In response to the fanpost about the horrible defensive drafts that the broncos have had since 1994 (and possibly before) I decided to look at a team that is known for its defense (and that has been for some time) - the Steelers. If we assume that they have built their strong D through the draft, then let's look at the defensive draft results from the from 1995 and beyond

1995

120      Oliver Gibson   DE       Notre Dame

125      Donta Jones     LB       Nebraska

151      Lethon Flowers            DB       Georgia Tech

161      Lance Brown    DB       Indiana

199      Barron Miles    DB       Nebraska

1996

72        Steve Conley    LB       Arkansas

126      Earl Holmes      LB       Florida A&M

163      Israel Raybon   DE       North Alabama

200      Orpheus Roye  DE       Florida State

242      Carlos Emmons            LB       Arkansas State

1997

24        Chad Scott       DB       Maryland

91        Mike Vrabel     DE       Ohio State

186      Daryl Porter     DB       Boston College

199      Rod Manuel     DE       Oklahoma

1998

41        Jeremy Staat     DT       Arizona State

117      Deshea Townsend        DB       Alabama

137      Jason Simmons DB       Arizona State

186      Ryan Olson      DT       Colorado

221      Angel Rubio     DT       SE Missouri State

1999

59        Scott Shields    DB       Weber State

73        Joey Porter       LB       Colorado State

109      Aaron Smith     DE       Northern Colorado

214      Antonio Dingle  DT       Virginia

219      Chad Kelsay    LB       Nebraska

2000

72        Kendrick Clancy          NT       Mississippi

77        Hank Poteat     CB       Pittsburgh

137      Clark Haggans  LB       Colorado State

173      Chris Combs    DE       Duke

2001

19        Casey Hampton            NT       Texas

39        Kendrell Bell    ILB      Georgia

181      Rodney Bailey  DE       Ohio State

182      Roger Knight    LB       Wisconsin

2002

94        Chris Hope       DB       Florida State

128      Larry Foote      ILB      Michigan

212      LaVar Glover   CB       Cincinnati

242      Brett Keisel      DE       Brigham Young

2003

16        Troy Polamalu  DB       USC

59        Alonzo Jackson            LB       Florida State

125      Ike Taylor        CB       Louisiana-Lafayette

2004

38        Ricardo Colclough        CB       Tusculum

145      Nathaniel Adibi DE       Virginia Tech

212      Eric Taylor       DT       Memphis

2005

62        Bryant McFadden        DB       Florida State

166      Rian Wallace    LB       Temple

228      Shaun Nua       DE       Brigham Young

2006

3          83        Anthony Smith  DB       Syracuse

4          133      Orien Harris     DT       Miami (Fla.)

2007

15        Lawrence Timmons      LB       Florida State

46        LaMarr Woodley         LB       Michigan

132      Ryan McBean  DE       Oklahoma State

170      William Gay      CB       Louisville

2008

88        Bruce Davis      LB       UCLA

188      Mike Humpal   OLB    Iowa

194      Ryan Mundy     FS        West Virginia

2009

32        Ziggy Hood      DT       Missouri

96        Keenan Lewis  DB       Oregon State

168      Joe Burnett       DB       Central Florida

205      Ra'Shon Harris DT       Oregon

2010

52        Jason Worilds   DE VT

116      Thaddeus Gibson          DE       Ohio State

164      Crezdon Butler CB       Clemson

166      Stevenson Sylvester      LB       Utah

242      Doug Worthington        DT       Ohio State

By the number the Steelers have drafted 63 defensive players while the Broncos have drafted 53 - so less than one more defensive player per year. But the thing that jumps out at you is the fact that the Steelers have players they drafted on the defensive side of the ball who have gone to multiple pro-bowls, who have won defensive player of the year (Harrison - UCFA, Palomalu) and who might be a future Hall of Famer (Palomalu). The Broncos have 9 guys who have made the pro-bowl (IIRC) - Mobley, Pryce, Wilson, O'Neal, Gold(?), Hayward, DJ, DWill, Elvis. Of those only Pryce, Wilson, DJ and Mobley went to multiple probowls. DWill (RIP) would have IMHO.

Pro-bowl defenders by year 

2011: Pitt - 0, Den - 1

2010: Pitt - 3, Den - 3 (Doom, BDawk, CB)

2009: Pitt - 3, Den -  0

2008: Pitt - 3, Den - 2 (CB, Lynch)

2007: Pitt - 2, Den - 3 (JL, CB, Al Wilson)

2006: Pitt - 2. Den - 3 (same as 2007)

2005: Pit  - 3, Den - 3 (same as 2007)

2004: Pit - 1, Den - 1 (AW)

2003: Pit - 1, Den - 1 (Pryce)

2002: Pit - 2, Den - 3 (TP, AW, O'Neal)

2001: Pit - 1, Den - 1 (TP)

2000: Pit - 0, Den - 1 (TP)

1999: Pit - 0, Den - 2 (Romo, Atwater)

1998: Pit - 0, Den - 2 (same) 

1997: Pit - 2, Den - 2 (SA, Neil Smith)

1996: Pit - 2, Den - 1 (SA)

I am sure that there are many teams that that we could show who have had much greater success than the Broncos drafting defensive players. As Broncos fans we can only hope the the recently drafted players have started a trend of getting defensive players int he draft who are above average talent (or better).