5 things Denver Broncos fans should be thankful for this Thanksgiving

2. John Elway

Former franchise QB, Super Bowl champion and General Manager John Elway is still seeing his success play a part in the Denver Broncos, even if he's not involved with the team. Elway has had a hand in every Super Bowl that the Broncos have won; two as a player and one as the GM of the team.

Many people bashed Elway for his poor drafting, but we're seeing many of his players play crucial roles for the Denver Broncos this year, including left tackle Garett Bolles, center Lloyd Cushenberry, wide receiver Courtland Sutton, (sometimes) wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, inside linebacker Josey Jewell, and safety Justin Simmons.

All of those players were brought to the Denver Broncos via the NFL Draft while Elway was the GM. He definitely made some questionable draft decisions as GM, but hasn't everyone else? George Paton, when he was originally hired, called this team a "sleeping giant" and a large reason for that was because of the core that John Elway and his associates had assembled.

It's definitely taken some time to get off the ground, but now we are beginning to see just how good this team can be, and without Elway hitting on some of his draft picks, the Denver Broncos are not where they stand now, riding a four-game winning streak. I could even go as far as to say his Bradley Chubb draft pick helped the team land Sean Payton, so Elway deserves credit for that as well.