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Answers in Search of A Question: 10 Late Rounders and 3 Super Bowls

"We learn more by looking for the answer to a question and not finding it than we do from learning the answer itself." -- Lloyd Alexander.

Denver vs Washington, Super Bowl XXII

    In the first two parts of this series, we looked at the Broncos' draft picks from round 5 and later in the 1960s and 1970s.  In this article, we will be looking at the 78 players drafted in the later rounds by the Broncos from 1980 through 1989.  The 1980s saw the Broncos rise quickly from the bottom dwellers of the 1960s to the middle of the pack teams of the 1970s to true prominence as a team that would be consistently in contention come playoff time, as the Broncos made their way into three Super Bowls during that decade.  What role did the late round draft picks play in that success?

More After the Fold

    In their first decade (1960-1969) the Broncos never experienced a winning season.  Their best season was in 1962, when under the leadership of HC Jack Faulker, QB Frank Tripucka, RB Donnie Stone, and WR Lionel Taylor, the Broncos posted a 7-7 record.  The rest of the 60s, from a W/L point of view, was rather forgettable.  The 1970s saw Denver begin to establish respectability as a professional football franchise, by posting their first winning season in 1973, on their way to having 5 winning seasons over the 6 years.  It was during this time that Denver made it's first three post season appearances:

1977 -- 12-2 in the regular season, beating Pittsburgh 34-21 in the Divisional round, defeating the Oakland Raiders 20-17 in the AFC Championship, only to lose to Dallas 27-10 in Super Bowl XII.

1978 -- 10-6 in the regular season, lost to Pittsburgh 33-10 in the Divisional round.

1979 -- 10-6 in the regular season, lost to the Houston Oilers 13-7 in the Wildcard round.

    The 1980s saw the Broncos build upon that early start.  After an 8-8 season in 1980, HC Red Miller was replaced by Dan Reeves.  In the remaining 9 years of the 1980s, Reeves' Broncos posted 7 winning seasons, 1 8-8 season, and 1 losing season (when they went 2-7 in the strike shortened 1982 season).  Under Reeves, Denver appeared in the post season 5 times, including appearances in Super Bowls XXI, XXII and XXIV.

    A part of achieving these successes lie in the 78 late round (5th or later) draft picks made by the Broncos.  During the 1980s, the NFL still had 12 rounds in the draft.  36 of those choices failed to make the team, nor caught on with any other team.  However, as we will see, among the 42 players that did make the team we find some notable names from Broncos history:  Keith Bishop, Sammy Winder, and Karl Mecklenberg to name a few. 


1980 -- 5 Players (+3 that did not make the team, nor any other team)

Round
Player
Position
Years w/Broncos
Notes
5
Mike Harden
DB
1980-1988
Started 98 out of 128 games; made 1 sack; intercepted 33 passes for 643 yards and 4 TDs; recovered 11 fumbles
5
Laval Short
NT
1980
Played 15 games for Denver
6
Keith Bishop
OG
1980-1989
Played 129 games, started 87; elected to the Pro Bowl in 1986 & 1987; Elected 2nd team All Pro in 1986 & 1987
9
Greg Bracelin
LB
1980
Played 12 games for the Broncos; recorded no stats
10
Virgil Seay
WR
N/A
Did not play for the Broncos


Four of the five players to make pro rosters started their careers with Denver; the most notable were Mike Harden and Keith Bishop.


1981 -- 2 Players (+5 that did not make the team, nor any other team)

Round
Player
Position
Years w/Broncos
Notes
5
Ken Lanier
OT
1981-1992, 1994
Started 165 out of 177 games; recovered 4 fumbles
7
Steve Busick
LB
1981-1985
Played in 73 games, started 47; made 2 interceptions and recovered 4 fumbles


Both players started their careers with the Broncos.  Lanier played 12 years with Denver, spent one year away then closed out his career with the Broncos.


1982 -- 3 Players (+3 that did not make the team, nor any other team)

Round
Player
Position
Years w/Broncos
Notes
5
Sammy Winder
RB
1982-1990
Started 83 out of 127 games; rushed 1495 times for 5427 yards and 39 TDs; caught 197 passes for 1302 yards and 9 TDs; returned 5 kicks for 66 yards; led the team in rushing from 1983 to 1987; elected to 2 Pro Bowls (84 & 86); elected to 2nd Team All Pro (84)
9
Keith Uecker
OT
1982-1983
Played in 21 games, started twice
10
Ken Woodard
LB
1982-1986
Started 13 out of 73 games; recorded 11 sacks; Intercepted 2 passes with 1 TD; recovered 2 fumbles and returned 1 for a TD


This was a draft class that saw two players (Winder and Woodard) make strong contributions to the team.  Winder was the 2nd diamond in the rough found in the late rounds in the 1980s (the first being Keith Bishop).

1983 -- 6 Players (+3 that did not make the team, nor any other team)

Round
Player
Position
Years w/Broncos
Notes
6
Victor Heflin
DB
N/A
Did not play for Denver
7
Myron Dupree
DB
1983
Played in 16 games
8
Gary Kubiak
QB
1983-1991
Played 119 games, started 5; completed 173 passes for 1920 yards and 14 TDs with 16 Ints; rushed 65 times for 238 yards and 2 TDs; caught 1 pass for 20 yards; went on to become an assistant coach with the Broncos and eventually to become the HC of the Houston Texans
10
Walt Bowyer
DE
1983-1988
Started 18 games out of 61 played; recorded 6.5 sacks; intercepted 1 pass; recovered 2 fumbles
11
Don Bailey
C
N/A
Did not play for Denver
12
Karl Mecklenberg
LB
1983-1994
Known as the Albino Rhino, he started 141 out of 180 games for the Broncos; recorded 79 sacks; intercepted 5 passes; forced 16 fumbles; recovered 14 fumbles, including 2 returned for TDs; made 1104 tackles; elected to the Pro Bowl 6 times; elected 1st team All Pro 3 times; inducted into the Broncos Ring of Fame in 2001


An okay class so far as the number of players signed goes, this was a class that brought two player who will long remain a significant part of Broncos history: Gary Kubiak and Karl Mecklenberg.


1984 -- 7 Players (+1 that did not make the team, nor any other team)

Round
Player
Position
Years w/Broncos
Notes
6
Aaron Smith
LB
1984
Played 10 games; returned 1 kick for 2 yards
7
Clarence Kay
TE
1984-1992
Started 126 out of 135 games; caught 193 passes for 2136 yards and 13 TDs; returned 2 kicks for 10 yards
8
Winford Hood
OG
1984-1988
Played 47 games, started 9
8
Scott Garnett
NT
1984
Started 1 game out of 16; had 1 sack and recovered 1 fumble
9
Chris Brewer
RB
1984
Played in 13 games; rushed 10 times for 28 yards; caught 2 passes for 20 yards
10
Bobby Micho
TE
1986-1987
Drafted by the Broncos in 1984, played for San Diego in 1985, returned to the Broncos in 1986; played in 20 games with 3 starts; caught 25 passes for 242 yards and 2 TDs; rushed 4 times for 8 yards
11
Gene Lang
RB
1984-1987
Played 55 games, started 10; rushed 210 times for 757 yards and 10 TDs; caught 57 passes for 439 yards and 7 TDs; returned 61 kicks for 1323 yards


A good late round draft class in terms of getting production for the entire group.  The production however, with the exception of Clarence Kay and Gene Lang was minimal.


1985 -- 1 Players (+7 that did not make the team, nor any other team)

Round
Player
Position
Years w/Broncos
Notes
9
Daryl Smith
DB
N/A
Did not play for Denver


A disappointing late round draft class -- 8 players drafted only 1 established a pro career, and it wasn't with the Broncos.


1986 -- 6 Players (+2 that did not make the team, nor any other team)

Round
Player
Position
Years w/Broncos
Notes
5
Tony Colorito
NT
1986
Played 15 games; no recorded stats
6
Orson Mobley
TE
1986-1990
Played 61 games, started 31; caught 84 passes for 1019 yards with 4 TDs; returned 1 kick for 9 yards
6
Mark Jackson
WR
1986-1992
Started 68 out of 100 games; caught 276 passes for 4746 yards with 24 TDs; rushed 18 times for 69 yards and 1 TD; returned 4 kicks for 41 yards
7
Ray T Phillips
LB
N/A
Did not play for Denver
8
Bruce Klosterman
LB
1987-1989
Played 37 games for Denver; no recorded stats
9
Joe Thomas
WR
N/A
Did not play for Denver


Two notable Broncos came out of this set of late round picks:  Orson Mobley and Mark Jackson.  Both were contributors during Denver's Super Bowl runs.


1987 -- 5 Players (+3 that did not make the team, nor any other team)

Round
Player
Position
Years w/Broncos
Notes
6
Warren Marshall
RB
1987
Played 1 game for Denver
7
Wilbur Strozier
TE
N/A
Did not play for the Broncos
8
Dan Morgan
OG
N/A
Did not play for Denver
9
Bruce Plummer
DB
See Notes
Played 11 games in 1987, 8 games in 1988, 7 games in 1990, mixed in with tenures in Miami, Indianapolis, San Francisco and Philadelphia; intercepted 1 pass for Denver
12
Tyrone Braxton
DB
1987-1993, 1995-1999
Played 165 games, split by a season in Miami; started 132 games for the Broncos; recorded 3.5 sacks; intercepted 34 passes for 614 yards and 4 TDs; forced 8 fumbles; recovered 10 fumbles; was elected to 1 Pro Bowl (1996)


Tyrone Braxton  was the lone bright spot in an otherwise disappointing late round draft class.


1988 -- 2 Players (+5 that did not make the team, nor any other team)

Round
Player
Position
Years w/Broncos
Notes
7
Pat Kelly
TE
1988-1989
Played in 32 games; caught 4 passes for 17 yards
9
Mel Farr
RB
N/A
Did not play for Denver


Another disappointing draft class in the late rounds.

  
1989 -- 5 Players (+4 that did not make the team, nor any other team)

Round
Player
Position
Years w/Broncos
Notes
5
Darren Carrington
DB
1989
Played 16 games; intercepted 1 pass
7
Mel Bratton
RB
1989-1990
Played 32 games, started 6; rushed 57 times for 190 yards and 4 TDs; caught 39 passes for 349 yards and 4 TDs; returned 5 kicks for 57 yards
8
Paul Green
TE
1989
Made the team but did not play in any games
9
Monte Smith
OG
1989
Played in 14 games, never started
11
Richard Shelton
DB
1989
Played in 3 games, recorded no stats


Still another late round disappointment for the Broncos in terms of draft picks.  Bratton was the only serious contributor.  The majority of the picks started with the Broncos but ended their careers with other teams.


Some Observations


1)The 1980s saw two things begin for the Broncos: the team began their rise to being a consistently competitive and winning team, and more late round players began to have an impact on the fortunes of the Denver franchise.

2)From 1980 to 1989, the Broncos drafted 78 players in round 5 or later, the fewest late round picks to date.

3)Of those 78 players, 36 failed to make the Broncos or any other NFL team.

4)Of the 42 that were drafted and became pro football players, only 33 began their careers with the Broncos, the best percentage to date.

4)The average Broncos career for these 33 players was  4.5 years; an increase of over a year from the 1970s late round draft picks.

5)Broncos fans can celbrate some good things that came about, in part, because of the contributions of these 33 late round choices:
1982 -- Denver's only losing season, which came in a strike shortened year
1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1989 -- Playoff appearances
1986, 1987, 1989 -- Super Bowl Appearances
The addition of Mike Harden, Keith Bishop, Ken Lanier, Sammy Winder, Gary Kubiak, Karl Mecklenberg, Clarence Kay, Orson Mobley, Mark Jackson and Tyrone Braxton to the list of notable Broncos players who came out of the later rounds.

6)The drafts of the 1980s reflect the solidifying of the Broncos as a true Super Bowl competitor, and Denver's increasing ability to find impact players in the later rounds.