3 Broncos draft picks who shockingly never played an NFL snap
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A few notable former Denver Broncos draft picks shockingly never got their careers off the ground. We look back at some high picks that didn't work out.
Sometimes, even the best-laid plans of mice and men go awry, am I right? The NFL Draft is an inexact science, frustratingly so. You can go about things exactly the way you're supposed to, using analytics, getting players at excellent value spots, addressing needs, taking advantage of the depth of a class -- sometimes none of it matters.
We know he's not alone in this, but Denver Broncos general manager George Paton is one executive who loves to have as many "darts" to throw in the NFL Draft as possible. Why? The more darts you throw, the better shot you've got at a bullseye. It's pretty simple logic. Throughout the history of the Denver Broncos, there have been some darts thrown that might as well have been thrown in the pitch dark.
There are some darts that didn't even hit the board. We're not just talking about draft picks who turned out to be busts on the field, either. We're talking about high draft choices who never even took the field for a single snap in the NFL, with the Denver Broncos or otherwise.
3 notable Denver Broncos draft picks who never played an NFL snap
1. Paul Toviessi, DE -- 2nd round (51st overall), 2001
The 2001 NFL Draft was not overly kind to the Denver Broncos, at least not from their own selections. The Broncos used their first-round pick in the 2001 NFL Draft on cornerback Willie Middlebrooks, who played four seasons with the team and didn't have a single interception.
In the second round, they took a defensive end out of Marshall named Paul Toviessi, an explosive pass rusher who was supposed to become one of the team's key fixtures on the defensive line. Unfortunately, injuries prevented that from ever happening. Toviessi, at one point, had three surgeries in less than a year's time, and his career was over before it ever got off the ground.
The Broncos had actually traded up to acquire Toviessi in the 2001 NFL Draft, so they obviously felt like he had the ability to contribute immediately. Unfortunately, this particular season of time involved way too much devastating knee injury news for the Broncos as legendary running back Terrell Davis also suffered career-ending knee injuries around the same time.