Re-drafting the Denver Broncos last 10 first-round picks

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.

Denver Broncos 2013 NFL Draft re-draft pick: Travis Kelce, TE, Cincinnati

Original pick (28th overall): Sylvester Williams, DL, North Carolina

The 2013 NFL Draft has gone down as one of the worst in recent NFL history, and for good reason.

It was a brutal quarterback class overall. The top pick in this draft was offensive tackle Eric Fisher.

As a matter of fact, let’s just take a look through the top 10 picks in this draft overall:

1. Eric Fisher, OT
2. Luke Joeckel, OT
3. Dion Jordan, EDGE
4. Lane Johnson, OT
5. Ziggy Ansah, EDGE
6. Barkevious Mingo, EDGE
7. Jonathan Cooper, OL
8. Tavon Austin, WR
9. Dee Milliner, CB
10. Chance Warmack, OL

The top 10 of this draft is somewhat of a microcosm of the entire class itself, but there were gems throughout.

The best player from this entire class is probably Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who was taken with the top pick (63rd overall) of the third round out of Cincinnati.

Kelce has put together a Hall of Fame type of career for the Chiefs and the Denver Broncos would have obviously been better served selecting him over Sylvester Williams.

The 2013 season would be the first of Julius Thomas’ breakout for the Denver Broncos, which lasted two seasons, but imagine being able to replace Thomas in 2015 with Kelce instead of an older, grizzled veteran like Owen Daniels…

Even having Kelce to work in tandem with Thomas for a couple of seasons would have been a preferable option for the Denver Broncos than Williams, who was a solid starter on the Super Bowl defense.

Denver Broncos 2014 NFL re-draft pick: Davante Adams, WR, Fresno State

Original pick (31st overall): Bradley Roby, CB, Ohio State

Was there anything wrong with the Bradley Roby pick at the time it was made?

No, not really.

Roby was drafted in round one despite the Denver Broncos already having signed Aqib Talib in free agency, but as we’ve seen in more recent years, having too many good cornerbacks is borderline impossible.

The Broncos entered the 2014 season with some question marks at wide receiver, though, which made Davante Adams a very appealing option at the time.

That’s not just revisionist history, either.

It’s too bad the Broncos, or any team in round one for that matter, didn’t like Davante Adams as an option.

The Green Bay Packers cashed in on Adams’ inexplicable fall in the 2014 NFL Draft by taking him 53rd overall and the rest, as they say, is history.

What makes this frustrating in hindsight is that the Broncos were interested in receivers in this particular draft and they were in the market for one early.

Eric Decker had left in free agency. At the time, Emmanuel Sanders was an intriguing free agent pickup but still a bit of a wild card. Wes Welker was on the final year of his contract.

Just three picks after Davante Adams was selected, the Denver Broncos traded up to select Indiana wide receiver Cody Latimer, an athletic playmaker who would presumably fill Eric Decker’s shoes.

That never happened.

Latimer flamed out and Davante Adams became an absolute superstar. Many would now consider him arguably the best receiver in the entire NFL.

Denver Broncos 2015 re-draft pick: Danielle Hunter, EDGE, LSU

Original pick (23rd overall): Shane Ray, EDGE, Missouri

The Denver Broncos traded up in the 2015 NFL Draft to secure Missouri pass rusher Shane Ray, the former SEC defensive player of the year.

Although the NFL Draft world had significantly cooled off on Ray in the weeks leading up to the NFL Draft, it was still thought by many that he would be a steal if a team could get him outside of the top 10 or 15 picks.

The Denver Broncos obviously felt like he was a tremendous value to them and they moved a couple of assets to go up and get him in the first round of this particular draft class.

Although Shane Ray played a pretty big role on the team in 2015 and 2016, the better long-term play would clearly have been LSU pass rusher Danielle Hunter, an extremely young prospect at the time who was thought to be more upside than production.

Ray had the production, but perhaps more limited upside.

Hunter, when healthy, has been a dominant force off the edge in the NFL.

The guy looks like he was carved out of a mold by the Greek gods and he combines power with speed off the edge to terrorize opposing offensive tackles.

In 2018 and 2019 combined, he had 29 total sacks and was averaging almost a sack per game in 2021 (6.0 sacks in seven games) but was limited due to injury.

Shane Ray is no longer in the NFL but Hunter is not yet 28 and could have some of his best years yet ahead of him, already with 60.5 career sacks.

Denver Broncos 2016 re-draft pick: Chris Jones, DL, Mississippi State

Original pick (26th overall): Paxton Lynch, QB, Memphis

I think looking back, a lot of fans would certainly take Dak Prescott in this particular slot and understandably so, but we already re-drafted Russell Wilson so that’s not an issue.

At the time the Paxton Lynch selection was made, not everyone was sold on Lynch but there were certainly more teams than just the Broncos that bought his hype.

Namely, the Chiefs and Cowboys were vying to trade up for Lynch but the Broncos got the deal done.

Instead of getting Lynch, the Kansas City Chiefs landed Chris Jones near the top of round two (36th overall) and proved that sometimes it’s the deals you don’t make that help you the most.

Instead of successfully trading up and landing Lynch, the Kansas City Chiefs are living in an alternate universe where they have Chris Jones — one of the best interior defensive linemen in the game today — and Patrick Mahomes, who they selected with their top pick in 2017.

Things worked out okay for them, I’d say.

From the Denver Broncos’ perspective, this was the beginning of a torturous six years in quarterback purgatory, and the failed development of Lynch was a big reason why.

The team would have been better served punting this need to 2017 or even just taking Jones with their top pick and then taking Dak Prescott in round two (or three, or four).

The Denver Broncos did land Justin Simmons in the 2016 NFL Draft but they missed out on another potential cornerstone piece of the defense by passing on Chris Jones out of Mississippi State.

Denver Broncos 2017 re-draft pick: Ryan Ramczyk, OT, Wisconsin

Original pick (20th overall): Garett Bolles, OT, Utah

Leading up to the 2017 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos had absolutely backed themselves into the corner of needing to select an offensive tackle.

This particular draft class was not considered to be ripe with offensive tackle help, so the debate leading up to the Draft itself was whether the Broncos should take Utah’s Garett Bolles or Wisconsin’s Ryan Ramczyk.

Bolles has significantly turned a corner in the last couple of seasons after struggling for his first three years in the NFL.

Not only was Bolles struggling with playing well in general, but he was effectively hurting the team with one penalty after the next.

In 2020, Bolles turned things around and got himself a contract extension from the Broncos.

Ryan Ramczyk, taken later in round one by the New Orleans Saints, was a unique case coming out of Wisconsin.

There were rumors, at the time, that he wasn’t really passionate about football and might not have played in the NFL for very long to begin with.

He’s proven those rumors false and has been one of the best and most consistent right tackles in the game.

Would he have excelled in Denver as the left tackle as well as he has in New Orleans as the right tackle? That’s anyone’s guess, but I think if the Broncos could go back and do this one over again, they might take Ramczyk in that 20th overall slot.

Denver Broncos 2018 re-draft pick: Quenton Nelson, OG, Notre Dame

Original pick (5th overall): Bradley Chubb, EDGE, North Carolina State

Looking back at the 2018 NFL Draft, taking Bradley Chubb was the right choice for the Denver Broncos at the time.

Chubb was a top-tier edge prospect coming out of North Carolina State and there were major question marks, at the time, surrounding Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen.

Most Broncos fans didn’t want Josh Allen. Not all, but most.

Many Broncos fans wanted Notre Dame offensive guard Quenton Nelson, however, and are still upset to this day that the team took Chubb over the former Golden Domer.

Nelson was certainly an imposing player at the guard position for Notre Dame and he would have filled a big need for the Denver Broncos.

At the time, the Broncos were in the post-DeMarcus Ware era and Shane Ray was on his way out.

Shaquill Barrett had shown potential but the team didn’t want to pass on Chubb — who was outstanding in his rookie season — to pair up with Von Miller.

If they could make the pick again, would they take Nelson over Chubb? Knowing what we know now, maybe.

Certainly, Josh Allen would be in that mix as well, but if every team got to re-draft in 2018, Allen would have been the number one overall pick.

Also, keep in mind, in this re-draft timeline the Broncos also took Russell Wilson in 2012.

It’s tough to look back on this scenario for many fans because Chubb has struggled with injuries in three consecutive seasons while Nelson has been mostly healthy and dominant for the Colts (except last season) and Allen has become a mega-star for the Bills.

Denver Broncos 2019 re-draft pick: DK Metcalf, WR, Ole Miss

Original pick (10th overall, traded for 20th): Noah Fant, TE, Iowa

For the life of me, I still can’t figure out why the NFL let DK Metcalf last all the way to the bottom of the second round back in the 2019 NFL Draft.

It didn’t make sense then, it still doesn’t make sense now.

Metcalf — in terms of his pure size and speed traits — is about as close to Calvin Johnson as we’ve seen the last decade or so coming out of the college ranks.

Although he had some injury issues at college, Metcalf was a stud and a playmaker when he was on the field.

He has stayed healthy in the NFL and what comes as a surprise to absolutely no one is the fact that he’s been very good for the Seattle Seahawks.

The Broncos were obviously interested in adding playmakers to the offense in the 2019 NFL Draft, having added Noah Fant in round one, so they could have easily justified DK Metcalf here, especially considering they followed up the 2019 Draft by taking two receivers to start the 2020 NFL Draft.

Metcalf’s size and speed have been a problem at the NFL level for opposing defenses and he’s averaged almost 15 yards per reception and 10 touchdowns per year since coming into the league.

Noah Fant has obviously also been one of the better young tight ends in the game, but I think if you could go back and take Metaclf instead, you definitely would.

Denver Broncos 2020 re-draft pick: AJ Terrell, CB, Clemson

Original pick (15th overall): Jerry Jeudy, WR, Alabama

I thought about swapping Jerry Jeudy with someone like CeeDee Lamb or Justin Jefferson here in this slot, but remember — the Broncos have re-drafted Davante Adams and DK Metcalf in this scenario.

AJ Terrell was sitting on the board with that 15th overall pick in 2020 and the Denver Broncos passed for Jeudy, an understandable decision at the time.

There were very few that had AJ Terrell as a “lock” for their top 20 picks.

He had shown that kind of potential at Clemson but most thought the Falcons reached on Terrell with that selection at number 16 overall.

Now, Terrell looks like one of the best young cornerbacks in all of football.

Jeudy has been solid for the Broncos, though he struggled with drops in his rookie year and an injury in his second.

Drops and injury aside, the Broncos have to be happy to have Jeudy, who is one of the best in the entire NFL at creating separation, even against AJ Terrell which can be seen in the matchup between the Broncos and Falcons from that 2020 season.

Still, having Terrell in combination with Pat Surtain II?

That would be an incredible duo for the Denver Broncos.

Denver Broncos 2021 re-draft pick: Pat Surtain II, CB, Alabama

Original pick (9th overall): Pat Surtain II, CB, Alabama

Sometimes, you just get it right.

The Denver Broncos had every opportunity and reason to go with a quarterback last year in the 9th overall slot.

There was pressure from fans. There was pressure from the media.

There was pressure all around rookie GM George Paton, but he didn’t cave. He stuck to his board, took the best player on it, and he’s now reaping the benefits in 2022 with Russell Wilson as his quarterback and one of the best young stars in the game in Surtain at a premier position.

Watching Surtain at Alabama was not always a great deal of fun.

Teams didn’t throw his direction often and when they did, Surtain made sure that nothing ever really happened.

He became so good that he was boring pundits around the country leading up to the 2021 NFL Draft.

The Carolina Panthers even took Jaycee Horn over Surtain, a decision that could comeback to bite them down the road.

Watching players like Sauce Gardner go fourth overall have to make the Denver Broncos feel extremely fortunate that Surtain lasted as long as he did in 2021.

Denver Broncos 53-man roster prediction with OTAs in the books

The Denver Broncos are officially done with OTAs, which means there will be a break until training camp. What could the 53-man roster look like?

Elite cornerback prospects simply don’t fall that far in the NFL Draft.

Surtain fell into the Broncos’ laps last year and they are lucky he did.