Denver Broncos 2017 NFL re-draft: Righting the major wrongs

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PHILADELPHIA, PA – APRIL 27: (L-R) Garett Bolles of Utah and his son Kingston pose with Commissioner of the National Football League Roger Goodell after being picked #20 overall by the Denver Broncosduring the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

The Denver Broncos’ 2017 NFL Draft class was abysmal. Here’s how they could have done a great job with players who were on the board.

The Denver Broncos have had two straight really good draft classes in 2018 and 2019. They also had a really good draft (aside from Paxton Lynch) in 2016.

What in the world went wrong in 2017?

The Broncos’ 2017 draft class is one of the worst in the John Elway era, up there with 2013 and 2015.

It’s not 100 percent on the front office — the players are at fault here as well — but how could this have been corrected? Here’s a look at the Broncos’ 2017 class.

1. Garett Bolles, OT, Utah
2. DeMarcus Walker, DL, Florida State
3a. Carlos Henderson, WR, Louisiana Tech
3b. Brendan Langley, CB, Lamar
5a. Jake Butt, TE, Michigan
5b. Isaiah McKenzie, WR, Georgia
6. De’Angelo Henderson, RB, Coastal Carolina
7. Chad Kelly, QB, Ole Miss

Although at one point or another, most of these guys showed tremendous promise, a number of them have flamed out, either out of the league entirely or at least off the Broncos’ roster.

The Broncos still have four of these players in-house, but the rest are gone, including one of the highest Elway draft picks ever to not make it through his first contract, Carlos Henderson (Paxton Lynch beat him to the punch for the highest).

Let’s say only the Broncos were given the benefit of hindsight or foresight or whatever you want to call it, and they got to do their 2017 NFL Draft class over again.

How might they do it?

Here are my ideas.

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