Little Known Broncos Facts: The Last Man Drafted

There has been much made about the fact that the Denver Broncos failed to sign a first round draft pick until 1967 when they landed RB Floyd Little. Little was just the first of many first round picks that we have come to know and love. RB Bobby Anderson, TE Riley Odoms, LB Randy Gradishar, CB Louis Wright, G Tom Glassic, S Steve Atwater -- these are just a few of the names that come readily to mind when we think about the players Denver has picked in the first round. Yes, I did leave out John Elway since he was not drafted by the Broncos.

But what about the last man drafted? Is that the sound of crickets? Not too many names leap to mind. What about these players -- Denver's version of Mr. Irrelevant. How did those final picks fare and did any of them go on to be impact players as a Bronco?

Take a jump and find out.

Let's take a look at those players were the last player picked by Denver in each of the Broncos' drafts. While it is true, that the last picked player is often irrelevant to the team, and while it is also true that 28 out of Denver's 52 last picks have never played in the NFL, there are a few names on the list that you might just find surprising.

The 1960s
There were nine players drafted after Denver's inaugural season. Six never played in the AFL, nor in the NFL. Three ended up playing for a combined 22 seasons for other NFL teams (two of them had accepted draft bids from NFL teams during the time that the AFL was competing with the NFL for talent).

Year	Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Career
1961	30	233	Dave Mills	HB	NE Missouri St	Never played
1962	34	266	Steve Stonebreaker	LB	Detroit Mercy	Played 1962-68 for Minnesota, Baltimore Colts and New Orleans
1963	29	229	Kern Carson	HB	San Diego St	Played 1962-65 for New York Jets and San Diego
1964	26	201	Bob Berry	QB	Oregon	Played 1965-75 for Minnesota and Atlanta
1965	20	153	Terry Metchner	G	Albion	Never played
1966	20	175	Cliff Hysell	T	Montana St	Never played
1967	17	425	Wayne Valley	T	Oregon St	Never played
1968	17	438	Steve Grady	RB	USC	Never played
1969	17	425	Buster O'Brien	QB	Richmond	Never played

The 1970s
There were ten players drafted as the last pick of the Broncos in the 1970s. Eight of these players never played in the NFL. One player played a combined nine seasons for three different NFL teams. One player played three seasons for the Broncos (see below for his statistics).

Year	Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Career
1970	17	427	Frank Kalfoss	K	Montana St	Never played
1971	17	425	Jack Simcsak	K	Virginia Tech	Never played
1972	17	420	Lou Harris	RB	USC	Never played
1973	17	425	Kenneth Morgan	TE	Elon	Never played
1974	17	432	Boyd Brown	TE	Alcorn St	Played 1974-76 for Denver. Appeared in 40 games with 0 starts. Returned 6 kicks for 97 yards. Caught 1 pass for 14 yards.
1975	17	433	Lester Sherman	RB	College not specified	Never played
1976	17	474	Randy Cozens	DE	Pittsburgh	Never played
1977	12	324	Scott Levenhagen	TE	Western Illinois	Never played
1978	11	305	Lacy Brumley	T	Clemson	Never played
1979	12	325	Dave Jacobs	K	Syracuse	Played 3 seasons between 1979 and 1987, 1 season each for New York Jets, Cleveland and Philadelphia

The 1980s
Out of the ten last picked players in the 1980s, eight never played in the NFL. The other two played a combined 24 seasons for the Broncos (see below for their statistics).

Year	Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Career
1980	11	297	Phil Farris	WR	North Carolina	Never played
1981	12	321	Mandel Robinson	RB	Wyoming	Never played
1982	12	327	Brian Clark	G	Clemson	Never played
1983	12	310	Karl Mecklenburg	LB	Minnesota	Played 1983-94 for Denver. Appeared in 180 games with 141 starts. Recorded 79 sacks, 5 interceptions, 16 forced fumbles, 14 fumble recoveries, 2 fumbles returned for touchdowns, 1104 tackles, 14 assists, 1 safety. Was a Hall of Fame semi-finalist in 2012.
1984	12	326	Murray Jarman	WR	Clemson	Never played
1985	12	334	Dan Lynch	G	Washington St	Never played
1986	11	301	Thomas Dendy	RB	South Carolina	Never played
1987	12	334	Tyrone Braxton	DB	North Dakota St	Played 1987-93 for Denver then again from 1995-99. Appeared in 165 games with 132 starts. Recorded 3.5 sacks, 34 interceptions, 4 interceptions returned for touchdowns, 8 forced fumbles, 10 fumble recoveries, 746 tackles, 74 assists.
1988	12	332	Johnny Carter	DT	Grambling St	Never played
1989	12	320	John Javis	WR	Howard	Never played

The 1990s
Only one out of this collection of ten last picks never played in the NFL. Three went on to play a combined eleven seasons for other NFL franchises while six logged a combined 25 seasons for the Broncos (though to be accurate, 20 of those 25 seasons were logged by just two players).

Year	Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Career
1990	10	275	Anthony Thompson	LB	East Carolina	Played 1990 for Denver. Appeared in 10 games with 0 starts and no recorded statistics.
1991	11	284	Shawn Moore	QB	Virginia	Played 1992 for Denver. Appeared in 3 games with 0 starts. Completed 17 of 34 passes for 232 yards with 0 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. Was sacked 6 times and recorded 39 yards rushing on 8 scrambles. He fumbled 3 times.
1992	12	334	John Granby	WR	Virginia Tech	Played 1992 for Denver. Appeared in 4 games with 0 starts and had no recorded statistics.
1993	8	210	Brian Stablein	WR	Ohio St	Played 1995-00 for Indianapolis and Detroit
1994	7	281	Tom Nalen	C	Boston College	Played 1994-07 for Denver. Appeared in 194 games with 188 starts. Caught 1 pass for -1 yard in 1997.
1995	7	222	Byron Chamberlain	TE	Wayne St	Played 1995-00 for Denver. Appeared in 73 games with 0 starts. Caught 72 passes for 964 yards with 3 touchdowns. Only fumbled twice.
1996	7	236	Brian Gragert	P	Wyoming	Never played
1997	4	124	Cory Gilliard	DB	Ball St	Played 1997 for Cincinnati
1998	7	219	Nate Wayne	LB	Mississippi	Played 1998-99 for Denver. Appeared in 16 games with 0 starts. Recorded 2 sacks, 8 tackles, 2 assists, 1 forced fumble.
1999	7	238	Justin Swift	TE	Kansas St	Played 1999-02 for Philadelphia and San Francisco.

The 2000s
Four of the ten players picked last by Denver between 2000 and 2009 never played in the NFL. The other six played a combined 17 seasons for the Broncos.

Year	Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Career
2000	7	246	Leroy Fields	WR	Jackson St	Never played
2001	6	190	Kevin Kasper	WR	Iowa	Played 2001-02 for Denver. Appeared in 14 games with 5 starts. Returned 29 kicks for 765 yards.
2002	7	231	Monsanto Pope	DT	Virginia	Played 2002-05 for Denver. Appeared in 48 games with 21 starts. Recorded 6 sacks, 3 passes defensed, 1 forced fumble, 49 tackles and 13 assists.
2003	7	235	Ahmaad Galloway	RB	Alabama	Never played
2004	7	250	Bradlee Van Pelt	QB	Colorado St	Played 2005 for Denver. Appeared in 3 games with 0 starts. Completed 2 of 8 passes for 76 yards. Scored 1 rushing touchdown.
2005	7	239	Paul Ernster	K	Northern Arizona	Played 2005-07 for Denver. Appeared in 18 games with 0 starts. Recorded 85 punts for 3516 yards and a 41.4 average.
2006	6	198	Greg Eslinger	C	Minnesota	Never played
2007	4	121	Marcus Thomas	DT	Florida	Played 2007-11 for Denver. Appeared in 76 games with 34 starts. Recorded 1 sack, 2 interceptions, 4 passes defensed, 1 forced fumble, 2 fumble recoveries, 106 tackles and 44 assists.
2008	7	227	Peyton Hillis	FB	Arkansas	Played 2008-09 for Denver. Appeared in 26 games with 8 starts. Rushed 81 times for 397 yards, a 4.9 average, with 6 touchdowns. Caught 18 passes for 198 yards with 1 touchdown.
2009	7	225	Blake Schlueter	C	TCU	Never played

The 2010s
There have been three players drafted thus far in the 2010s. One has never played in the NFL. One has been on Denver's roster but made no appearances thus far. One was just drafted.

Year	Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Career
2010	7	232	Jammie Kirlew	DE	Indiana	Never played
2011	7	247	Jeremy Beal	DL	Oklahoma	On roster in 2011 but no appearances
2012	6	188	Danny Trevathan	OLB	Kentucky	has yet to be decided

These were the last players picked by the Broncos since their inception in 1960. Many have disappeared into the mists of the non-NFL world. A few have risen up to make an impact as a Bronco. All of them deserve to be remembered.

GO BRONCOS!!!!