The Denver Broncos have not had a ton of luck at the top of some of their recent NFL Drafts, and their top two picks over the six drafts are insanely depressing. To be fair, many other NFL teams hav had downright awful drafts in recent memory. The Broncos are not alone in this, but doing well in the draft is how winning teams get built and how they stay winning.
You can look at the most elite and sustainable teams in the league, and while they have many things in common, the most obvious one is the core of their team being built through the NFL Draft. Since 2018, the Denver Broncos have made some nice selections in the NFL including players like Courtland Sutton, Patrick Surtain II, and Quinn Meinerz.
However, their recent history is largely a disappointment. Let's look at the team's top two picks in the NFL Draft since 2018.
2018 NFL Draft: Bradley Chubb, Courtland Sutton
Starting off with the selection of Bradley Chubb, who was arguably the best defensive player in the 2018 NFL Draft, was a great pick for the Broncos. He nearly set the rookie sack record and was supposed to form a lethal duo with Von Miller, but was traded in 2022 to the Miami Dolphins and simply cannot stay healthy.
Courtland Sutton is one of the longest-tenured Broncos and missed most of the 2020 NFL Season with a torn ACL. Not a player who racks up a ton of yards, Sutton caught a career-high 10 TD passes in 2023 and has had a nice NFL career thus far since being a second-round pick. Sutton would do best alongside a true WR1.