The Denver Broncos have had some hits and some misses in the last decade atop the NFL Draft. How would they do things differently if they could?
Just like any other NFL team, the Denver Broncos have had some hits and misses in the NFL Draft over the last 10 years.
The NFL Draft is a crapshoot and a lot of times, you wish you could get a mulligan and go back to do things differently.
It’s fun to look at a different timeline, a multiverse of madness in the NFL, but no one really knows how different things could have been for specific players if they hadn’t landed in their exact situations coming out of college.
Even with that said, we’re going to take a look back through some Denver Broncos draft history and how different things could have been. Going back to 2012, what if the team could re-do their first-round draft picks knowing what we know now?
Re-drafting the Denver Broncos’ first-round pick in 2012
2012 NFL Draft re-draft pick: Russell Wilson, QB, Wisconsin
Original pick (25th overall): Traded to Patriots, then traded to Buccaneers
The Denver Broncos traded out of the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft completely.
After moving down a handful of spots from 25 to 31 with the New England Patriots (who selected linebacker Dont’a Hightower), the Broncos then traded out of the first round entirely when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came calling for pick no. 31 overall.
That selection was used on running back Doug Martin.
The Broncos, with pick no. 36 overall, selected Cincinnati defensive lineman Derek Wolfe, a pick that certainly isn’t regrettable by anyone in Broncos Country.
Although the Broncos would go on to have an outstanding 2012 NFL Draft class, they (and everyone else in the NFL) clearly made a huge mistake passing on Russell Wilson in the first place.
Wilson was incredible at Wisconsin and the league passed on him in the first two rounds likely because he was barely six feet tall coming out.
Wilson has obviously proven that you can play QB at a high level in the NFL regardless of whether or not you fit the mold of a 6-foot-5, 235-pound frame.
Wilson would have been a backup to Peyton Manning early in his NFL career, but the Broncos would have had a much better succession plan in place than Brock Osweiler if they had used any one of their three picks on Wilson before he was taken 75th overall by Seattle.