Top 10 wide receivers in Denver Broncos history
The Denver Broncos have had some legendary WRs through the years. Who are the best?
You could argue that two of the four quarterbacks on the NFL's "Mount Rushmore" of the position played for the Denver Broncos. John Elway and Peyton Manning are two all-time greats, and thanks to having two of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, the Denver Broncos also have some incredible, Hall of Fame-worthy wide receivers. Even if not every receiver in Broncos history is Hall of Fame worthy, there are certainly a wide variety of players who contributed to some of the best teams in history.
Differentiating between some of these top 10 receivers was not easy. For some guys, it was almost a roll of the dice. But when you look over the course of franchise history, I think it's fair to say that these 10 receivers are undoubtedly the best to play for the Denver Broncos.
But we'll start off with an honorable mention...
Top 10 wide receivers in Denver Broncos history
Honorable mention: Eric Decker
If Eric Decker had stuck around, how different could things have been for the Denver Broncos' offense? The Broncos wound up bringing in Emmanuel Sanders at a lower price in the 2014 offseason when Decker left for the New York Jets, so maybe we don't really want to live in that alternate reality.
But there's no denying that Decker was a playmaker and one of Peyton Manning's favorite targets. It was brutal when he left the team in the 2014 offseason because the Broncos were coming off of that record-setting 2013 campaign, where Decker had averaged almost 15 yards per reception. In four seasons with the Broncos, Decker caught 222 passes for over 3,000 yards and 33 touchdowns. The majority of that production came when Peyton Manning signed, but we can't discount Decker's tremendous 2011 season when he actually led the team in targets, receptions, yards, and receiving touchdowns.
That 2011 Broncos team was much more known for its ability to run the ball with Tim Tebow and Willis McGahee, but Decker was their most consistent threat in the passing game.