’t get the chance to lead the Broncos to another postseason berth in 2006 after the first 11 games of the season.
Prior to Peyton Manning‘s dominance from 2012-15, Plummer had the highest win percentage of any Broncos quarterback not named Elway.
– Sayre Bedinger