There are some impressive "one-hit wonder" players littered throughout Denver Broncos' history. Unfortunately, these royal carriages turned back into pumpkins when the clock eventually struck midnight, but there have been some outstanding players throughout Broncos' history whose production only lasted a season, maybe a little more.
There are some players who, if you were to extrapolate their best year with the Broncos over the course of an entire NFL career, they might be in Canton. What are the best one-hit-wonder seasons in Denver Broncos' history?
We don't have to go too far back, because many of the top one-hit wonder seasons happened within the last 30 or so years.
Top 5 one-hit wonder seasons in Denver Broncos history
5. Mike Croel, LB (1991)
Linebacker Mike Croel actually played for the Denver Broncos from 1991-1994, but his career got off to a roaring start that was never really matched later on.
Croel is actually one of four Denver Broncos players to win Rookie of the Year in the Super Bowl era. The others, for you trivia nuts out there, are running back Mike Anderson (2000), running back Clinton Portis (2002), and outside linebacker Von Miller (2011).
Croel caught lightning in a bottle during that rookie season in which he racked up 10 sacks and 84 total tackles in 13 games. Unfortunately, he would only have 10 more sacks in the next three seasons combined for the Broncos. He ended up bouncing around the league a little bit before stints in NFL Europe with the Rhein Fire and then in the XFL in 2001 with the Los Angeles Xtreme.