5 Broncos draft busts since 2000 you may have forgotten about

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DENVER – OCTOBER 31: Wide receiver Darius Watts #17 of the Denver Broncos falls into the endzone for a touchdown against cornerback Jason Webster #36 of the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth quarter on October 31, 2004 at Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium in Denver, Colorado. The Falcons won the game 41-28. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /

Since the start of the 2000 football season, the Denver Broncos, like all teams, have made several draft blunders. Some of those are easily remembered while others are just plain bad but don’t get that lasting recognition.

Players such as Montee Ball and Cody Latimer were drafted with so much promise but never materialized into anything that brought the team success. Those players will be remembered for some time, however.

There is also a good list of bad first-round picks made by the team but those players are also hard to forget, so none of them will be mentioned here.

No, this is for those players who were absolutely draft busts but have been completely forgotten over the course of the last 20 years or so. This will help jog your memory or perhaps bring these players to your attention for the first time ever.

The Broncos have a rich, successful history, but it can’t all be good.

In order for a player to make this list and be labeled a “bust”, they had to be taken with a third-round pick or higher. The pick must also have been made in the 2000 NFL Draft or after.

Here are the five biggest draft busts of Broncos players you have likely completely forgotten about in that time frame.

Forgotten Broncos draft busts

Scouting Report. DarcelMcBath. . player. Pick Analysis. DB. Texas Tech, 2009. 874

INDIANAPOLIS – DECEMBER 13: Darcel McBath #31 of the Denver Broncos runs with the ball after intercepting a pass during the NFL game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium on December 13, 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Colts won 28-16. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /

The 2009 draft, which was the first under new head coach Josh McDaniels, was a huge missed opportunity for the Broncos. The team had five of the first 64 picks in the draft and came away with little to nothing aside from running back Knowshon Moreno.

Any of the four players drafted after Moreno could be placed here, but second-round pick Darcel McBath was taken at No. 48 overall and managed to last just two seasons with the team.

He was cut ahead of the 2011 season and the team gave up on him that quick. He would have short stints with both the Jacksonville Jaguars and San Francisco 49ers but was out of the league during the 2013 season.

He ended up playing in just 20 games for the Broncos and he had 39 tackles and two interceptions. One of those interceptions came at the expense of Peyton Manning, which would probably be McBath’s career highlight.

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