Former Denver Broncos General Manager John Elway did a lot of good during his time with the Broncos, but he has once again missed the mark on the QB position. Elway is back making headlines about the QB position, recently having this to say:
John Elway believed his biggest mistake as The Broncos’ GM was not drafting Josh Allen @PardonMyTake #BroncosCountry pic.twitter.com/7eCwalnU93
— Barstool Denver (@BarstoolDenver) July 29, 2024
During the 2018 NFL Draft, the Denver Broncos decided to take pass rusher Bradley Chubb over Josh Allen, who went a few picks later to the Buffalo Bills. The Bills have sinced turned into one of the better, most consistent teams in the NFL, as Denver ended up trading Bradley Chubb to the Miami Dolphins a few years ago.
Well, Elway makes the claim that his biggest mistake of his GM career was not picking Allen, but I cannot believe even the great Elway himself is being this short-sighted about the player. Josh Allen was an incredibly raw prospect coming out of Wyoming, as he completed just 56.3% of his passes in college.
He was also the worst starting QB in the NFL during his first two seasons, so it became clear quite early that he was raw and needed a ton of development. Well, the Buffalo Bills clearly thought that they had the coaching staff in place to develop Allen, and they were not wrong. Their offensive coordinator was Brian Daboll, who is now a head coach, and their QBs coach was David Culley, who had been in the NFL since 1994 and brought nearly 25 years of NFL experience to the Bills.
Well, in 2018, who did the Denver Broncos have on their offensive staff? Their offensive coordinator was Bill Musgrave, and their QBs coach was Mike Sullivan. Further, this was when Vance Joseph was head coach of the Denver Broncos, so his staff was entering their second year with the team, so their seats were that much warmer after how poorly 2017 went.
The Buffalo Bills coaching staff was much more secure in their jobs and had just come off of a playoff appearance the year before. They had the time and resources to take a huge chance on a QB like Allen, and it made sense that they stuck it out with him. Let's be honest here; the Denver Broncos fanbase would have chased Allen out of town given how bad he was during his first two seasons.
Plus, I am not sure the coaching staff Denver had would have been able to properly develop Josh Allen. For John Elway, not taking Josh Allen was not at all his worst mistake as GM of the Denver Broncos.