Denver Broncos: Is It Time to Ask If John Elway is Overrated?

The man won a Super Bowl at his current job, so calling Denver Broncos GM John Elway out for being overrated can be a bit dangerous.

Before getting into this it should be acknowledged that the man does have that ring and a lot of GMs can’t say that. He did a good enough job to get that done. This article is an attempt to remove the veil over this idea that he’s suddenly one of the best talent evaluators in the NFL. Based on what’s been seen over the course of his run in charge, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

The two drafts that laid the groundwork for that championship run were in 2010 and 2011 when superstars Demaryius Thomas and Von Miller were drafted. The man calling the shots at that time was not Elway but GM Brian Xanders. He also signed future Pro Bowl cornerback Chris Harris Jr. as an undrafted free agent during that span.

The pinnacle of the Elway era looks to be its beginning in 2012. He certainly started with a bang by securing future defensive stalwarts Derek Wolfe, Malik Jackson, and Danny Trevathan. He also, of course, signed future Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning in free agency. Two years later he put the finishing touches on by signing T.J. Ward, Aqib Talib, and DeMarcus Ware in free agency.

A year after that they won the Super Bowl. Not bad right?

Elway’s draft success has not kept the momentum going

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People were ready to declare Denver the next dynasty after crushing Carolina in that game. It was such a dominant, team victory. All they had to do was maintain the roster and find a successor to Manning and they’d be set up for years to come. Looking back at the track record to this point, one must question if Elway has done his job in this regard.

He allowed Malik Jackson to leave for Jacksonville where he’s now a Pro Bowler. Even worse his pick of Paxton Lynch in the 1st round two years ago is looking like one of the worst in recent Broncos memory. Some even question if he’ll make the roster this year, beaten out by former undrafted free agent Case Keenum and Mr. Irrelevant Chad Kelly.

Nothing spells things out better for Elway’s lukewarm work in the draft than seeing that not one player from his 2013 to 2016 draft classes have developed into a Pro Bowler. Not only that but his high picks haven’t been looking good at all.

Sylvester Williams (1st)
Montee Ball (2nd)
Bradley Roby (1st)
Cody Latimer (2nd)
Shane Ray (1st)
Ty Sambrailo (2nd)
Paxton Lynch (1st)
Adam Gotsis (2nd)

That’s a lot of average players mixed with huge misses. Thus far Elway has escaped criticism thanks to the championship and his solid work in free agency to cover up those mistakes. Still, it feels like that’s not going to last forever. He better hope his 2017 and 2018 drafts produce something tangible before age starts to catch up to the teams’ talented core.

Otherwise, the shine will be off the Hall of Famer and he may enter that territory of someone who won a championship by merely completing a job that was already half finished.

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