Denver Broncos 5 worst first-round picks of the last 20 years

The Denver Broncos have had some big-time dud draft selections over the last 20 years. We take a look at the five worst selections made in that time.

The Denver Broncos have had their share of outstanding first-round draft picks over the last two decades, including future Ring of Famers Von Miller and Demaryius Thomas as well as a string of recent first-round picks that seem well on their way to Broncos immortality.

As great as some of their top draft picks have been in the last two decades, they have taken some massive “Ls” as well.

Which picks will go down in Denver Broncos NFL Draft infamy? Let’s take a look through the top five worst first-round picks the team has made in the last 20 years.

Tim Tebow kicks off the list of the five worst 1st-rounders since 2001

5. Tim Tebow, QB (2010, 25th overall)

Former Denver Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels was certainly full of hubris, wasn’t he?

When McDaniels left the New England Patriots to come to Denver in 2009, he gutted a talented roster to make it his own.

Leading up to the 2010 NFL Draft, the young offensive genius decided that he was going to find a way to make Tim Tebow work in the NFL, despite the projections of many pundits and analysts that Tebow’s game was simply not translatable.

McDaniels traded 2nd, 3rd, and 4th-round picks with the Baltimore to move back into the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft in order to select Tebow, just a handful of picks after he made an absolutely great selection of Georgia Tech wide receiver Demaryius Thomas.

While Tebow provided one of the most insanely fun seasons in Denver Broncos history, he only lasted in the NFL through the 2012 season after being traded to the New York Jets when the Broncos acquired Peyton Manning.

We’ll always have the 2011 season, but for a first-round QB to only last three NFL seasons? Not great.

But it gets worse…