Former Broncos GM John Elway misses chance to draft Josh Allen

This probably falls straight into the category of the ultimate “now you tell us” moments.

Former Denver Broncos general manager and Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway was a guest on the Pardon My Take podcast on July 29 and reflected on the worst moment of his tenure as general manager from 2011-2022.

The moment came during the 2018 NFL draft, when Elway decided to go against his instincts and select North Carolina State defensive end Bradley Chubb with the fifth overall pick over Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen.

Drafted No. 7 overall by the Buffalo Bills, Allen has been regarded as one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks for most of his career. Allen earned NFL All-Pro honors in 2020, is a two-time Pro Bowler and will set the NFL single-season record for quarterbacks with 15 rushing touchdowns in 2023.

The Bills have made the playoffs for five straight seasons heading into 2024. The Broncos have not made the playoffs since winning the Super Bowl following the 2015 season and have not had a winning record since 2016.

“Last year I was playing (golf) with (Allen) and I wondered, ‘How long is it going to take him to realize that I let him go and took Bradley Chubb?’ And it took him two and a half holes,” Elway said on PMT. “And I thought he was great. But it just didn’t work out. He was my type. That was probably my biggest mistake in my GM days, not taking Josh.”

Elway’s history of drafting quarterbacks

Chubb played 4 1/2 seasons in Denver and was injured most of the time, missing 26 games before being traded to the Miami Dolphins midway through the 2022 season.

Elway may have been trying to replicate his early success as a general manager when he decided to take Chubb. Elway’s first big move upon taking charge of the Broncos was to take Texas A&M outside linebacker Von Miller with the second overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft. Miller was a seven-time NFL All-Pro and eight-time Pro Bowler for the Broncos and won Super Bowl MVP honors in Super Bowl 50.

And while he may regret not selecting Allen, it’s not like Elway didn’t draft plenty of quarterbacks during his time with the Broncos. He just never picked a good one.

Elway selected six quarterbacks in the draft during his tenure: Brock Osweiler (2012, second round), Zac Dysert (2013, seventh round), Trevor Siemian (2015, seventh round), Chad Kelly (2017, seventh round), Drew Lock (2019, second round) and one first-round pick. In 2016, he selected Paxton Lynch from Memphis with the 26th overall pick.

Lynch had an 0-4 record in two seasons as a starter before being released.

Since 2018, the Broncos have started 11 different quarterbacks.

Who will be the Broncos’ quarterback in 2024?

Denver drafted a quarterback in the first round for the first time since Lynch in 2016, when they selected Oregon quarterback Bo Nix with the No. 12 pick in the 2024 NFL draft.

Nix is ​​locked in a three-way battle with veteran quarterback Jarrett Stidham and 2021 No. 2 overall pick Zach Wilson to become the starter, but he appears to have the best chance after setting the FBS record with 61 starts in five seasons with Auburn and Oregon.