How have Broncos fared the last 3 times they didn’t have a first-round pick?

The 2022 NFL Draft will kick off this Thursday night but fans of the Denver Broncos will have to show some patience. 

The Broncos will not draft in the first round this year and don’t have their first pick until the bottom of the second round after shipping picks off to help acquire Russell Wilson from the Seattle Seahawks.

That is a deal that just about every single fan of the team is still completely fine with but not having a selection in the first round is not something the Broncos have faced many times. In fact, since the NFL merger, the team has not had a first-round selection just eight times.

Even in those draft classes, the team has still managed to come up with quality players such as Rulon Jones, Mike Harden, Mark Jackson, Tom Nalen and some guy named Shannon Sharpe.

This is proof that great talent and even eventual Hall-of-Fame players can be found in the later rounds of the selection process. Nalen and Sharpe were both seventh-round picks.

George Paton has nine picks to work with and should still be able to fill some holes with high-level players in this draft.

Here is a look at how things have gone for the Broncos in the last three drafts in which they haven’t made a first-round pick, which dates back quite some time.