TBT: Broncos' best draft classes

Highlights: DT Trevor Pryce (Round 1, No. 28 overall) G Dan Neil (Round 3, No. 67 overall) The Broncos had just three selections, but found and two starters who made it to their second contracts and played eight and nine seasons in orange and blue, respectively. Not a bad haul from a draft that had to be about quality, not quantity, as the Broncos used most of their draft picks as trade currency. For more, click here

Highlights: DL Rulon Jones (Round 2, No. 42 overall) S Mike Harden (Round 5, No. 131 overall) G Keith Bishop (Round 6, No. 157 overall) One savvy trade and one lousy one defined this draft. To read more, click here.

Highlights: RB Terrell Davis (Round 6, No. 196) LB Steve Russ (Round 7, No. 218) WR/TE Byron Chamberlain (Round 7, No. 222) Another draft class compromised by trades left the Broncos with no picks in the first three rounds -- but seven in the the last four rounds. None of the first four picks lasted beyond 1997; Jamie Brown, Ken Brown, Phil Yeboah-Kodie and Fritz Fequiere played a combined 31 games, including four starts. But those that followed each earned two Super Bowl rings -- although Davis, of course, is the star, and one of the best three picks relative to round in Broncos history. To read more, click here.

Highlights: LB Keith Burns (Round 7, No. 210) C Tom Nalen (Round 7, No. 218) A spate of trades left the Broncos with just five picks -- including only one in the first three rounds (LB Allen Aldridge, No. 51 overall). General Manager John Beake and Director of Football Operations Bob Ferguson had to maximize their selections, and they did, while also adding the greatest undrafted free agent in Broncos history. To read more, click here.

Highlights:   DL Derek Wolfe (Round 2, No. 36 overall) QB Brock Osweiler (Round 2, No. 57 overall) RB Ronnie Hillman (Round 3, No. 67 overall) CB Omar Bolden (Round 4, No. 101 overall) DE Malik Jackson (Round 5, No. 137 overall) LB Danny Trevathan (Round 6, No. 188 overall)   The 2012 draft stands as an example of why grading a draft on the day after the draft -- or even one or two years after it -- is a futile quest.   To read more, click here.

Highlights: RB Otis Armstrong (round 1, No. 9 overall) DE Barney Chavous (round 2, No. 36 overall) G Paul Howard (round 3, No. 54 overall) LB Tom Jackson (Round 4, No. 88 overall) The 1972 draft was John Ralston's first as Broncos head coach and general manager. In those days, the draft was held around the end of January into the beginning of February, so Ralston had fewer than four full weeks to prepare for the draft. Ralston picked TE Riley Odoms with the No. 5 overall selection and added contributors like Tom Graham and Larry Brunson in subsequent rounds. To read more, click here.

Highlights:   QB Jay Cutler (Round 1, No. 11 overall) WR Brandon Marshall (Round 4, No. 119 overall) DE Elvis Dumervil (Round 4, No. 126 overall) G Chris Kuper (Round 5, No. 161 overall)   "Forget about the fact that Cutler and Marshall didn't make it through the Josh McDaniels era -- and that Cutler didn't even play a down for the Broncos after the coaching change from Mike Shanahan. This collection of talent -- especially given that Marshall and Dumervil were fourth-round picks and Kuper a fifth-rounder -- is among the best the Broncos ever collected in one class."   To read more, click here.

Highlights:   OLB Von Miller (Round 1, No. 2 overall) S Rahim Moore (Round 2, No. 45 overall) OT Orlando Franklin (Round 2, No. 46 overall) LB Nate Irving (Round 3, No. 67 overall) S Quinton Carter (Round 4, No. 108 overall) TE Julius Thomas (Round 4, No. 129 overall) TE Virgil Green (Round 7, No. 204 overall)

John Elway had not even been on the job four months when the Broncos settled in for perhaps their most important draft in a generation, headlined by the club's highest pick since the common draft was instituted in 1967 as part of the AFL-NFL merger.

That pick was used on Miller, who was everything the Broncos expected -- and more. Five years into his career, he has four Pro Bowl selections, two first-team All-Pro nods and, most recently, the MVP award for his overpowering performance in the Broncos' 24-10 Super Bowl 50 win over the Carolina Panthers.

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Highlights:   OT Chris Hinton (Round 1, No. 4 overall) OT Mark Cooper (Round 2, No. 31 overall) WR Clint Sampson (Round 3, No. 60 overall) QB Gary Kubiak (Round 8, No. 197 overall) OLB Karl Mecklenburg (Round 12, No. 310 overall)

This is the draft of John Elway. So why isn't this higher?

Because, of course, Elway was not a draft pick; he came aboard via a trade with the Baltimore Colts a few days later. That trade was monumental, of course, and the price the Broncos paid to acquire Elway -- Hinton, a 1984 first-rounder that became Ron Solt and backup quarterback Mark Herrmann -- is a pittance compared to the massive contribution provided by Elway, which continues to this day in his position as Executive Vice President/General Manager.   To read more, click here.

Highlights: CB Louis Wright (Round 1, No. 17 overall) WR/PR/KR Rick Upchurch (Round 4, No. 95 overall) DT Rubin Carter (Round 5, No. 121 overall) S/QB Steve Foley (Round 8, No. 199 overall) John Ralston's 1973 draft class laid the foundation. But the 1975 class provided the structure that would turn the Broncos into one of the league's skyscraping franchises for decades to come. To read more, click here.