The 2023 NFL Draft is just over one week away. The Denver Broncos won't have a pick until the third round, meaning that the team will need to try and find the best value that it can after the first 66 players are selected.
The Broncos have been good in the past at finding great players in the later rounds, prompting this list of value picks. This will not include players drafted early on in the draft, as first and second-round picks are generally supposed to bring value to the team.
But the best picks in every draft as those that are made later on, bringing great value when it's not necessarily expected. Just ask the New England Patriots, who took this guy with the No. 199 overall pick in the 1999 draft. That kind of worked out.
The Broncos have hit on several late-round gems as well. So many, in fact, that many honorable mentions will have to be included outside the top 10 of this list.
Broncos best all-time value draft picks
Honorable mentions
Paul Howard, OL- 3rd round, 1973, BYU: A steady and dependable offensive lineman for the Broncos, Howard spent his entire 14-year playing career in Denver.
Mike Harden, S- 5th round, 1980, Michigan: Harden was a hard-hitting safety that spent nine years in Denver and had 33 interceptions while with the team.
Sammy Winder, RB- 5th round, 1982, Southern Mississippi: Winder's entire 9-year career was spent in Denver and his 5,427 career rushing yards still rank third on the team's all-time list.
Mark Jackson, WR- 6th round, 1986, Purdue: Jackson spent seven years in Denver where he was part of the "Three Amigos" wide receiver trio. He was also on the receiving end of the touchdown that tied the game in the 1986 AFC Championship Game against the Cleveland Browns following the famous "Drive".
Mike Anderson, RB- 6th round, 2000, Utah: Mike Anderson was the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2000 following a season in which he rushed for nearly 1,500 yards and 15 touchdowns. He also still holds the Broncos' single-game rushing mark of 251 yards.
Elvis Dumervil, DE- 4th round, 2006, Louisville: Elvis Dumervil fell in the draft due to his height (5-foot-11) but he became one of the best pass-rushers in team history and would have had an even longer career with the team if not for a fax machine foul up by his agent in 2013.
Brandon Marshall, WR- 4th round, 2006, Central Florida: A player who would have made the top 10 if he spent more time with the Broncos, Marshall did much of his damage with other teams but finished his career with over 12,000 yards receiving.
Tyrone Braxton was drafted all the way in round 12 in the 1987 NFL Draft out of North Dakota State, a school that has become big on football but wasn't nearly as big at that time.
Braxton was never seen as an excellent player, but he worked hard and seemed to always make a play when it was needed. He was that guy. He wasn't flashly and he was often overlooked, but he became a player the team could rely on throughout his career.
Braxton spent the first seven seasons of his career in Denver before playing with the Miami Dolphins for one season. But when Mike Shanahan became the team's new coach he brought Braxton back and that is when his real value was shown.
Braxton made the Pro Bowl in 1996 after tying for the league lead in interceptions. He also helped the team to back-to-back Super Bowl wins, solidifying himself as one of the better defensive players in team history.
Many NFL fans know Tom Jackson only from his time with ESPN as part of the great highlight show NFL Primetime, but for 14 seasons prior to that, he was a major piece of the Broncos' "Orange Crush" defense.
Jackson was small for a linebacker, even in those days, but he was instrumental in the team's first appearance in the Super Bowl.
Long before the NFL tracked tackles, Jackson was a tackling machine while also registering 13 sacks and 20 interceptions for his career. He was a First-Team All-Pro in 1977 and made the second team in each of the subsequent years. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in all three of those seasons as well.
The Orange Crush defense was truly one of the best defensive units the league has ever seen. While Randy Gradishar has long been snubbed of his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Jackson deserves his kudos as well.
The Broncos chose a kicker in the third round of the 1993 draft, which is generally a bit high to take one. But this pick paid off.
Jason Elam played 15 seasons for the Broncos and in that time, became one of the best kickers in NFL history. This list, compiled recently, has him at No. 24 all-time. I would argue he should be higher than that.
With 1,786 points, Elam is easily the team's all-time leading scorer and he may never be caught. He has nearly twice as many points as the man in second place, Brandon McManus.
But Elam was different. Not only did he have a powerful leg, one that would tie a league record 63-yard field goal that had stood for nearly 30 years at the time, but he was also very dependable. Watching games, you always felt comfortable when Elam trotted on the field that three points were about to be put on the board.
Gary Kubiak finds his spot on this list because his value to the team went far beyond his playing days.
Kubiak was selected in the same draft that John Elway was and he would go on to become No. 7's backup quarterback for the next nine seasons. Though Kubiak was not asked to do much on the field, he was invaluable to Elway in helping him prepare for games.
That would lead to Kubiak entering the coaching ranks following his playing days and he became one of the best offensive minds in the business. After being hired as Shanahan's offensive coordinator in 1995, he would help the team reach and win two Super Bowls.
Kubiak returned later down the road, this time as the team's head coach, winning Super Bowl 50.
Kubiak will always be one of the most beloved figures in team history. Between the playing field, coaching from the sideline and finally as a senior advisor, he spent a total of 24 seasons with the franchise.
Lyle Alzado was drafted in 1971 out of tiny Yankton College in South Dakota. He spent his entire college career in the NAIA and was discovered by a Broncos scout, almost by accident.
Alzado was a major force on the Denver defensive line and during his eight-year career there, he unofficially registered 64.5 sacks for the team but even after his time in Denver was done, he was still a defensive beast for both the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Raiders.
Despite that, Alzado is still more remembered for what he did off of the field, by most.
He left the Broncos after being traded to the Browns following a contract dispute. He would later fight Muhammad Ali in an exhibition boxing match at Mile High Stadium and then played for the hated Raiders.
He would then become the face of steroid abuse among athletes and was very honest about the bad choice that he made in doing so. He would pass away at the age of 43 years old following a battle with cancer.
But on the field, Alzado was a great player and is often overlooked. To this day, his 112 career sacks still rank 37th on the league's all-time list. He made the Pro Bowl twice with the Broncos and had things been different, would likely still be looked at as one of the best defensive players the team ever had.
Steve Foley was drafted in 1975 by played one season for the Jacksonville Express of the World Football League before joining the Broncos in 1976.
Another player who is often overlooked (he's not even in the Ring of Fame), Foley spent 11 solid seasons with the Broncos and helped the team reach Super Bowl XII. He was also still on the roster when the Broncos went back to the big game in Super Bowl XXI.
Foley never made the Pro Bowl and never saw his name among the best players in the league, but he sure had a knack for getting the football.
To date, his 44 career interceptions are still the most ever by a Broncos player and he had to take out Goose Gonsoulin to take the top spot, which is no small feat and even more impressive when you consider that he was an eighth-round pick.
As the NFL began to shorten the amount of rounds in the draft, Tom Nalen was chosen toward the end of the 1994 draft. In fact, there were only 222 picks in that draft and he was chosen at No. 218.
He went on to become the best center in the history of the Broncos by a pretty wide margin.
Nalen spent 15 years in the middle of Denver's offensive line, working with John Elway, Jake Plummer and Jay Cutler. He played in 194 career games for the team. Only Elway and Elam played in more.
But he didn't just play in games. He was the best center in football for much of that time. He made the Pro Bowl five times, including four years in a row from 1997-2000. He was also named a First-Team All-Pro twice and is a member of the Broncos' Ring of Fame.
The Broncos have had some decent centers since the retirement of Nalen, such as Matt Paradis, but the team will be hard-pressed to ever find another one like him.
One of the best defensive players the Broncos ever had, some fans still feel he belongs in the Hall of Fame.
Karl Mecklenburg was somehow found in the twelfth round of the famed 1983 draft and he would spent his entire 12-year career in Denver. Over that time, he was the force in the middle of the Broncos' defense.
Mecklenburg made six Pro Bowls and was named to the All-Pro first team four times.
He had over 1,100 career tackles, five interceptions and 14 fumble recoveries. His 79 career sacks still rank third on the team's all-time list, making him an easy choice for the team's Ring of Fame.
It will be tough for Mecklenburg to ever reach the Hall of Fame (especially if Gradishar continues to be left out) but he certainly has the numbers for that to at least be discussed.
It's nothing short of miraculous that the Broncos found a player as talented as Shannon Sharpe in the seventh round of the 1990 draft. In fact, there were seven other tight ends chosen before him.
Eric Green
Mike Jones
Jess Anderson
Jackie Harris
Charles Arbuckle
Derrick Walker
Scott Galbraith
Some of those guys had decent careers, but Sharpe went on to be one of the best tight ends in league history, helping the Broncos win two Super Bowls while posting massive numbers that still hold up against almost any tight end today.
Sharpe caught 645 passes for 8,439 yards and 55 touchdowns. If you were to compile a list of the five best players in Broncos history, it would be tough to leave Sharpe off.
He went to eight Pro Bowls and was a First-Team All-Pro four times. In 2011, he was forever recognized for his career efforts with his election into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
It's difficult to quantify in words what Terrell Davis meant to the Broncos and just how much value this pick really had.
No, it wasn't like what the Patriots got in the sixth round when they drafted Tom Brady, but it might be the second-best sixth-round pick in history. Davis came out of nowhere for the Broncos to be the best running back in team history and possibly the best at that time in the league at a time when Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith were still playing.
Davis went to three Pro Bowls and he is on a short list of players to ever rush for 2,000 yards in a season. He is perhaps the main reason the team won Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII and for that, his value as a sixth-round pick is tremendous.
Despite playing only seven years in the league because injuries forced him off the field, Davis still had the numbers to make it to the Hall of Fame, something few players with such a short tenure have been able to accomplish.